Sunday 4 March 2018 17:02, UK
Brighton and Hove Albion striker Glenn Murray is enjoying his best ever Premier League season at the age of 34. Adam Bate caught up with him to find out how he is doing it and why he is convinced that there will always be a role for the target man.
With two goals for Brighton in their 4-1 win over Swansea last weekend, Glenn Murray took his Premier League tally for the season to 10 goals. Only three Englishman - Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling & Jamie Vardy - have scored more. So why has Murray had to wait until the age of 34 to get an extended opportunity to play in the top flight?
A physical presence with shrewd movement and a calm head in front of goal, it should be no surprise that he is scoring regularly. Murray has done it all of his career. But his first chance with Crystal Palace was delayed through serious injury and he was loaned back to the Championship the following season. A move to Bournemouth did not work out either.
He could be forgiven for feeling frustrated. Even before this season his 11 Premier League goals had come at a rate of one every 187 minutes - just about a goal every other game. But when asked whether the Murray of a decade ago, banging the goals in for Rochdale in the fourth tier, could have seized this chance, he is typically honest.
"No, I don't think so," he tells Sky Sports. "I have learned a lot over the years. I have learned how best to use my attributes. That comes with a bit of knowledge and a bit of wisdom. So there are no regrets, really. It is what it is. Some managers fancy you and some don't. That's life but I am trying to prove myself now. I am just enjoying it.
"Obviously, I don't have any real speed to work with so I have to use other things. The modern game is very speed based so as soon as managers see that you haven't got that pace it can be tough. But if you are given the opportunity with pace around you, like I had at Palace with Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie, then it works."
At Brighton, while Jose Izquierdo has made a big impact of late, setting up Murray's second against Swansea, it is the man who played the pass through to the winger who is making the team tick. Pascal Gross has more assists than any player at a bottom-half team, three of them for Murray, and the striker is relishing the opportunity to work with the German.
"He is different to anyone I have played with before," says Murray. "He is forward thinking but very creative thinking as well. If there is a one-on-one and there is just the goalkeeper to beat, a lot of people would just take it on. But if I am square of him and free, then Pascal looks for me. It is a different mentality that they are brought up with in Germany."
The partnership has helped to ensure that there are eight teams below Brighton with just 10 games remaining. It has been a struggle physically and mentally at times, as Murray readily acknowledges, but the Seagulls are on course for survival. Not that they can enjoy it just yet. "If we had four or five more points I would be enjoying it a bit more," he says with a smile.
"The table looks good but it is still tight and we are all well aware that it could always look very different in a couple of weeks. But we have done well. It is a difficult balance when you step into the Premier League. Brighton have won a hell of a lot of games over the past few years in the Championship. It is a club that is used to winning.
"We missed out on promotion by a point two seasons ago and then we went up the year after. So the fans and the players are used to that winning mentality week in week out. When you go up to the Premier League and go 12 without a win it is a challenge but it can still be a successful season at the same time so it is just a case of trying to remember that.
"Of course, it is not acceptable to get beaten 5-1 like we did against Liverpool. That's not the word. But you do just have to accept it and move on very quickly. I think we have got to remember that we are a newly promoted team so we are not going to get a lot of chances, so the ones that we do get it is up to us to be clinical with."
With a superior conversion rate from inside the penalty box to both Kane and Sergio Aguero, Murray has certainly been doing that and will be looking to improve his ratio against Arsenal on Sunday. The Gunners chose to dispense with their own target man in January, selling Olivier Giroud to Chelsea, but there is clearly life in the role yet.
"I think there will always be a demand for that type of player," says Murray. "I think there was a time where the target man went out of fashion and it was all about the small and quick striker. But there is always room for a big man in football as long as you play fast players off him and Giroud is the example that I always use.
"He is not the quickest player himself but if you throw the ball up to him, he holds it up and he wins his headers. When you have all of those quick players around him like there was at Arsenal, it worked well for him. I felt that he was a very underrated player during his time there. He scored a lot of goals for Arsenal. He guaranteed goals."
With Peter Crouch also still scoring in the Premier League at the age of 37, Murray is hoping that he will have a few years left at the top himself. While he has no regrets, he is conscious of the fact that he is making up for lost time and wants to stay at the top level for as long as possible. Perhaps the fact that he was a late starter could actually help him.
After all, Murray was playing for Wilmington Hammerheads in the United States in his early twenties before embarking on the journey that has taken him to the top. Will it work to his advantage? "I do think that for players, especially internationals who are representing their country and having to play in the Premier League, it does take its toll on the body," he adds.
"It is physically and mentally demanding year in and year out. Sometimes if you break in early you can look tired. I am the exact opposite of that and hopefully that will stand me in good stead. Of course, football can always change in a blink of an eye but my plan is to stay at Brighton - and to stay in the Premier League."
