6 One-Trick ponies in football today

#5 Mario Gomez

The 21st century version of the former German forward Oliver Bierhoff, Mario Gomez is the ugly duckling among the current German internationals. With his agricultural, one dimensional No.9 style, his style stands at stark contrast to the sophisticated interplay and dynamism of the rest of the Mannschaft attack. Along with Stefan Kiessling of Bayer Leverkusen, Gomez remains an aberration in modern German football – players who would have been hugely successful, had they been born in a different era.

He doesn’t hold play up like Fernando Llorente does, nor does he offer movement and trickery like Carlos Tevez. But what he does give is a guarantee of goals in abundance – something that he has surprisingly failed to deliver till now with Fiorentina. As fine a poacher as they come in modern football, Gomez is the typical old school striker; tactically intelligent, perfect position-wise, and one step ahead of the defenders at all times.

The problem is, what he provides on the pitch isn’t enough in today’s game. With his tendency to go missing for large swathes of the game, Gomez will find it hard to fight his way back into Euro 2016 contention.