We take a look at the creme de la creme of strikers to have graced the Hyundai A-League.
A great striker can be the difference between winning a title and losing one and when you look at the history of the Hyundai A-League there have only been a handful of players that could find the net on a regular basis, while there have been plenty who have promised the world but delivered little.
Juan Carlos Solorzano, who had one great season tapping in goals for Brisbane Roar and then went to Melbourne Victory and was a complete bust is one example of this and then there was the Romario experiment, which might have put people in the stands of Hindmarsh Stadium, but he wasn-t the same player who dominated FIFA World Cups for Brazil, and although in a historical sense he is the greatest player to take part in the Hyundai A-League, he doesn-t make the cut for the top ten strikers the league has seen on the form he displayed while here.
So without further ado, let-s get into the top ten as we count down all the way to one , throughout the course of a week which will see the 2012/13 season draw announced.
10. Matt Simon (Central Coast Mariners)
The burly Mariners marksman always put in a huge effort in every game of his A-League career and has since made the move overseas to Korea with Chunnam Dragons. But what he brought to the Mariners and the league was vital, and that was a happy knack of being able to finish chances on the ground and in the air.
He was also a vital part of Premiers Plate winning sides in 07/08 and 11/12, especially the latter when even though he left halfway through the season he was still the equal leading goal-scorer for the Mariners with seven for the season alongside Bernie Ibini.
A natural finisher what was really noticeable was how badly the Mariners missed him once he left the club, no longer were they able to score goals almost at will thanks to their big man up front and you could argue his loss was a big reason they couldn-t go on and claim the Grand Final trophy they so badly crave.
9. Besart Berisha (Brisbane Roar)
One season in the A-League has seen the Albanian international capture plenty of the headlines and not always for all the right reasons, but what he has brought to the league is a high degree of drama and the ability to poach a goal at any time, especially inside the six yard box.
While he is great at close quarters and scored a league record 21 goals throughout the 2011/12 season there is some doubt as to his effectiveness when he doesn-t have the ball provided on a silver platter, as evidenced by the way he struggled to have an impact whenever Thomas Broich wasn-t around at the Roar.
In addition to that he doesn-t seem to be the type of striker who can score from distance and despite regularly putting himself in the right position that does make him slightly one dimensional.
His upside though is he still has plenty of time to prove the doubters wrong and will be doing so from within a very good squad.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not Football Federation Australia
