US Olympic Qualifying Deep Dive pt. 6 - The Strikers

 In the tactical setup preferred by Berhalter and Kreis, strikers are the point of the lance - the players who get onto balls, finish attacks, and press defenders hard for 90 full minutes. It's not an elegant role, and it doesn't need a profoundly technically skilled player. In many ways, the player pool is built for this. In general there aren't a lot of smaller, quicker forwards developed by the USA, and those that might be become wingers or 10s. Berhalter's system fits the player pool and produces goals from players such as Zardes, which is the best you can hope for from this group.

Shooting

Akinola has had a hot start to the season, absolutely blowing up the MLS is back tournament before bowing out due to a muscle injury. The production may not continue like this, but the key to his performance has been shooting a lot of high quality shots. If the quantity goes down a bit and the quality does as well, he's still a top MLS striker, just not a 99th percentile striker.

Pepi takes very high quality shots, but his overall shot volume is just under the average. His experience is a big question as is his youth. Ebobisse takes good shots, but relatively few as his team defers to other players for the goal scoring load. Zubak is a nice shooter who has ground it out in USL before finally breaking out this year and has a lot of experience.

Vazquez and Toye are essentially MLS-replacement level as shooters. Toye may start winning more time on the Impact. Dike and Robinson, the two draft picks, shoot a lot from less than ideal spots. Robinson will be losing time to Higuain for a while, but Dike should keep getting pro experience.

Touches and Dribbles

Where the players get the ball is not as important as how much they lose the ball relative to their position. The team needs strikers who don't lose the ball even in tough positions. Robinson does great holding on to the ball despite the number of touches he has in the penalty area, and G+ rates his dribbling highly. Akinola is up there again as a player who holds on to the ball relative to position. Vazquez, Dike, and Pepi are below average in terms of staying on the ball, while Ebobisse and Toye are below average in terms of getting on the ball in the penalty box. 

While the strikers in this system won't need to do as much driving from deep and trying to beat players on the dribble, it is still something that could easily happen and needs to be accounted for. Also, players who carry a lot without dribbling are probably more used in space.

Robinson and Toye both complete a good number of their dribbles, although Robinson is far more frequent. For their total carries, both Akinola and Ebobisse have relatively few dribbles. That's not a huge part of how they help their team. Vazquez, Zubek, and Pepi are big dribblers but their dribbles don't bring much benefit to their teams.

Aerial Ability

There are a number of good forwards in the air in the pool. Ebobisse is a monste in general, even though he's not involved in a huge number of aerials compared to some other forwards. He has 9 goals from headers as a pro, which is remarkable. Akinola definitely needs to get more involved in the air, as he does well when he's targeted. At 5'10 he's not the tallest striker but he is clearly capable of winning aerial duels. Zubak and Vazquez do well in the air, and are involved quite often. Toye is above average here but nothing amazing.

Dike receives a huge proportion of his targets in the air, which he handles as well as the average MLS Midfielder. That's a good sign and he will get better over time. Robinson is under involved in the air, and Pepi is clearly below average in terms of aerial ability.

High Pressing

Just like the wingers, any possession loss will need to be won back quickly and pressure should be immediate. The team will need to stretch down the wings with the fullbacks, and at times will be exposed to potential danger on the counter. If the striker can help pressure midfielders and defenders, it will help prevent those opportunities to turn into chances.

Pepi is the most enthusiastic presser of the bunch, and while he is the least successful at winning the ball he does break up the most passes per 90. Zubak is a grinder, pressing almost as much as Pepi with a great deal of success. Robinson is the best of a group including Toye and Vazquez that presses somewhere between the average and Zubak/Pepi.

Ebobisse and Dike make the most of their presses, but don't too many of them Akinola is a little hurt here by playing for a possession team, but still needs to add more on the defensive side to his game.

Selecting the Striker

The striker pool genuinely needs a guy who can handle being by himself, fighting for balls, finishing attacks, and leading the press. There aren't any players outstanding in any area but some names stand out more than others. Also, of all the strikers only Ebobisse and Zubak do not have the option to play for another national team. It could be possible that by the time the rosters are selected, a few of these names will not be available.

Ebobisse is the most well rounded, and has a great deal of experience as well. His role in the Timbers offense is limited, and he would have to do different things for the USMNT than he has been asked to do for the Timbers. Toye is a similar all rounder, but just a little worse in every offensive area. The remaining few are less tested at a high level. Zubak is a grinder who works hard for his team, but just doesn't do anything at a very high level. Vazquez is a more aggressive, slightly more mistake prone version of the same.

Akinola, Dike, and Robinson have all blown up this year and each brings something a little different in their game. Akinola gets goals like almost no other player, but doesn't quite contribute as much in other phases of the game. Robinson is a dynamic dribbler and ball carrier, while comfortable getting on the ball in the box. Dike is a big target in the box who is comfortable getting the ball in the air and taking high quality shots. There's a lot of talent available for Kreis to pick at this position, and making the right choice will be very important.