10 strikers who did nothing but score goals

Every team wants a supreme finisher who just knows instinctively where the back of the net is. While these players might not be the most technically gifted players on the planet, they would do the job for their teams scoring a bucket load of goals from all possible angles and situations.These goal-scoring machines are renowned for their goalscoring abilities and instinctive finishing which made them invaluable to their teams. Some of these strikers would almost be anonymous throughout the game before they popped up and scored a crucial goal.Strikers who will not contribute too much on the pitch but score goals are a dying breed now., however, we try to list out the 10 best strikers who did nothing but score on the football pitch.

#10 Ruud Van Nistelrooy

Ruud Van Nistelrooy is one of the best goalscorers to have ever played. The prolific Dutchman has played for some of the world’s biggest clubs such as PSV, Machester United and Real Madrid.

Van Nistelrooy has scored an astonishing 347 goals in 589 appearances winning some major honours along the way. The Dutch striker has won the league title in Netherlands, England and Spain making him one of the very few players to win the league in three different countries.

Although Van Nistelrooy has an amazing goalscoring record, he was sometimes dropped by Alex Ferguson at Manchester United because the legendary manager felt that he did not contribute enough in the other areas of the pitch,

Whatever the reasons, no one can argue with Nistelrooy’s positioning sense and finishing skills which made him one of the most lethal finishers in the game.

#9 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

Another Dutch striker, Klass-Jan Huntelaar or the “Hunter” as he is nicknamed by his fans is another player to have played for some top clubs around the world. He has a very impressive CV, having represented clubs like AC Milan, Ajax, Real Madrid and Schalke in his career.

Currently playing for Schalke, Huntelaar has always been known for his finishing skills and his natural goal poaching skills. Another person with more than 300 goals in his career, the “Hunter” is famous for sniffing out chances and finishing them off with aplomb.

Although Huntelaar does not have explosive pace or silky dribbling skills, he makes up for this with his brilliant shooting skills making him one of the most natural goalscorers of recent times.

#8 Stefan Kiessling

With more than 400 league appearances for Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, Stefan Kiessling has been extremely unlucky not to feature more prominently for the German national team.

Kiessling is a typical target man, known for his work ethic and his eye for goal. He has been praised for his evolution during his time in Leverkusen into a high-quality striker, and one of the best in the Bundesliga.

The German striker does not posses the natural talent of some top finishers like Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Raul Gonzalez but he makes up for it by his supreme positional skills and accurate finishing. Kiessling is also known for his aerial prowess and gets plenty of goals from headers.

Kiessling has a keen eye for goal and he always seems to find the back of the net when required for Bayer Leverkusen.

#7 Ian Rush

ian rush liverpool — Ian Rush is the leading goalscorer for Liverpool with 346 goals in 660 appearances

One of the main reasons for Liverpool’s success in the 1980s, Ian Rush was the greatest goalscorer Liverpool has ever had in its long list of super strikers. The Welshman was always in the right position at the right time, netting an astonishing 346 goals in 660 appearances for Liverpool.

His goalscoring skills were so popular among Liverpool fans that he was voted as the 3rd greatest Liverpool player ever by the fans in a 2006 poll.

The Welshman won a host of trophies with Liverpool, winning the English First Division 5 times, FA Cup 3 times, League Cup 5 times, and the European Cup 2 times. Rush played a major role in all those triumphs popping up with important goals time and time again for the Reds.

His 4 goal performance against Everton is still remembered fondly by the Liverpool fans.

#6 Hernan Crespo

Hernan Crespo was a powerful and tenacious striker who excelled in the air. The Argentine had a long and fruitful career playing for some huge teams like Inter Milan, Chelsea and AC Milan.

A prolific and opportunistic goal-scorer, he was capable of finishing well both with his feet and with his head, and was known for his ability to score acrobatic goals. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of Serie A's best ever foreign players.

Crespo would often disappear for long spells in the game, but due to his supreme positioning skills, he would often pop up and score crucial goals for his team.

Crespo always knew how to find the back of the net and he ended up with 271 goals in his long career.

#5 Darren Bent

One of those players who knew only to score goals on the football pitch, Darren Bent did precious little outside of the penalty box for his team. Although he did not contribute much to the team in the whole game, he was a vital part of some of the major Premier League teams like Tottenham and Aston Villa for his goalscoring abilities.

Bent’s heading capabilities and his ability to find space in the box made him a prolific striker. The Englishman did not have great technical skills or supreme ball control but he always seemed to pop up at the right place at the right time to score and make a huge impact on the game.

Derby will be hoping Darren bent rediscovers his goalscoring form as they make a bid to gain promotion from the Championship to the Premier League.

#4 Mario Gomez

Mario Gomez may not guarantee eye-catching football or some outrageous skills which will make the crowd gasp, but one thing that mArio Gomes guarantees is goals. The German striker made his name in the Bundesliga banging in goals left right and centre for Stuttgart and Bayern Munich.

Gomez can shoot with both feet, and is considered to be an aerial threat. His best ability, however, remains his ability to anticipate crosses and passes and position himself to shoot.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger described him as "a great finisher who is often in the right place to finish off moves."Moreover, his body balance and ability to hold up the ball often creates trouble for defenders.

During his time at Bayern, his ability to appear "at the right place at the right time" proved to be one of Bayern's most lethal attacking weapons as Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben could often outrun defenders and provide a cross for Gomez. However, despite his goal-scoring abilities, Gomez is often accused of having limited skills.

#3 Gerd Muller

gerd mueller — Gerd Muller won the World Cup in 1974 playing for Germany

The greatest player on this list, Gerd Müller is the most lethal finisher in the history of football. The German was not one to show fancy footwork or waste his time doing some eye-catching stepovers. What he did do was score goals and he scored everytime he played.

Müller’s statistics are truly astonishing. He has scored an amazing 655 goals in 709 appearances and he even held the record for the most goals in a calendar year before it was broken by Lionel Messi. Müller scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches for Bayern Munich, almost 100 goals more than the second most successful Bundesliga scorer, Klaus Fischer.

Famous football author David Winner best epitomized Muller’s game when he said:

“He never fitted the conventional idea of a great footballer, but he had lethal acceleration over short distances, a remarkable aerial game, and uncanny goalscoring instincts. His short legs gave him a strangely low center of gravity, so he could turn quickly and with perfect balance in spaces and at speeds that would cause other players to fall over. He also had a knack of scoring in unlikely situations."

Muller is the best finisher in football history.

#2 Javier Hernandez

javier hernandez goal scorer — ‘The little pea’ has been in astonishing form for Bayer Leverkusen this season

One of the true goal poachers in the modern game, Javier Hernandez has been in amazing form for Bayer Leverkusen this season. Hernandez was always known as a prolific goalscorer but after being frozen out of the United squad and a mixed loan spell at Real Madrid, the Mexican has finally discovered his mojo at Leverkusen.

Chicharito has been typically described as a "goal-poacher", due to a number of his goals being scored from close-range. His movement off the ball, pace, and ability to find space inside the box has been absolutely exemplary this season.

‘The little pea’ has scored almost all the goals in his career from inside the box but Bayer Leverkusen will not be complaining seeing how prolific the Mexican has been for them this season.

#1 Filippo Inzaghi

Inzaghi Milan — Inzaghi was a player who best epitomised the term ‘natural goalscorer’

Pippo Inzaghi was a player who did absolutely nothing other than scoring goals. Inzaghi somehow was always in the right place at the right time finishing clinically and giving his team the advantage.

Although not very technically gifted, Inzaghi was an intelligent and opportunistic player with excellent reactions. He was known for great skill in taking advantage of the carelessness of the opponents, his great positional sense, and eye for goal. These qualities, along with his finishing ability with both his head and feet, made him one of the most prolific strikers of the past decades.

Johan Cruyff commented about Inzaghi’s playing style saying:

“Look, actually he can't play football at all. He's just always in the right position."

The Italian was also caught offside plenty of times in his career although his playing style meant that he played on the shoulders of the defenders scoring plenty of goals. Sir Alex Ferguson famously said about Inzaghi:

“Pippo Inzaghi was born in an offside position”

No matter what people say, no one can deny that Inzaghi was one of the greatest goalscorers of all time.

Note: The players have not been ranked in any particular order