“They were scoring an abundance of goals” - Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi blamed by ex-England star for lack of English strikers

Les Ferdinand has blamed Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the lack of English strikers. The former England striker believes that the legendary duo have caused youngsters to try and emulate their numbers from the wings rather than turning into a center-forward.

Speaking on the Overlap podcast with Gary Neville, Ferdinand claimed that along with Messi and Ronaldo, Thierry Henry is another reason for the dearth of traditional No. 9's in the country. He said:

"Ronaldo and Messi. We went through a period of wingers who were scoring goals, scoring 30 goals a season and everyone wanted to be Ronaldo, and everyone wanted to be Messi. The players no longer wanted to be a traditional centre-forward, didn't want to be a number nine. [Thierry] Henry comes onto the scene; they wanna be that person that comes off the wing and scores goals. They were scoring an abundance of goals, so every young player wanted to be that player; hence was the demise of the number nine."

Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney are expected to be the strikers in England's EURO 2024 squad along with Harry Kane.

Lionel Messi never cared about Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry, claims Gerard Pique

Speaking to talkSPORT earlier this month, Gerard Pique claimed that Lionel Messi never cared about the rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo. He added that the Argentine was more focused on winning big tournaments like the Champions League rather than individual awards.

The former Barcelona center-back said:

"He wasn't that type of guy. He was very team-focused, although he was getting all the first page in all the newspapers and radios and TV. At the end of the day, he was very close with all of us and he was just focused on winning titles like the Champions League and these kinds of things. At the end of the day because he was the best. Then he was winning the Ballon d'Or but it wasn't something that was a priority for him."

Pique played with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo while at Barcelona and Manchester United. The Spaniard played 506 matches alongside the Argentine, but only managed 15 with the Portuguese star while he was at the Premier League club.