5 Positions in world football that are on the verge of extinction

#2 Second Striker

Dennis Bergkamp

Winning the midfield battle has become paramount to win games, which means that very few teams across Europe now play with a 2-striker system so that there is no place for a second striker. The second striker usually plays just off an advanced centre forward. He is a striker who drops deep to influence play, pick passes to set up his strike partner and also try and get a few goals himself by making different runs to that of his partner.

Players like Dennis Bergkamp, Kenny Dalglish, Francesco Totti, Eric Cantona and Gianfranco Zola played as the second striker during various times of the careers to great effect. Dennis Bergkamp is held in as high a regard as Thierry Henry by Arsenal fans. He was probably the best second striker to play for Arsenal. Bergkamp had everything, skill, vision, sublime touch, passing range and great end prouduct in assists and goals.

Henry grabbed most eyeballs during the Invicibles Arsenal season, but Bergkamp was at the centre of most of the goals that Arsenal scored. But the modern game doesn’t really have a place for a second striker and they are Another dying breed in modern football due to tactical implications. Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney are two players who have played the second striker role in recent times but now both of them prefer to play as a striker.