Alan Shearer: English legend of football
Last month, Alan Shearer ended his 18 year striking career. His final game was away at Sunderland, and it was fitting that he scored the crucial second goal from the penalty-spot in a 4-1 win before picking up a knee ligament injury that prematurely bought his retirement forward a month early.
I definitely consider Alan Shearer to be one of the best English strikers of all-time, and perhaps the best I've seen in my time watching football. These stats go some way to explaining why:
43 goals in 158 games for Southampton
130 goals in 171 games for Blackburn (and a Premiership medal in 1994-95 season)
206 goals in 404 games for Newcastle (club record goalscorer)
260 goals in 441 Premiership games (Premiership record goalscorer)
30 goals in 63 games for England (national captain from 1996-2000)
409 goals in 796 games (total career goals)
What I especially like about Shearer is that he was a master at scoring a variety of different goals. He was a specialist at hammering them in from 25 yards; power-heading them in from 10 yards; drilling them in from 4 yards… and before picking up a terrible cruciate knee-injury in 1997 he also had explosive pace that would see him surge past defences onto passes from midfield. He really was an all-round great striker.
Although he will be best remembered as Newcastle's prolific all-time record goalscorer and captain, I feel his absolute peak was at Blackburn Rovers where he won a Premiership medal. At that time I thought he was the most complete striker in Europe, and he finished as top scorer at the 1996 European Championships.
At the start of the season we at EFT put his picture on the site so to mark his final season as a player. And now with the close of his final season, check out this video tribute of some of Shearer's best goals in the Newcastle shirt (plus a couple for England). It features excellent multiple camera angles of those great goals against Everton and Chelsea, plus what I consider to be a classy celebration following a fantastic volleyed finished against Villa.
posted by T at 5/15/2006 07:27:00 pm
EFT match of the season for 2008/2009: Barcelona construct a masterclass footballing performance to defeat the reigning Champions League holders and current English champions, Manchester United, by a scoreline of 2-0 in the 2009 Champions League final in Rome
EFT player of the season for 2008/2009: Chelsea central midfielder, Frank Lampard
EFT player of the month for May 2009: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for April 2009: Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for March 2009: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for February 2009: Phil Jagielka (Everton)
EFT player of the month for January 2009: Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd)
EFT player of the month for December 2008: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for November 2008: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for October 2008: Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for September 2008: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for August 2008: Amr Zaki (Wigan Athletic)
EFT match of Euro 2008: Turkey's amazing comeback from two goals down to beat Czech Republic 3-2 as captain Nihat Kahveci's two goals in the last three minutes sensationally put his country through to the quarter finals at the expense of their beaten opponents
EFT player of Euro 2008: Spain (anchor) central midfielder, Marcos Senna
EFT match of the season for 2007/2008: Liverpool win titanic Champions League quarter-final second leg 4-2 against Arsenal that also saw two of the best football moments of the season - Fernando Torres' top corner strike and Theo Walcott's thrilling run across the whole of Anfield.
EFT player of the season for 2007/2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for May 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for April 2008: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
EFT player of the month for March 2008: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for February 2008: David James (Portsmouth)
EFT player of the month for January 2008: Ronaldo (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for December 2007: Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers)
EFT player of the month for November 2007: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for October 2007: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
EFT player of the month for September 2007: Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for August 2007: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for May 2007: Carlos Tevez (West Ham Utd)
EFT player of the month for April 2007: Wayne Rooney (Manchester Utd)
EFT player of the month for March 2007: Carlos Tevez (West Ham Utd)
EFT player of the month for February 2007: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester Utd)
EFT player of the month for January 2007: Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for December 2006: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester Utd)
EFT player of the month for November 2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for October 2006: Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton Wanderers)
EFT player of the month for September 2006: Andrew Johnson (Everton)
EFT player of the month for August 2006: Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth)
EFT match of World Cup 2006: Italy win a thrilling 'end-to-end' World Cup semi-final 2-0 against Germany courtesy of two late extra time goals from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero 
EFT player of World Cup 2006: Italy captain and centre-back, Fabio Cannavaro
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EFT player of the month for May 2006: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for April 2006: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for March 2006: Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur)
EFT player of the month for February 2006: Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Middlesbrough)
EFT player of the month for January 2006: Jason Roberts (Wigan Athletic)
EFT player of the month for December 2005: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
EFT player of the month for November 2005: Robin van Persie (Arsenal)
EFT player of the month for October 2005: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
EFT player of the month for September 2005: Danny Murphy (Charlton Athletic)
EFT player of the month for August 2005: Wayne Rooney (Manchester Utd)
EFT match of the season for 2004-2005: Liverpool win Champions League final 3-2 on penalties against AC Milan after sensationally recovering from 3-0 down to level the match in normal time
4 Comments:
How many goals were scored in open play?
5/16/2006 8:02 am
I agree with you, blindjak. he has scored some fantastic goals, I always will remember that volley against Everton when Newcastle had pulled back previously to 1-1, and a freekick for England against (I believe) Bulgaria in Sofia, where the Bulgarians had parked almost everyone in goal to block but to no avail. There was the other side to him, which I think BJ has stated very well. How he got away with the Lennon incident is beyond reasoning. But the press, or indeed the media in whole, are very suspect at prettying up or dumming down a celebrity, footballers included. I find the current coverage over Gerrard like a one-man army over the top and sense they will be crying out the Liverpool captain will win the WC for England next. For Shearer, he was quite a darling for the English media that any discrepancy would be lightly mentioned and therefore no one can complain the media missed it, and like a small 10x10cm apology in most tabloids, it is instantly forgotten.
I remember the elbow incident and stated the Grimbsy captain was at fault, but I agree Shearer's words afterwards were not dignified enough from someone of his stature. Be that as it is, he will be forever remembered in Newcastle folklore, and his achievements for club and country outweigh any spates of negativity displayed.
Freekicks at times when Shearer took them made it nigh impossible to put up a suitable wall. He had touch and a bang of a shot on him, and given time and space could score more times than not. Strikers of today are not like Shearer, other than Rooney.
T, I like the footage along with the background music.
RedsMan.
5/16/2006 10:53 pm
Thanks BJ and Redsman. It has taken me some time to catch up with your comments.
Not sure if I was trying to polish his halo BJ(:)), although I admit I only concentrated on the many positives of Shearer.
I remember the discussion on EFT at the time of the Grimsby incident and that a lot of commentators expressed a dislike for Shearer's gamesmanship. I also remember a game against Arsenal at St James' last December when Shearer put in some disgraceful tackles on our defenders.
Yet, for me it his fantastic goalscoring ability and loyalty to the Newcastle cause that weighs more in my mind when I consider Shearer. It's also my view that he took as much punishment as he gave out - and that most of the time his play could be described as hard but fair rather than hard and illegal. I guess it comes down to a difference of perspective.
Thanks Redsman for your comment about the footage and background music... I thought they combined well together too.
5/20/2006 4:34 pm
Thanks BJ... I thought it was great (although also came as somewhat of a surprise!) to hear Jose Mourinho say some nice things about us last week... hopefully this breaking of the ice will be maintained by both Wenger and Mourinho because its good to see for the image and spirit of football.
5/22/2006 1:58 pm
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