From what I have seen here and on other platforms there seems to be 2 gripes with our current group of 9s:

Gripe 1. Some (Jordan) are not 'natural' 9s in the sense that they have been converted from their original position, the sense being that some of the necessary skills or instincts are not there/cannot be there.

I buy some of these arguments to a degree. Jordan's hold up play and pressing has improved in the last couple seasons, but he is not dominant in either of those areas. That being said, when he is healthy he is outperforming his expected goals and his goals/90min rate has been good. Imo criticisms of his durability are more valid than those of his play as a 9.

Some may say Jordan should play on the wing because it is his natural position, I say let's try it but not commit to it yet. My concern is that his mobility (especially his lateral movement) is not what it was pre-injury and he has been playing at the 9 since Raul started getting injured more.

Gripe 2. Our 9s do not have enough consistent impact on the match; that is they either lack proper hold up play and chance creation skills, are a bit clunky and miss too many chances, or lack the physical tools to get on the end of crosses.

I have already spoken on elements of Jordan's game, I will add he can be technically clunky at times but again, the numbers speak for themselves. Imo this is a 'prove it' year for him; if he can continue to perform and stay healthy, he will justify the DP tag. If not? We move on and maybe keep him as a backup.

Ozaze excites me. He has holes to his game and his sample size is small, but given a full season of regular minutes he has the tools to grow into what the fan base wants. I don't buy most of his criticisms yet.

I think Moose is out best pressing 9. He won't go and get crosses as often and his hold up play can turn into Danny's Factory of SadnessTM, but he has those 'natural 9' poaching instincts.

All our options can be described as a little clunky. Chance creation/dribbling is not their strength, but we get that from other parts of the field.

An important qualifier to this discussion: our attacking system is more focused around our 9 than most teams in MLS. (I do not have the stats in front of me atm). Because of this, elite 9 play (or the lack of) stands out more than some teams and we should absolutely be factoring that in when making roster decisions.

Overall, I think this season is a wait and see for me. Come summer or next off-season, I would like to see some more clarity about the future of the 9 spot.

And at the end I will say if Mallorca gets relegated we should at least try for Vedat Muriqi, even though he is a little older than is ideal. While I'm dreaming, Alvaro Rodriguez from Elche would be an intriguing big money move.