Euro 2020: Patrik Schick has the makings of an old-fashioned No 9

Somebody said to me on Tuesday that Patrik Schick’s header against Scotland was ‘Sutton-esque’. 

I just wish they’d said the same about his 50-yard wonderstrike! I never got to score a goal from the halfway line in his career. 

To tell the truth, I never even tried it. I knew my limits! But Schick was audacious enough to try it and not only that, he executed it wonderfully. 

I don’t buy those blaming David Marshall for being off his line. This was one of the greatest-ever goals scored at a European Championship. 

There is more to this 25-year-old than the capacity to swing his left leg like it’s a golf club and drive the ball up then down and into the goal, however. 

This is what England must beware when they face Schick at Wembley next week.

Lethal when deployed as a striker 

Schick signed for Roma in 2017 in a club-record deal worth around £29million (€34m) but in two seasons there, he wasn’t exactly prolific in Serie A. 

He scored just twice in 2017-18, then three times in 2018-19. It wasn’t entirely his fault, mind. With Edin Dzeko ahead of him in the pecking order, the left-footed Schick was often having to play on the right wing. That’s not where he is at his best. 

He’s better when used as a striker, like he was for RB Leipzig in 2019-20 – where he played alongside Timo Werner – and for Bayer Leverkusen in 2020-21. 

At 6ft 2in, Schick is built to be aerially strong. The cross for his first goal against Scotland was slightly behind him, but he improvised by backtracking before directing his header into the far left corner.

Will always look to link up with his team-mates

Schick has the makings of an old-fashioned No 9 but that classic football saying – ‘nice touch for a big man’ – very much applies to this forward. 

Watching highlights of him in a Leipzig and Leverkusen shirt, he’s shown a willingness to drop into deeper positions and receive the ball in tight situations. He doesn’t then dribble with it. 

Instead he’ll tidily pass it on to a team-mate and then break forward in the hope that he can apply the finishing touch to the move.

Wants to exploit those empty spaces left by defenders

Schick could do a job in the Premier League if any clubs are looking for a solid centre forward – and they’ll be well aware of his presence after these goals against Scotland. 

He’s got a bit of Patrick Bamford and Dominic Calvert-Lewin about him. A major strength of Schick’s game is his movement. He’ll look for any spaces left by the opposition defenders which he can make his own. 

Take this goal he scored for Leipzig in November 2019. 

Schick placed himself between the two Paderborn centre backs. He receives possession from the left wing, spins beautifully, squeezes between the two defenders and then dinks the ball over the goalkeeper.