Best finisher?

MichaelDebeve said:
I genuinely think Boksic was past caring by the time he signed for us!
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I think there's some truth in this, despite him being my overall pick.

I think you even see it in some of his attempted finishes, he was often trying to score the perfect, potentially at the expense of scoring easily.

There was definitely an arrogance to him albeit incredibly well placed! Absolutely box office combination, arrogance and technique.
 
MichaelDebeve said:
I genuinely think Boksic was past caring by the time he signed for us!
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100%. He didn't score some chances because he wanted to score good goals instead of goals that were easy for him to score. It was like watching someone play with kids at times but they were PL defenders. He was too good to play against them and he knew it so he tried to score goals that made him look good instead. He's the one player that played for us that I thought if he had the right attitude could have been the best player in the world because he had the ability. Viduka was similar in that I got the impression he was happy being comfortable at our level when he should have been pushing himself further but still a level below Boksic.

Alun Armstrong was actually my first thought for this question. He was clinical in that 1st season with us but he didn't have the other attributes to make him a top player. He was definitely better than his career stats make him look though but he was hampered by injuries.
 
Surprised so many have said Branca to be honest. Don't get me wrong he was a fantastic player and scored some great goals.

But such a small sample size and of the 9 he scored 3 were a little bit lucky in that they hit the keeper on the way in, 1 was a scruffy mishit and 1 was an open goal tap in that even Silvera would struggle to miss.

Granted the other 4 are excellent clean finishes (although not sure how many times out of 10 he'd pull off the overhead kick) but I don't think you can say someone is our best ever finisher based on 4 goals.

Not compared to some of the other candidates who have a much larger body of work to go off.

 
Nano said:
Viduka was similar in that I got the impression he was happy being comfortable at our level when he should have been pushing himself further but still a level below Boksic.
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There is no way Viduka was below Boksic.
I don't have much time for a bloke who wanted to look cool rather than put the ball in the net.
 
Nano said:
100%. He didn't score some chances because he wanted to score good goals instead of goals that were easy for him to score. It was like watching someone play with kids at times but they were PL defenders. He was too good to play against them and he knew it so he tried to score goals that made him look good instead. He's the one player that played for us that I thought if he had the right attitude could have been the best player in the world because he had the ability. Viduka was similar in that I got the impression he was happy being comfortable at our level when he should have been pushing himself further but still a level below Boksic.
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That is incredibly kind to Boksic. He was a fantastic player but I think what we saw was just exactly the player/personality he was.

It wasn't "too easy" for him. He wasn't passing up 20 goals a season because he was looking for the perfect goal. That's just nonsense.

He just wasn't a prolific scorer. Look at his career stats elsewhere. We did better than the majority of his clubs when it came to getting him on the pitch and in terms of goal output.

Not sure what you mean by Viduka pushing himself either? He was outstanding for us in a side that finished 7th in the league (would've finished higher if he hadn't been injured half the season) and then reached a European final. It sounds like you think he should've been putting in a transfer request to a bigger club? Strange complaint about a player from a Boro fan.
 
indeedido said:
There is no way Viduka was below Boksic.
I don't have much time for a bloke who wanted to look cool rather than put the ball in the net.
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He definitely was. This is a question purely about ability and Boksic had more ability than Viduka (and any other player I've ever seen in a Boro shirt). Boksic had a horrific attitude and his lack of interest showed. I don't think he will have been much different throughout his career either, you don't just develop that attitude. Ibrahimovic had the same attitude but he wanted to show how good he was at all opportunities. Boksic just never cared what other people thought. Despite that attitude I think he had incredible ability. He came 4th in the 1993 Ballon D'Or. You don't get that sort of recognition without being a top level player.

Not sure what you mean by Viduka pushing himself either? He was outstanding for us in a side that finished 7th in the league
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Look at Viduka's career, the teams he played for and the honours he won. There's nothing of note. He was very good but he should have played for a better team than us. He should never have come to us and should have been at a Champions League club really. I think he was a brilliant player and he's up there with one of the best players I've seen for us so I really want to make it clear that I am not downplaying his ability.

If I was going to choose a player to have in my team I would choose Viduka ahead of Boksic but if the question was purely on which player had the most ability then I'd choose Boksic over Viduka.
 
indeedido said:
Boksic missed lots of chances, often trying to be too clever.
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That's my memory too; one of our more wasteful strikers.

I accept the point about him wanting to score flashy finishes, but even when he pulled them off, they only counted one.

My main memory of AB is going for the floaty little chip, often over the bar, when through 1 on 1.

Branca, Armstrong, Slaven, Viduka and Archer are all good calls

For some reason Higgy has just sprung to mind. I'm struggling to recall him missing many, and he kept cool on the big occasions
 
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I tell you what, looking at this thread, regardless of your opinion, some of the names associated to our club over the years is nuts.

Majority of clubs our size would give them their right arm to argue over Viduka or Boksic, Hasselbaink or Yakubu etc
 
For pure footballing ability Boksic was as good as I have seen. Pace, Power, Skill - he had it all. He should have been profilic everywhere he went. Maybe his attitude didn't lend itself to being that 20-30 goal a season man.

I thought Alun Armstrong was an excellent finisher. I always fancied Fjortoft when he had a chance too.
 
I never saw Cloughie play for us, but his stats are impressive. John Hickton, in his prime, was a tremendous finisher. I would say Viduka, if we are looking at players in the Riverside era.
 
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