Peter Good, Leon Best

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daveslodge

daveslodge

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Jan 26, 2011
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Manchester
Apologies for the tacky title, but it seems apt after a night on which the 2 United strikers grabbed all the headlines (or at least would have done had it not been for some other game in Italy) and won us a well-earned and very important 3 points.

Questions of whether these two were up to the task of finding us goals had been asked by many of us recently (I’d mentioned it once or twice myself) but on a wet night at St. Andrews they went some way towards answering us.

It was Lovenkrands who got us off to a flying start with a great finish that showed that despite his age, his experience and awareness still make him a threat to the opposition’s defence. A great cross from Jonas to the front post saw the Dane get ahead of Johnson and beat Carson with a well taken half volley that got United off to a dream start. The remainder of the first half saw Birmingham dominate possession without creating any real opportunities, the best chance being a low Zigic shot across goal which Harper got down to well to block.

A good start to the second half saw United extend their lead with another early goal. It was again Jonas who caused trouble down the left turning Toon transfer target Larsson inside out before whipping in a great cross to pick out Best at the back post. From this point on we looked comfortable and the result was never in doubt. Notable performances came from Jonas whose runs were finished with perfect crosses (a trait that was missing at Ewood 3 days earlier), Best who was winning everything in the air and at times looked comparable to he-who-shall-not-be-named with his well-timed, hanging leaps and Simpson who was able to help Barton create as many opportunities down the right as we normally do on our stronger left hand side.

To take 5 points from 2 tough away games and a home game against Arsenal is no mean feat and thanks to 3 (well 2 ½!) great performances we now find ourselves in a much more comfortable position in the table than we could have been at this stage. The media were quick to report this as our first win in 6, but looking at things more positively we have now lost only 1 of our last 8 league games…a fantastic stat!

As the former Toon boss Big Fat Sam says, ‘If you can’t win, don’t lose’ this is a philosophy that we seem to have taken to heart in recent weeks and if we continue to show the confidence and determination we have done since January then there’s no reason why we can’t be pushing on for Eur…

…let’s not get ahead of ourselves!
 
Lovenkrands and Best are OK but we need a better striker next season.
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In all honesty I'd say we need 2 new strikers. Lovenkrands isn't getting any younger, Kuqi won't be staying, Ranger could do with a season of regular football in a Championship side (insert Makem joke), which leaves Shola and Best. As this season's shown, if we get a few injuries or suspensions we could do with cover there.
 
Alfie said:
In all honesty I'd say we need 2 new strikers. Lovenkrands isn't getting any younger, Kuqi won't be staying, Ranger could do with a season of regular football in a Championship side (insert Makem joke), which leaves Shola and Best. As this season's shown, if we get a few injuries or suspensions we could do with cover there.
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This.
 
Definitely need 2 unless we are gonna play a 4-5-1 with Ben Arfa off the front. If this is the case then we need one striker and Shola and Best can be back up and Loven is always an option if we want to go 4-4-2. Loan Ranger out.
 
Also Shola's injury record when playing a run of games is hardly inspiring (not to mention he will be 30? next year). 2 quality strikers needed, Best would be ok as 3rd choice next year, and I wouldnt mind him starting a few games if one of our new lads gets injured/needs time to adjust to England.
 
Smudger said:
It's ok, we're forever stuck with the Lone Ranger pun whenever he goes on loan or plays up front by himself <laugh>
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Everytime the commentators go 'He's playing as a Lone Ranger now... Hur hur hur.' No matter how many ****ing times it's said! Starting to get on me nerves already! <laugh>
 
Leon Best should be a regular starter in my opinion, even NEXT season.

He's OUR Best striker. Ameobi is way too inconsistent, doesn't have the pace nor work-rate that Best provides, he's getting on a bit and his best years are behind him, the only thing I'll say he has the edge on Best is he's a better aerial threat. Lover is OK, decent cover but is a bit old, isn't strong enough in the air, although he has good movement, good work-rate, good pace but is nowhere near being a prolific goalscorer and isn't someone I'll say will take us to the ''next level''. Ranger is inexperienced and doesn't look nowhere near a good enough quality PREMIER LEAGUE striker, still needs to polish loads of aspects to his game but the potential is there, he COULD be better than Carroll but I'm not 100% convinced.

My ideal scenario in the summer :

Lover - Sell IF a club offers a offer we simply cannot refuse(eg. 2m-3m).
Best - Keep. Very good work-rate, may not be the best finisher but has good potential, he has two very good feet, good mobility, decent pace, can win headers, needs to be more consistent though and WAY more clinical to be a quality striker, not there yet but with time I think he can achieve that.
Ameobi - Sell IF a club offers a offer we simply cannot refuse(eg. 3m). Personally I'll sell. He's way past his best and I'll prefer to give someone fresher and younger a spot on the bench, so his time is up IMO.
Ranger - Keep. Good impact sub, should get more games, potentially can become a top class forward. Good 3rd choice!
2 NEW STRIKERS <insert name> <insert name>
 
I'd be very surprised to get those fees for Lovenkrands and Ameobi as more likely they'll go down a division but I do agree that of our current striker set up - these two are most likely to be out the door.

Pace and a bit of brawn.

Pace - Juan Albin (free agent in the summer)
Brawn - I really don't know...
 
Realistically we'll be lucky to get 3m out of them both(Lover and Ameobi). Ameobi might get sold for maybe 1.5m to a top Championship team looking to get in the Premier League and Lover might go aboard(a more technical European league would suit him in my opinion).

I like Juan Albin, especially has he won't cost much(nothing at all) and seems to be the sort of signing we'll be looking at. But I'll personally prefer his team-mate ''Miku''.
 
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