Leon to fill the gap

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

Looks like Leon will start on boxing day, according to the official site.  I hope the lad does ok.  He puts himself about, just needs to start getting his shooting boots on!

I really hope we don''t try and play the long ball game up to him though.  It could leave him very isolated

[westoncanary. 0]

If we play the long game on Sunday we may as well forget getting anything out of the game.  Spurs have some big fellas at the back and I doubt we would get any joy that way.  We would be better off with Mullers in the midfield along with Safri to release Leon & Hux.  This is going to be one very difficult match.

[essexcanary 0]

i totally agree with you, leon will struggle on his own on sunday.

i think jonson should start up front with him, and have hucks on the left.

my team for sun would be:

               green

 eddie  doherty  fleming  charlton

helveg   bentley  safri  hucks

          mckenzie  jonson:

[Old Boy 0]

I really like MacKenzie - he''s got... well, guts sums it up probably. He never backs away, he never gives up, and his head never drops. He''s got the makings of a great player, with a good touch and speed and height in the jump. He just needs a bit more of a footballing brain, some cleverness, which I hope will come now he''s seeing the best. Whatever, he''s a credit to the club.

[Northern Canary 0]

I would play

Eddie  Fleming  Charlton  Drury

Bentley Francis/Safri  Mullers
                                     Hux

     McKenzie  Jonson

Francis if fit but if not then safri

[ZLF 288]

I struggle to see that Leon will take to the sven lead role well at all. I agree with Old Boy that Leon has oodles of energy and applies it fantastically well but like Holt and others he simply does not have the touch of class needed to succeed, either in a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1.In a 4-5-1 Leons touch is simply not good enough to hold up the ball or to lay it off to get the supporting midfielders involved. Leons ability lies in is his pace and strength to get onto a ball played behind the defence - in a 4-5-1 he will nearly always get the ball with his back to the goal.However the key to the spurs game is not the strikers but the defence who, to keep a clean sheet, will need to have the organsation skill and concentration level for a full 95mins that have so far eluded them this season.OTBC

[KeelansGlove 0]

With our lack of cutting edge up front I find it hard to believe we will keep the ball away from our defensive third long enough during the game to keep a clean sheet.

[bananaman 0]

Yes, it''s all in the defence now.Leon just doesn''t have the ability for this league - he is always chasing the ball instead of being in a good position to receive the ball.Our only hope without a good striker (or Francis) is keeping a clean sheet, and with Flem and Eddy in their current vein of "form", there''s not much hope of that happening.

[Saint Canary 0]

Sorry but there is no way I can agree that Hux should play out left.  He has been missing in lots of games due to him being tied to the left side.

I think we forget that he likes to "drift" out there rather than play the whole game there, much the same as Henry does for Arsenal.  It''s been said so many times that he gets double marked and thus has very little impact on the game.

Playing the system used against Bolton is the best way to go with IMO Jonson up front with Hux and Bentley behind him.

[a1canary 0]

i like the 4-5-1. We should try and emulate everton, hard though that is with francis, holt, mullers and even henderson all missing.

Leon is not that disimilar to Bent tho.

[NavMan 0]

Leon is not that disimilar to Bent - except that Bent knows where the net is.  For the umteenth time Leon has been in the papers this week saying I''ve got my chance - well lets hope that this time he takes it if he gets the chance to score.  Running around is one of Leons qualities but so it is with Holt and look at the slating he got from some quarters. 

[ZLF 288]

The advantage of a 4-5-1 is that Hux can be released from the left flank - he did this against Bolton (when we were more 4-2-3-1) in the second half and popped up on the right a couple of time - that has to be how we approach Sundays game for the full 90 minutes. To me the use of Hux over the last dozen games or so has been the biggest criminal waste of talent I have ever seen at this club - he is our most threatening striker who creates chances for his team mates when given the width of the pitch to exploit. When up front he takes one of the central defenders out of position who are usually slower than their full backs and does not usually get double marked. However I agree that using him as the 1 in a 4-5-1 wont work as it is a back to goal role which is not his strength. OTBC

[Ken Aries 0]

a lot of the time he seems to run around like a headless chicken. sadly, im not at all convinced that he''s good enough for this league. at times he''s shown signs of quality, but you couldnt accuse him of being a prolific goal scorer, and goals are what we''re crying out for. still, we havent much choice but to play him. let''s hope he turns on the style v spurs and helps the team along to a much needed home win.

[Campbell 0]

McKenzie''s goal against Everton was one of Premiership quality. However, this and his link up play with Hucks against Palace, have been his only real class moments. To be fair, he hasn''t had a ''great'' chance lately, not since the Manchester United game really.

I believe he is a good striker though; remember the great tackle and through-ball played to Huckerby against West Brom (Yes, Hucks did fluff it horribly, if it was the other way round, I''d guess at 1-0 Norwich...but that''s another story) His touch for Hucks goal against Birmingham; his pass for Francis against Southampton; his aerial ability to set Francis through to force the corner that won us the Southampton game. He does a lot of things that go unnoticed, but unfortunately as he is a striker, he has to hit the back of the net a few times more.

He has the confidence to shoot from distance too, something we lack...Bentley is the only one who will attempt to beat a player and shoot (Take not Sir Huckerby!) and sometimes McVeigh will do the same when he''s on. Let''s have some shots against Spurs!

Talking of the Spurs game, we should go like this:

                                                     Greeno

Edworthy                           Doherty                     Fleming                     Charlton

 

                     Bentley                          Helveg                       Safri

                                    

                                      Jonson                     Huckerby (Free role!)

                                                        McKenzie

Bentley and Jonson can interchange...Hucks can go wherever the hell he wants, preferably running at the heart of the Spurs defence (Hopefully Naybet will play; he has NO pace!)

COME ON YOU YELLOWS! We have to be up for this one; fired up to unbelievable levels!

[ZLF 288]

I agree with the team you have Campbell but would have the midfield shaped as Helveg Safri(Damo if fit) Jonson Bentley Hux and encourage the from 3 to interchange freely when going forward and let the defensive duo close the door defensively.OTBC

[Campbell 0]

Yeah, I could see how that could work ZLF, especially as Spurs do not have a great deal of natural width in their side with no Davies, though if Edman is fit and comes back and Atouba goes to left wing, then that would change and I would go with my formation. It is important the structure in midfield is the best to combat whatever Spurs are doing, but allows enough players to get forward...

We shall see!