There’s no more heavily scrutinized position on the field than that of a striker.



Defenses are often measured as a collective unit, and some of the best-drilled backlines work so well together that one or two players are relatively anonymous to the wider fan-base. Midfields have some of the same cohesion, but for every game-breaking No. 10 creating chances or No. 8 getting the ball all over the field, there’s a No. 6 mopping up after the prestige players.



Everyone in the stadium knows the name of their team’s striker, and probably fears or openly ridicules the opponent’s in equal measure. On Saturday, San Jose brought U.S. international Chris Wondolowski off the bench in the 55th minute. Immediately, the Minnesota United supporters sections broke into a parody of Solomon Linda’s The Lion Sleeps Tonight. “Wondolowski, hey Wondolowski, you’ll never score a goal,” they cried, attempting to get into the...