The truth of the matter is that at 32 the number of great games left in Leon's future are going to be fewer and further between. He can add a lot of value on the field but he has to be used smartly and appropriately by Monk, and similarly Leon is going to have apply himself on the field a lot smarter. He is not going to be able to buzz around everywhere and be banged around by bigger, stronger and younger players all in the same game.
The same goes for Rangel, also 32. Never known for his speed he is going to have be managed exactly the same way and he is going to have apply whatever football intelligence he has to play a smarter game.
The third player we have to consider in a similar vain is Ash, now 30.
Not to find replacements for these players at this level is a failure on the football management within the club and I'm not talking about Monk but the whole organization. We should have replacements assuming their roles already in the squad. Note, I'm not saying that these players are done, far from it, but we really should have younger players with a future, as good as if not better on hand, right now.
As I have said in another post in another thread recently - this is going to be a transition season for us in many respects.