Les Ferdinand warns of alarming England striker shortage for World Cup
Former England forward Les Ferdinand has expressed significant concern regarding the lack of depth in striking options available to the national team ahead of the World Cup.
The Premier League legend believes the scarcity of homegrown centre-forwards competing at the top level is a major issue for Gareth Southgate’s side.
While England captain Harry Kane continues to excel as a prolific goalscorer for Bayern Munich, the domestic scoring charts are currently dominated by overseas talent.
‘A worrying situation’
Ferdinand fears that the backup role to Kane will simply fall to whoever finds a temporary run of form late in the season.
Leeds United’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin is currently the only English player to reach double figures this campaign with 10 goals.
Speaking to the Press Association, the 59-year-old said: "At the moment he [Kane] is the exception to the rule in terms of churning goals out year in, year out."
"It’s who is the other they’re going to take. It’s a dilemma because I think any striker that has a period now where he’s scoring goals will have an opportunity to go to the World Cup."
Ferdinand noted that discussions around experienced forwards like Danny Welbeck had "gone a bit quiet" recently.
He added: "That just shows you the lack of number nines there is in the country at the moment. It’s a worrying situation."
Hall of Fame induction
The former Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur striker addressed the media after being inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in Manchester on Tuesday.
Ferdinand sits 12th in the all-time Premier League scoring charts with 149 goals but earned only 17 caps for his country.
He attributes his limited international appearances to the intense competition for places during the 1990s and 2000s, a sharp contrast to the current landscape.
"Back in the day, the level of striker that was around: Mark Bright, Ian Wright, Teddy Sheringham, Alan Shearer, David Hirst," Ferdinand recalled.
"There were so many centre-forwards, number nines, and that was what we were traditionally known for."
Lack of competition
The newly inducted Hall of Famer believes the modern dearth of talent is due to a lack of genuine competition pushing players to improve.
He cited the likes of Robbie Fowler, Stan Collymore and Andy Cole as peers who kept his own performance levels high.
"These guys kept you on your toes, because if these guys were scoring at the weekend you felt, ‘well I have to score if I want to be mentioned in the same echelons as them’," he explained.
"That level of competition’s not there anymore so that’s why I think there’s a dearth of talent coming through."