dont flame me -- but i'm still not convinced by leon

[nycanary 1]

i know this might be unpopular but i''m still not convinced mckenzie is the right man to lead our strike force alongside deano.dont get me wrong -- he works so incredibly hard. gives 120%. there''s no argument about that and that''s why we want him to do so well and back him almost irrespective of how he performs. but i also see average first touch, poor distribution, luck-based dribbling (he never seems to be 100% in control when he''s on the run) and nothing special as far as finishing is concerned.problem is thorne is too similar to deano so who else would we try in that spot? hux? and then who on the left? anyway, this thread isn''t about who we would put in his place but just in general, was wondering what others thought about leon -- he bleeds yellow and green but he may just not be quite up to what we need to win promotion. certainly good enough for this league but....

[rich 0]

he''s certainly off form and thorne hasn''t settled, could we do worse than give a young and hungry ryan jarvis a chance.

[Yella Fella 0]

I still think that Leon will be a force in this League - he just has to find his form.  If we are talking about replacements then i dont see why Jarvis shouldnt be given a go.

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

What about Huckerby up front with Deano and McVeigh on the left??? Squiz has played well there before!?

[Cheeky Monkey 0]

I agree. McKenzie wasted A LOT of opportunities today. Committment 100% - reading the game and passing 40-/50%.

Thorne showed some good touches today in the 10 minutes he had, alternatively Jarvis. 

[FatMan Fat 0]

I reluctantly have to agree with you

Leon''s work rate and effort cannot be questioned, however his skill levels are not that great - it''s why he spent many years in the lower leagues.

When every one around him are playing well then we get away with it as his commitment overcomes his lack of class.  Sadly, when the majority of the team is playing poor quality football then Leon''s shortcoming''s stick out and that''s where we are right now.

I think he needs to be stood down and someone else needs to come in.

For me it would be Hucks with either Brennan or McVeigh going wide left.  My personal belief is that Brennan, as a "proper" midfielder, would give us better structure anyway.

Hucks and Iwan looked very, very dangerous at times two seasons ago...Hucks and Deano could be devastating.  That would leave Leon to work at winning his place back, or even better using him as an "impact" sub.

[AJ 1,221]

[quote]he''s certainly off form and thorne hasn''t settled, could we do worse than give a young and hungry ryan jarvis a chance.[/quote]

how can thorne not have settled, he hasn''t had a chance to prove it yet......

 

I have to agree about McKenzie, the number of times he wastes a good change, or is in a good position then loses it. He has lost his partnership upfront with ashton, the once unbelievable strikeforce that stunned united has no gone, the passing move that saw us two up will not return, our state of passing infront of goal is really poor.

Although you cant fault McKenzie for effort, he needs to score when we get into those situations.

I think McKenzie can still be the man, we just need to play as a team and supply the strikers with what they need.

 

If not, give Thorne or as you said, ryan Jarvis a chance.

to be honest, this is make or brake season for both Henderson and Jarvis

[Canarychick 0]

I was going to post something similar and realised I may be Mrs. Unpopular !

He has bags of energy but thats it.  Today he didnt seem to be in front of goal and not know what to do next.

 

[Radio Norfolk 0]

Strikers can either score, bring people into play or create opportunities

Leon does none of these

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

[quote]Strikers can either score, bring people into play or create opportunities Leon does none of these[/quote]

I think that''s a bit harsh. His scoring record isn''t bad and he certainly creates opportunities. The problem appears to be his ratio of created opportunities to goals scored which needs to be improved, together with his link up play with Ashton!

[Dicky 0]

Have to agree - wastes a lot of opportunities and doesn''t really play as a team player.

[huck tastic<IMG src="http:new.pinkun.comforumsimagesline.gif"><BR><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Bryan Hamilton could turn this around...<BR><FONT> 0]

I thought Leon improved steadily over last season, eventually looking like he was nearly good enough for the Premier league.

Very disappointing today, although always worked hard.  We need a bit more quality out of him... 

[kye5 0]

leon will never score 20 goals a season and will struggle to get a dozen .yes loads of effort but poor touch , need to take our chances or teams will keep pegging us back  give thorne a run was highly rated a few years back

[Hulk Hogan 0]

and i suppose if any of you lot pulled on a footie shirt you would be soooo much better than him! give the guy a break! but i do think he could do with some time out,

[ncfc0405 0]

Don''t buy it myself. If you watched the game today you''d have seen him tear back from the palace penalty area, rob one of their midfielders from behind in a sliding tackle to push the ball out to huckerby enabling him to spin off forward creating a good scoring opportunity.

And don''t tell me that his goals against Everton, Man City and others last season were not proper striker''s goals.

OK he''s not Thierry Henry but then who is. He''s in my starting 11 every day of the week.

[nycanary 1]

what *could* be ideal is a front 6 of:

marney
jarrett
safri
brennan/mcveigh/new player

hux

deano

sort of like how united have played with rooney or scholes in that spot. or when england do it. but the problem with that is that hux would be playmaker and sadly, that''s not his best role. he does get crosses in from time to time but he''s a head down runner whereas this spot behind the lone forward needs to be looking up all the time and thinking about how to create in a multitude of ways...not just by running at the defence.

dare i say it -- it''s the bentley spot and he''s the type of player that would allow hux to go back to left side of midfield and have a creative player work with deano. some of us have talked about getting a creative midfielder...well, this is basically that players spot, albeit a little more attack-minded.

leon would be great off the bench. but as the window winds down, i think NW should not rule out looking at some quality attacking players that might be available (todorov? i used to think artim sakiri was quite good...but he may not be right). doesn''t mean we don''t need a central defender but for all of our talk of having the best attacking team in the league, we have a chink in the attacking armor and shouldn''t ignore it.

also agree with the rest of you -- this may be a moment to let jarvis have a few games up there with deano.

just repeating the obvious: leon gives 100% and he''s the consummate pro. but we just may need a better player to support deano.

[silver fox 0]

I still think he can do the job and he will always be a handful for any defence.  I am sure the Palace defence were quite happy to see Leon being replaced by Thorne.  Until we can come up with another striker, and I don''t mean Thorne or Jarvis, I believe Leon deserves his place in the starting line up.

[Dicky 0]

[quote]and i suppose if any of you lot pulled on a footie shirt you would be soooo much better than him! give the guy a break! but i do think he could do with some time out,[/quote]

Strange post - whether we personally could do any better is irrelevant.  Leon will always be a total star in my eyes (2 goals in first game against Scum), but he is not effective at the moment for the team.

[carpio 0]

Problem with "resting" leon is that the rest of the team would have to play better in defence ,better in midfield and apply themselves to chasing lost causes in attack because that is what he brings to the team. weather that is what we want from a striker is the question!

[Evil Monkey 52]

How quickly we forget Leon''s goal on Tuesday night... strength, pace and, yes, skill...

Part of the problem for him at the moment is that Ashton is being hounded by at least two defenders most of the time, and is therefore struggling to win the flick-ons from long balls. When it does fall to him he looks dangerous, he just needs a few games to remember where the goal is.  I suppose at least people are blaming Leon for this one, and not Worthy or the coaches for a change...

Leon isn''t the best striker in the world, we know this, but I would have him in my starting 11 every day... in fact, today''s starting 11 should continue.