Clifford heads TOP 10 strike forwards in football
FOR all the talk of football being in crisis, the pity is that conversation is taking place against the backdrop of a sport that is blessed with as deep a reservoir of talent as the game has ever witnessed. It is accepted, driven by Stephen Cluxton, that this is a golden age for goalkeepers, defenders now exercise a dual mandate as hybrid forwards, while Brian Fenton now occupies the same elevated place as Jack O’Shea once did as the complete midfielder – and has Conor Glass for company.
Above all though – and it’s a bit like ‘driving for show and putting for dough’ in golf – it is attacking talent that always puts the bums on seats and that is the most potent reason of all why the game has got such a healthy pulse.
We are blessed with some of the best that have ever graced the sport, and for this week’s exercise I am not including the half-forward/middle eight specialists who can sting with the very best – the likes of Paudie Clifford, Sean O’Shea, Ciaran Kilkenny, Enda Smith and Rian O’Neill are excluded on that basis – but instead focusing on the inside forward talent, which, given the deluded corner-back inside me are 10 good reasons why
I am so happy he is retired.
Here then is the countdown to my top 10 strike forwards in football.
10 Ryan O’Donoghue (Mayo)
O’Donoghue for the past three and a half seasons has become the player to take on the burden that was once Cillian O’Connor’s.
I have seen him come to Tralee and give Tom O’Sulivan the runaround a couple of times, which is a measure of where he is at.
If he gets the support that O’Connor in his prime did not always get, he will take Mayo deep into the summer.
9 Oisin Gallen (Donegal)
Fit and healthy, he is simply box office, a sublime skill-set complimenting his ability to win aerial ball, while his accuracy is one of the most potent weapons which Jim McGuiness has deployed this spring. When McGuinness led Donegal to the Sam Maguire in 2012, Colm Mcfadden – as I know to my cost – was absolutely key to their success. Gallen is now that man.
8 Shane Walsh (Galway)
He showcased what he was all about in 2022 when he produced probably the greatest individual performance by a forward in a losing team in an All-Ireland final since Peter Canavan’s display in the 1995 final.
He is a gifted player, capable of the outrageous. But if there is a flaw it is that, a bit like Dublin’s Diarmuid Connolly, he is not as consistent as Galway would like him to be.
7 Darren McCurry (Tyrone)
I marked him back in 2012 in Killarney and when an inevitable melee broke out he was not for backing out.
In time, he would reveal himself to be something other than just feisty. He is an exceptional forward, who relishes the responsibility of being a finisher, which is the kind of mind-set championship winning forwards must have.
6 Damien Comer (Galway)
An exceptional target man, he is incredibly smart and deceptively fast on the ball, while he is as composed a finisher as there is in the game right now.
His biggest issue has been staying fit in recent seasons and when he is missing, his team look shapeless and toothless in attack.
5 Conor McManus (Monaghan)
It might raise eyebrows that he is this high up the list now that he is in his 18th season, but when he was in his prime he had few peers.
Watching him in last year’s quarter-final against Armagh and the manner in how he defied his creaking body to make a whole series of clutch plays confirmed that when it comes to skill and nerve, this man is a class of his own.
4 Darragh Canavan (Tyrone)
Great players have produced great heirs in the past, but I can’t recall a father and son who are so alike.
Yes, he has a long way to go to match what Peter achieved, but he has such balance, vision and touch, as well as being a consummate finisher that he is already set for an incredible career in his own right.
3 Shane McGuigan (Derry)
In terms of structure and shape, Derry have got everything right but all of that would amount to very little if they did not have this man leading the line.
It is staggering the burden of responsibility he has taken on his shoulders given the lack of support he has enjoyed to keep producing, particularly given the claustrophobic nature of the Ulster Championship, game on game, year on year. It underlines what a rare talent he is.
2 Con O’Callaghan (Dublin)
There was some foolish talk in recent times about how O’’Callaghan had lost his edge because he had been signed up to become another Duracell football bunny. Nonsense. He is a nightmare for defenders because he has size, strength and skill on his side, while he does what every defender hates – even one as great as Lee Keegan – which is that he will not hesitate to run at you.
And with the ball in his hand, there is nothing else left to do as a defender but fear for the outcome. And there is good reason to be fearful.
1 David Clifford (Kerry)
I was asked recently what plan would I have for marking him and I replied I would offer a novena to St Jude, the patron saint of hopeless causes. I had the misfortune to mark Kieran Donaghy and Colm Cooper in training, and I imagine marking Clifford must be like marking the Star and Gooch all wrapped into one. Good luck with that.
There are so many elements that make him different, but I marvel at how quickly he can get the trajectory of his kicks high into the air so quickly, ensuring he won’t be blocked, and still find enormous range.
It would be a bit like a golfer teeing off on a par five with a gap wedge, seeking to get on the green in two.
You won’t see that happening ever, but then we have never seen anything like Clifford.
Quite simply, the best I have ever seen.