Best finisher ever in the PL?

[MrMichael]

Shearer, Fowler and RVN are streets ahead of the rest I'd say.

Henry was easily at their level as a player, but not for finishing ability.

Henry's stats disagree with you there mate, better goalscoring ratio than RVN and did it for longer too. Absolutely the best "footballer" in this discussion, but also an amazing finisher really. Close to 3 in 4 for Arsenal, technically just going on his record while playing for a Premiership team, he tops everyone in this discussion. Obviously Shearer and Fowler both continued playing in the league while having dropped from their peak, and RVN wasn't in the league as long so the comparisson is slightly unfair, but still I'm not sure how Henry could have had such a record while not being the other's level in finishing.

Otherwise I agree

Are you serious mate? Owen was a very good finisher for us. He had 5 seasons for us with 20+ goals and won the Ballon d'Or with us! Injuries ruined him in the end, but up untill then he was very good.

I might not have been the best, but to say he was far off is not fair IMO

In terms of stats he is quite far off. Yeah he was an incredibly natural finisher, especially one on one while moving at pace, but if you think that both Owen and Fowler were in their prime as players while they were young, Fowler scored his first 100 goals for us in 165 games. Owen did it in something like 190. And arguably that was in a better side too built around feeding him. Still a great record, but really not close to Fowler (or Rush or Hunt etc)

Owen never scored 20 league goals in a season. A very good finisher obviously but not the "cream de la cream"

I think he's way lower than Shearer, Fowler & RVN, and well behind behind the likes of Henry & Torres too.

[MrMichael]

Not been mentioned yet, and obviously wasn't even a striker, but what an amazing goalscorer this guy was. Probably my favourite ever non-lfc player

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3jVh_IJwO0"]Matt Le Tissier Goals - YouTube[/ame]

[Zapater]

Mr Michael, I don't think "finishing" is a quality you can gauge by looking at stats. i.e. you could be a poor finisher and score lots of goals (and missing more) or you can be a good finisher but not score too many (receiving few opportunities) - so I don't understand why you'd use ratios. That just tells us who had the better strike rate.

Again, he got very close to 20 goals just about every season, I don't think that's sound reasoning, particularly because he missed a number of games every season.

[rudedog]

Not been mentioned yet, and obviously wasn't even a striker, but what an amazing goalscorer this guy was. Probably my favourite ever non-lfc player

Aye - that goal against Newcastle is one of my all time favourite goals

[Catrin]

I believe the PL started in 1992/1993 season and the best pure finisher the world has ever seen was still playing then, albeit no longer in his prime. When put through 1 v 1 with the keeper he just did not miss. You could bet your life on him scoring. His sense of timing, of placement....I don't believe in any god but if I have any doubts it is because such incredible skills could only have been bestowed by some greater being. He is the reason I get so annoyed when I hear Darren Bent being described as a natural goalscorer. The greatest finisher that ever lived was Ian Rush.

[MrMichael]

Mr Michael, I don't think "finishing" is a quality you can gauge by looking at stats. i.e. you could be a poor finisher and score lots of goals (and missing more) or you can be a good finisher but not score too many (receiving few opportunities) - so I don't understand why you'd use ratios. That just tells us who had the better strike rate.

Again, he got very close to 20 goals just about every season, I don't think that's sound reasoning, particularly because he missed a number of games every season.

Well if you can't use statistics then the discussion is entirely subjective. And entirely subjectively, I still think Shearer, Fowler and Henry were better than Owen

Aye - that goal against Newcastle is one of my all time favourite goals

The amount of ludicrously good goals the guy scored is just silly. But that one was indeed well special

The greatest finisher that ever lived was Ian Rush.

[Red_Polo]

Henry's stats disagree with you there mate, better goalscoring ratio than RVN and did it for longer too. Absolutely the best "footballer" in this discussion, but also an amazing finisher really. Close to 3 in 4 for Arsenal, technically just going on his record while playing for a Premiership team, he tops everyone in this discussion. Obviously Shearer and Fowler both continued playing in the league while having dropped from their peak, and RVN wasn't in the league as long so the comparisson is slightly unfair, but still I'm not sure how Henry could have had such a record while not being the other's level in finishing.

Otherwise I agree

Those stats are about goalscoring rate, though, not clinical finishing.

He was a phenomenal goalscorer but not in the same league as Shearer for finishing alone.

In the three seasons 2002/3 to 2004/5, Henry's most prolific period, his shots per goal was 4.5. In the same period, though no longer at his finest, Shearer's was 3.3.

[kris90210]

Not been mentioned yet, and obviously wasn't even a striker, but what an amazing goalscorer this guy was. Probably my favourite ever non-lfc player

Matt Le Tissier Goals - YouTube

He really was an incredible talent, but what a waste. Had to be one of the most naturally gifted players of his generation but couldn't even be arsed to train properly. Imagine how good he *could* have been with a better mentality.

Oh, and he's SUCH a cock as well.

[Suarez]

Emile Heskey

[Gibbo]

Heskey once scored 22 goals in a season.

Tenner says Carroll doesn't reach that in his Career.