I was thinking today that our midfield is actually quite strong and if we were to sign one more quality midfielder, for example someone who comes to mind is alan smith (i know that's controversial) we may have one of the best midfields in the league, no other team has the quality of max and snoddy out wide. Howson is so comfortable playing in the attacking midfield role and brown has done very well throughout his career, i just think we are missing someone but i cant put my finger on the player we should bring in
Find us the tough tackling DM (is that Brown, Clayton, or AN Other?) & we'll be sorted, even more so if Lees steps up to the plate this season.
Nunez ..... ? how people forget this guy baffles me, he's like a new signing, 3 goals and 3 assists in 8 games for the worst team in the league is decent
no nunez will not play in the midfield trio, 1. nunez will be a backup to howson 2. nunez will be a backup to snoddy and gradel 3. nunez will be a replacement for gradel nunez cannot play where kilkenny played last year therefore he is not first choice, clayton is more likely at the moment to get first team football above nunez why can you not understand this QSS
I think Nunez will play wherever SG thinks is best. He certainly won't be a DM. But out wide or through the centre, by all accounts he is a class act. Not sure yet how SG is going to fit Snoddy, Max or Sam, Nunez and/or Howson, Clayton and/or Brown into a 4 person midfield. & that's before SG decides whether or not Clayton, Brown, Bruce, Bromby, or AN Other is our much needed tough tackling DM. Great position to be in. We already have a decent attack. We have the makings of a decent midfield both in attack & in defence. All we need now is for Kisnorbo to stay fit, Lees to step up, OB to be effective, & Parker or Bessone& Connolly to do a job. Almost in the words of that song, we'll have our ups & downs (ups & downs), but we'll keep supporting at least until the world stops spinning round... MOT
Nunez can play in many roles.. Wing CM AM FWD A great squad player and maybe he will get a run in the side. Yes a bit similar to gradel in some ways. But........ Non of us have really seen him other than a quick 15 mins v cardif (i think) he went to scunny and breathed some life into a doomed team...... but he found the back of the net from Midfield...... He scores goals at international level and i hope he gets his chance. Its all about what they deliver on the pitch and lets see... Not sure what Kilkenny position was as he could not tackle and went missing allot....so i would say a CM..... Nunez i believe has more in his locker we just need to let him out.....
Clayton wont be in front of Nunez, we shall see Joshy boy, Pre season has just begun and Nunez mite even outshine the local boy, Howson has that advantage so Nunez needs to be brilliant if he's gona break into the team, He played better than Howson and Clayton last nite according to the match reports
Forest have just signed Greening and expect the Routledge deal to be finalised later today. Another couple of crap players I would have loved to have seen here
I agree that we need someone who can break up attacks, and possibly protect the back 4, but IMHO I think that Leeds biggest weakness is what appears to be a lack of individual and collective self-belief. The deence *should* be able to look after itself and allow the midfield to play rather than having everyone flapping about what everyone else is doing. When 1-0 down they seemed to pick up last season, as if they were forced into playing well, rather than believing that they should be taking charge of the game and going 1-0 up themselves. The other odd thing is that the teams morale seems to change in the blink of an eye. One minute they're all tails-up, passing the ball about, the next they visibily slump and you can almost see the 'Oh ****' looks on their faces when a pass bisects the defence or a cross comes in. Kissa was great in that he always exuded (sp?) self-belief with a real look of 'I'm gonna deal with this ball/guy/whatever' - and he did. Others seem to get hesitant, especially the defence. Max is the reverse - almost too confident that he can dribble into the back of the net. Cor. That's long for a 2nd post!
Why these constant digs at Howson? His team selection has nothing to do with him been a local lad, he's selected because he's a quality player.
Howson is quality when played in the right formation with the right suppot... many times last year he had to do the work of others...with a DM i think we will see the best of him.... Think we shoudl give the armband to Paddy.... lets howson focus on doing the business and driving the game... I think he will be a true LEEDS great overtime...
Assuming we're going with the same 4-2-3-1 as last year, Brown has clearly been signed as the DM we lacked last season. I think Clayton is going to step up to replace Johnson and we clearly have a few candidates in mind to replace Killa (Eremenko, Quinn?). Nunez and Sam will be back-up to/fighting to replace the established AM 3 of Gradel, Howson and Snoddy. If Smithy comes back I would expect him to rotate with Brown.
Nunez will start as back up to Howson, Gradel and Snoddy. But he'll get his chance, and will be a quality part of the squad.
If SG realises he has an excellent stand in like Nunez, hopefully he'll rest the likes of Gradel, Howson and in particular Snoddy in some games. Snoddy looked fooked in some of the later games.
