Kane, Lineker, Shearer, Rooney.

PNENIL

PNENIL

Well-known member
That's my order of ranking of these four.
What's yours?
The criteria is that in their prime , who would you pick up top for England.
May I add that although I've put Rooney last I was always a big fan.
 
Out of those 4 Rooney is the only one who consistently won trophies at club level as well as being a top scorer for England so he would be first for me, albeit that the other 3 are/were all fantastic strikers.

Kane needs to move on from Spurs and win some trophies.
 
Kane
Rooney
Shearer/Lineker joint 3rd

Kane does so much more than score. He keeps the ball well, or wins a free kick to relieve the pressure on his team. He's got a fair few assists as well, anyone know how many?

Good point about him moving clubs though
 
Dave62 said:
Kane
Rooney
Shearer/Lineker joint 3rd

Kane does so much more than score. He keeps the ball well, or wins a free kick to relieve the pressure on his team. He's got a fair few assists as well, anyone know how many?

Good point about him moving clubs though
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I’d swap Kane and Rooney on your list for the reasons above. Rooney won Leagues and a Champions league which puts him above Kane for me, for now. If Kane goes to Manchester United or Newcastle this summer it might be a different list in 2 years time.

Kane is similar to Shearer with the assists and ability to score all kinds of goals. Linekar was a penalty box finisher.

All excellent at what they do/did.
 
Pauls_Boutique said:
Out of those 4 Rooney is the only one who consistently won trophies at club level as well as being a top scorer for England so he would be first for me, albeit that the other 3 are/were all fantastic strikers.

Kane needs to move on from Spurs and win some trophies.
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What the does his club have to do with his ability? Was Stanley Matthews shite cos he won not very much?
 
td53 said:
What the does his club have to do with his ability? Was Stanley Matthews shite cos he won not very much?
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Just that Rooney had to consistently perform every week in the league, every mid-week in the champions league (when it was a decent competition) and every international break with England because he was with a top club at the time. Kane is a fantastic striker but can go 3 weeks without scoring for Spurs and you wouldn’t really notice. Unless you have him in your fantasy league team, which I do 🤣🤣
 
Shearer comes last for me because he gave up on England to prolong his league career. Then comes Rooney, then Kane, then Lineker in top position. When Harry Kane lifts a trophy for England he becomes the undisputed top man.
 
Mark_GT said:
Shearer comes last for me because he gave up on England to prolong his league career. Then comes Rooney, then Kane, then Lineker in top position. When Harry Kane lifts a trophy for England he becomes the undisputed top man.
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Don't hold your breath pal.....

You are more likely to see a Great Auk on your travels! 😉🐧
 
All slightly different so it's difficult to compare. All world class strikers, Lineker is getting overlooked but he had searing pace (the quickest of the lot) and scored for fun, right place right time sort of striker. Rooney started off looking like an all time great it might sound bizarre but he never fulfilled what his teenage years promised. His England performances at 18 in the euros were out of this world, he could beat men with pace but he lost that early on in his career. Shearer was the best striker I've seen live, at his peak Blackburn days he was the biggest handful I've seen. Kane is different to them all, his overall game us very good and I reckon he could play centre mid in a prem team easily. I'm conclusion I've no bloody idea!
 
I saw Lineker play twice; a full game at Bloomfield Road in force 10 winds and 45 mins for England against France a Wembley. I can tell you from the England game, he was miles more than a penalty box striker. Incredibly clever player, with brilliant movement, speed of feet and speed of thought. And despite the Roy Race persona had ice in his veins and delivered when it mattered. Case in point: there's no way he'd have missed the penalty Kane missed v France. Not a chance in hell.

None of that is meant to discredit the others by the way. Shearer was utterly unplayable for a period of his career. It's not (entirely) untrue to say he won Blackburn a title on his own and he could score so many types of goal. Plus he was another who you knew was utterly clinical, ruthless and would also go toe-to-toe with any centre back.
Kane is comfortably our best player (although Bellingham looks outstanding and you can see him being one of the World's best in years to come). With Kane you do get a lot of player - he can play 9, 10 or be a target man. His passing is probably the best in the England squad and there's times when he plays a great ball through and you only wish he were on the end of it...

Finally, we have Rooney who to my mind was the most natural footballer England has produced since Gazza. Sadly for him, he also played in an England set up of relative mediocrity compared to some of the others.

Anyway - there you go. I don't put them in any ranking order because they're all great players.
 
Pauls_Boutique said:
Out of those 4 Rooney is the only one who consistently won trophies at club level as well as being a top scorer for England so he would be first for me, albeit that the other 3 are/were all fantastic strikers.

Kane needs to move on from Spurs and win some trophies.
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I don't see it like that. Rooney played for one of Europe's best clubs so will win things. Darren Ferguson won things at United too as did David Bellion. They both have Premier League winners medals, does that make them better than Steven Gerrard for example, or Matt Le-Tissier?

Kane, Shearer, Lineker, Rooney. I'm not saying Rooney wasn't great but he went missing at both World Cups and Euro's and his form could be so erratic. He went 10 games plus without scoring quite a few times IIRC
 
Dave62 said:
Kane
Rooney
Shearer/Lineker joint 3rd

Kane does so much more than score. He keeps the ball well, or wins a free kick to relieve the pressure on his team. He's got a fair few assists as well, anyone know how many?

Good point about him moving clubs though
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And he was taking corners and throw ins in the 2016 Euros, what the hell was that about very bizzare?
 
straightatthewall said:
I saw Lineker play twice; a full game at Bloomfield Road in force 10 winds and 45 mins for England against France a Wembley. I can tell you from the England game, he was miles more than a penalty box striker. Incredibly clever player, with brilliant movement, speed of feet and speed of thought. And despite the Roy Race persona had ice in his veins and delivered when it mattered. Case in point: there's no way he'd have missed the penalty Kane missed v France. Not a chance in hell.
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Proven by the fact he scored 2 penalties in the same situation - a World Cup quarter final.
 
In their prime, it's Wayne Rooney hands down.

When he was young, he was almost unplayable. A rottweiler of a player that put the fear of god into the opposition and did way more than just score goals.

Had he not limped off injured early vs Portugal in Euro 2004, we would've gone on to win the tournament.
 
RUSTY_2_STANDS said:
Apart from Rooney, none of them won very much on the domestic stage either. Kane's won the square root of zero.
But that shouldn't detract from what fantastic players they all were/are.
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irrelevant. If Kane had played for City he'd have won loads of trophies. The fact he hasn't played for them or the other trophy winning teams is an even bigger accolade for what he has achieved with his goalscoring feats. It's about his achievements as an individual.

And of course you say he's won the square root of zero which is also bollocks. Or does the golden boot winner at a world cup not count as an honour?
 
They all had their own strengths. But what I really like about Kane is his physicality. He doesn’t look like a meathead striker, but he can take a lot of punishment and give it back. Mentally too, to get over that pen and bury one last night, takes some courage.

Kane, Rooney, Shearer, Lineker.
 
Imagine how many goals Jimmy Greaves would have scored for England under the modern day offside rule? It was harder for attackers to score before they changed if you were level from offside to onside. Also you could have a goal chalked off if one of your side was offside but in no way interfering with play.Greaves never took a penalty for England either.
 
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20togo said:
irrelevant. If Kane had played for City he'd have won loads of trophies. The fact he hasn't played for them or the other trophy winning teams is an even bigger accolade for what he has achieved with his goalscoring feats. It's about his achievements as an individual.

And of course you say he's won the square root of zero which is also bollocks. Or does the golden boot winner at a world cup not count as an honour?
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What I meant is he hasn't won any domestic trophies.
I did say in my last sentence that it shouldn't detract from what great players they are.
I've got to say though you're very touchy about Kane. Perhaps when he leaves Spurs that might change.
Anyway, I'm not going to get in to an argument with you about a footballer I have very little interest in and I haven't got all day either.......
 
RUSTY_2_STANDS said:
What I meant is he hasn't won any domestic trophies.
I did say in my last sentence that it shouldn't detract from what great players they are.
I've got to say though you're very touchy about Kane. Perhaps when he leaves Spurs that might change.
Anyway, I'm not going to get in to an argument with you about a footballer I have very little interest in and I haven't got all day either.......
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You usually do get involved. Maybe that's because of your affinity to another PL team. 😉
 
First impression with the op was it was on the back of Kane becoming England's leading goalscorer & therefore who was the best striker for England. Don't see relevance in domestic trophies because surely that simply means they were surrounded by better players. I agree with shandy in that Rooney promised so much early doors but generally didn't produce in major finals & a lot of his goals were qualifiers, weaker teams & friendlies. Kane's notched plenty at tournaments but not the dramatic winners that live long in the memory. Lineker's goals in 86 & 90 put him top for me followed by Michael Owen who's goals against Argentina, Germany & Brazil nearly got England where we wanted them to be. Loved Shearer but again other that 96 didn't really deliver what he was more than capable of for England.
 
Willie Mcgrotty said:
First impression with the op was it was on the back of Kane becoming England's leading goalscorer & therefore who was the best striker for England. Don't see relevance in domestic trophies because surely that simply means they were surrounded by better players. I agree with shandy in that Rooney promised so much early doors but generally didn't produce in major finals & a lot of his goals were qualifiers, weaker teams & friendlies. Kane's notched plenty at tournaments but not the dramatic winners that live long in the memory. Lineker's goals in 86 & 90 put him top for me followed by Michael Owen who's goals against Argentina, Germany & Brazil nearly got England where we wanted them to be. Loved Shearer but again other that 96 didn't really deliver what he was more than capable of for England.
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Interesting RE Owen. IMO if he'd have stayed fit and not suffered with a huge amount of injuries, Kane would still be chasing his record. He was ridiculously good and fearless in his early years.
 
20togo said:
You usually do get involved. Maybe that's because of your affinity to another PL team. 😉
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I thought the thread was about England strikers? 😉 I still have a passing interest in the England team, but nowhere near as much as I used to do.
I could probably say that about football in general.
 
Linekar was probably the quickest and smart although not the bravest striker at least when Gary Briggs was nearby when he missed the sitter at Blackpool. Kane is just too slow to be the top striker, and Rooney was/is too stupid. I would go for Shearer before his injury as being the best
of the four.
 
Danny Ocean said:
Linekar was probably the quickest and smart although not the bravest striker at least when Gary Briggs was nearby when he missed the sitter at Blackpool. Kane is just too slow to be the top striker, and Rooney was/is too stupid. I would go for Shearer before his injury as being the best
of the four.
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Be careful what you say about Kane. There'll be a seismic eruption in 20's house when he sees you've labelled Kane too slow. 😆
 
RUSTY_2_STANDS said:
Be careful what you say about Kane. There'll be a seismic eruption in 20's house when he sees you've labelled Kane too slow. 😆
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well he isn't too slow is he! He just doesn't have blistering pace. He has far too many other attributes than pace. If you want to look at a player who's pretty much only attribute was pace then you don't need to look further than Michael Owen.
 
20togo said:
well he isn't too slow is he! He just doesn't have blistering pace. He has far too many other attributes than pace. If you want to look at a player who's pretty much only attribute was pace then you don't need to look further than Michael Owen.
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Only attribute? Scored a fair few goals as well as the pace. I would put his finishing down as an attribute
 
Lineker first because he could play with any of the other 3, play them on rotation if you have a few billion to spare.
 
Extremely difficult to rank.
Kane is now the record England goal-scorer of course, and in his last 8 seasons in the EPL his lowest goal-scoring season was 24 which is a fantastic record. Also, when he retires I suspect his goal-scoring record for England will be way out in front and probably not be beaten for a long long time.
Lineker's record in the top English league isn't quite as good, but he did test himself in Spain where he still did well, and was a ballon d'Or runner up too.
Rooney has the most accolades, but his goal-scoring record isn't actually quite as good as the above two, despite playing for a team who won the league five times while he was there.
Shearer's goal scoring record is similar to Kane, and he has won an EPL title, and came third in a ballon d'Or.

I personally think Kane has all the attributes to just about come top of this list, as I think at his best he's probably a little bit better than the other three were at their best. His strength, finishing, and passing ability is genuinely world class. I think he'd win it hands down if he was playing at a better club than Spurs, and unless that happens I don't think it could ever really be proven.
 
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