Sportskeeda Football Awards 2014: Forwards of the Year

2014 has been an excellent year for the star forwards in football and we have seen goals being scored in large numbers. We look at 10 top forwards in European club football and their performances in the calendar year 2014.Honourable mentions: Robert Lewandowski, Luis Suarez, Jackson Martinez, Neymar and Alexandre Lacazette. These players have either been good in the second half of last season or the first half of the current one but not in the whole of 2014.(Matches from January 1, 2014 to December 7, 2014 in competitive club football only have been considered. All stats are from www.espnfc.com unless mentioned)

#10 Carlos Tevez (Juventus)

21 goals and 9 assists from 44 appearances

After a successful but controversy-filled stint in England with 3 different clubs, Tevez seems to have found stability in Italy with Juventus. The Argentine was named the club’s Player of the Year for 2013-14 season as his performances helped the club win the Serie A title.

Tevez has been in good goalscoring form this season too and is currently the leading goalscorer in the Italian league with 9 goals.

#9 Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid/Chelsea)

24 goals and 2 assists from 45 appearances.

After rejecting a move to Liverpool in the summer of 2013, Costa enjoyed his best season so far in his career with Atletico Madrid in the following season. 2014 saw Costa winning the Spanish La Liga and runners-up medal in Champions League with Los Colchoneros.

This was followed by a big money transfer to Chelsea in 2014 summer transfer window, where Costa continued his rich goal-scoring form. Chelsea has proven to be unlucky for many high-profile strikers in the past with the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Fernando Torres failing to justify their high transfer fees at the club, but Costa broke the trend and made instant impact and scored in each of his first 4 games for the club in the EPL.

While Costa’s performances for Spanish national side have been far from impressive, he has enjoyed a very productive year in club football in Spain and England.

#8 Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich/Atletico Madrid)

25 goals and 6 assists from 41 appearances

The Croatian international enjoyed two prolific seasons at Bayern Munich during which he won many honours and scored many important goals. Mandzukic won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal with the Bavarians in 2014, but fell out of favour with coach Pep Guardiola despite being the club’s top scorer in the 2013-14 season. Mandzukic claimed that he didn’t fit in the coach’s playing style, and the arrival of Robert Lewandowski only hastened his departure from Allianz Arena.

Mandzukic found his new home in the summer of 2014 at Atletico Madrid who were looking to replace Diego Costa. The striker quickly settled in the side and has scored many crucial goals in La Liga and Champions League.

#7 Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona/Arsenal)

27 goals and 11 assists from 55 appearances

It surprised many when Barcelona decided to offload Sanchez, because the Chilean attacker had a very good 2013-14 season for the Catalans where he scored 21 goals in all competitions, even though the side didn’t win any silverware in the season.

The player joined Arsenal in a big-money move in the summer of 2014, and became an instant fan’s favourite with his trickery and goals. Sanchez is currently third in the list of top goalscorers in EPL with 9 goals, which have been one of the few bright sparks in an otherwise stuttering campaign for the Gunners.

#6 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

27 goals and 13 assists from 49 appearances

With Cristiano Ronaldo seemingly in the best goal-scoring form of his career, a lot of Real Madrid’s opponents now seem to focus on neutralizing the Portuguese. And this works to the advantage of the Karim Benzema who has been taking advantage of the spaces created and is enjoying a rich return of goals in 2014.

The French striker scored the winner in the semifinal of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, and Los Blancos went on to the win the trophy. Benzema has been in top form in the current season with crucial goals in La Liga (where Real Madrid are at the top of the table) and Champions League (where the side has already confirmed their qualification for the knockouts). Benzema won the La Liga player of the Month in October’14 and scored a goal in each of the league games for the side in November.

#5 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain)

27 goals and 5 assists from 33 appearances

The highly talented and equally outspoken striker has achieved success at each of the seven clubs that he has played for, and his present employers Paris Saint-Germain are benefitting from the player’s goals.

Ibrahimovic was miles ahead of everyone else in the 2013-14 season of Ligue 1 with 26 goals (next highest was 16 goals) to lead the title charge for PSG. He has continued his form in the new season, though a heel injury kept him out of action for a while, as his side is in tussle with Marsielle for the top spot in the league.

#4 Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

28 goals and 7 assists from 35 appearances

Had it not been for injuries, the Argentine forward would probably have had a higher goals return for Manchester City. The striker has enjoyed a successful year in which he has won the 2013-14 EPL title, and reached the final of the World Cup for his national side.

Aguero has been in outstanding goal-scoring form in the 2014-15 season for City, and he is currently the top goal-scorer with in the league with 14 goals. He scored the winner in the Manchester derby, put in 4 past Tottenham defence, and scored a fine hat-trick against a strong Bayern Munich team in the Champions League.

#3 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

47 goals and 16 assists from 49 appearances

2014 has been a year of near-misses for the talented Argentine, as Messi saw his Barcelona team finish runners-up to Atletico Madrid in the 2013-14 La Liga season and then his national side was defeated by the Germans in the World Cup final.

It has been one of the rare years when Messi hasn’t won any silverware, but the forward has continued his rich goal-scoring run to lead his team’s quest for reclaiming the La Liga and Champions League.

#2 Jonathan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg)

49 goals and 15 assists from 43 appearances

(Stats from www.goal.com, www.soccerbase.com, www.transfermarkt.com)

A surprise entry in the list, and a player who isn’t known to many, Soriano earns a place in the company of the elite forwards in this article on the sheer weight of goals that he has been scoring for Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga and Europa League.

The Spaniard has had stints with Espanyol and Barcelona B in Spain, before a move to Salzburg in 2012 and has an outstanding goal-scoring record for the club. Soriano scored 48 goals in 43 appearances in all competitions in 2013-14 season and has carried forward the form into the current season where he averages more than a goal/game.

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

53 goals and 16 assists from 48 appearances

No prizes for guessing who is at the top of the list. The Portuguese wizard is probably enjoying his best goal-scoring spell in an already illustrious career. After being a key player in Real Madrid’s La Decima win in the Champions League last season, along with the Pichichi and European Golden Shoe awards in 2013-14 season, Ronaldo has taken his game to a higher level.

His current tally of 23 goals in the 2014-15 La Liga season is more than double of the next best player. He has broken many records this season, which includes being the fastest player to score 200 La Liga goals, and most hat-tricks by a player in the Spanish League (23). Regarded by many as the best player in the world currently, Ronaldo has helped Real Madrid to a record-equalling 18 game winning streak across all competitions.

Who is this year’s best forward? Have your say.