Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits the English game is losing the aerial centre-forward - and clubs are having to go abroad to find such players.
Wenger, who has contributed to transforming training patterns in England, made the observation when discussing the form of his French centre-forward Olivier Giroud.
"I like his play," said Wenger. "He has improved his link play with the other players, he is dangerous in every single game. Is he the best in his type of play? I like what he does.
"There is plenty of this type of player, [but] you had more before. If you go back to the 1960s and '70s and look at the strikers who were good in the air and English, [they were at] every single club.
"And tell me now today have you got same number? I'm not even talking about quality, but have you got the same number who go in for crosses, go in the air?
"We teach more play on the ground, we have better training pitches. Before, even in the games in the 1950s, you had to lift the ball and bump it forward and you needed somebody who could fight for the ball.
"Today we educate more on the ground. Maybe we pay a bit of a price of having less people who are ready to go for this kind of [aerial] ball."
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