Sir Rickie wants to stay

And, as far as we know, doesn't seem to possess a car.

 

Alan Shearer retired at the age of 36.

Between the ages of 31 and 35, he played 228 games and scored 113 goals.

In the five years previous to this (aged 26-30), he played 176 games and scored 93 goals.

So he played 52 extra games and scored 20 extra goals in his older years.

In addition, he suffered no significant injuries in the five seasons he played beyond the age of 31.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I did the math. Rickie could possibly get even better!!



*All games played for Newcastle

 

That would work except Lambert and Shearer are different players and Rickie is playing in a different era to Shearer. Rickie is playing as a lone striker the majority of the time which is bloody hard work! 4-4-2 was a lot more common when Shearer was playing.

 

I don't think there is necessarily a big difference in terms of work rate. As a lone striker (in 4-2-3-1) you have two wide players playing very high up, as well as a central player also playing very high up. So when attacking you have four players (minimum) running into attacking positions. With 4-4-2 you may only have the front two doing most of the attacking play. What actually dictates that Rickie must do a lot of running is Pochetino's preference for 'high-pressure'. Ironically the need for an out-and-out striker has lessened a lot more with 4-2-3-1, and as we have seen certain teams are able to now play without a recognised striker, ie; Swansea, Spurs, Barce, Spain etc

 

Plus the fact that Rickie will uindoubtedly become less of an out-and-out striker and more of an attacking midfield type of player as he gets a bit older, taking the pressure of him a bit more.