Criticism of Leko and his decision making reminds me of Grant before he “came good.” Then, Grant always seemed to make the wrong decision, go the wrong way, hit the ball the wrong side. Under the current coaching team, they sorted that out, he started banging in the goals and ended up in the PL. Can’t really see any reason why LB and the rest can’t do the same for Leko.
^^^ This ^^^
With bells on.
I also can't understand people who criticise Leko for lack of effort when his off-the-ball work (tracking back, harrying of defenders, distracting runs pulling oppo out of position etc) is as good as anyone.
As I said last night on the match thread, I feel like I'm going to be on a Leko crusade this season in the same way that I was part of the BeckenSarr bandwagon when he came back into the side after being away on loan. I just need to come up with a suitable moniker for him ...
Not sure the criticism of Leko is because of lack of effort but rather due to his ineffectiveness as an attacking player. You can see why he’s scored so few goals in his professional career so far, and it’s not as if he’s setting up chances for others either.
Bonne is much more of a handful for defenders AND works just as hard. He was really tracking back yesterday.
Most of the criticism heading JL's way has been with regards to his poor decision making (admittedly with some justification but probably not quite to the extent that has been portayed this season) but there have been comments about a lack of effort, which is why I made the point I did (and have done a few times over the last couple of weeks).
Yep, nothing wrong with Leko's effort. If he had a football brain he'd be dangerous - it's so frustrating to see the rabbit in headlights.
When Bowyer signed him he referred to him as our ‘Wildcard’. He will impress and bemuse in equal measure. He is still very different to anyone else we have in terms of pace and skill and that ability to do something out of nothing. Without him we would be fairly one dimensional and have very little outlet. As for not working hard it is simply rubbish. He backtracks as much as anyone and has made several blocks and interceptions in our defensive third. If he didn’t work hard then Bowyer wouldn’t play him.
To be fair, it’s not as if Bowyer has had any other attacking options. Hemed has been injured or unfit, Bonne was signed as a work in progress, someone not for the first team straight away, while Aneke has been injured, unfit or struggling.
That Leko has played far more minutes than Field is more of a reflection of our strength in midfield and relative weakness up front than anything else. When Lyle comes back, on current form Bonne will be the one partnering him.
Harsh to stick blame on Leko. He’s not a striker and he’s not going to score loads of goals. But he puts a shift in and gives us something else. He’s going to be important while Williams is out.
I thought Aneke was awful. Not writing him yet but he’s yet to turn up. With the injuries kicking in hopefully that changes in the near future, could really do with at least one of him or Oztumer stepping up.
I don't normally criticise our players , but Aneke let his fellow teammates down badly last night .
He’s certainly a frustrating player. There’s definitely two Chuks and you are never sure which one you are going to get. The good one is the one that come on at Reading at roughly the same time as last night, caused the oppo a real handful and helped us see a game out.
The other Chuks is the one we say last night, lumbering around at half mast. It may well be that that’s his style, but it was noticeable in the ground that players like Bonne were literally draining themselves of everything and Chuks just didn’t look like he was putting in the same commitment as those around him. All you need is a couple of bad touches and loose balls and you’ve got people narked.
i think he was put on last night to be like he was at Reading, a physical presence further up the pitch, an out ball to try and hold possession and buy us some defensive time to get our shape back. Sadly it didn’t work out. Had we not conceded in 98 a doubt much would have been said about it.
He’s definitely got it in his locker to win games and put in match changing inputs. I still hope he will come good but he needs better nights than last night when the opportunities arise.
The thing that bugs me about Chuks coming on as sub, he is fresh. Not only does he not track back but when there is a ball forward into space, he jogs after it and gives a defender time to have a look up for the best place to clear it to.
I asked JJ about Chucks last week. He said he was struggling a bit to get to the level of fitness required in The Championship (as compared to the lower level of fitness in L1. JJ was in no way critical of Chucks).
He wasn't that great or bad on Wednesday night - that is the worst thing I can say about his performance. He isn't a run all over the place sort of player, but he is strong and powerful. He doesn't owe anybody an apology. Great example of scapegoating there.
With Pearce unable to play in quick succession, Kayal last night proving what a good player he is, Leko and Field unavailable, add in the other injuries, that is about as good as we can really get right now.
Switch Deji and Solly and I'd agree. The next game I'd also give Gallagher his much needed break.
For every game we lose in the last minute,there is one we will win in the same circumstances(i.e. Wembley)Thats football.Full credit to them for the way they played after losing a man,they could have sat back for the point but probably realised we were knackered and went for it.Do not want to have a go at the team,but was a bit mystified that they got a spare man in the box when they were a man down.With our injury list mounting,I feel that a realistic target is another 10 points before the new year,that would give us a good platform for a mid table finish which to be fair would be wonderful.
He wasn't that great or bad on Wednesday night - that is the worst thing I can say about his performance. He isn't a run all over the place sort of player, but he is strong and powerful. He doesn't owe anybody an apology. Great example of scapegoating there.
Disagree entirely. He might not be that sort of player but every now and then he needs to do it for the team. We were knackered and he was the freshest one. I’m not expecting it every week but when you come on for 20 mins it’s not much to ask.
Why not bring a player on that runs about all over the place as part of their game? Maybe because Aneke was given a role by Bowyer that wasn't what you wanted him to do.
Why not bring a player on that runs about all over the place as part of their game? Maybe because Aneke was given a role by Bowyer that wasn't what you wanted him to do.
When you come on for 20 mins whether your a towering CB, target man striker or nippy winger you should give your all to the team to get the desired result.
Take Williams as an example. He’s a player who suits a team in possession but he has still come on and worked his socks off when we haven’t had the ball. Saying your not that type of player is a load of bollocks.
There are positions that require more running than others, we don't know what Bowyer's instructions to Aneke were but he played the sort of role he has played before for us. He just wasn't so great in it, but he might have been on the pitch to try to help us get a winner! If Bowyer wanted to play somebody who was going to do what Williams does, he would have been better off going with Oztumer. Aneke came on at Reading, played the same game but gave them far more problems, but this will happen from game to game.
Chuks just looked like he wasn’t with the programme in stepping up to this level like nearly all the others have, some more than others, whether he’s hot and cold and or just hasn’t had enough game time remains to be soon, but I expect the question(s) may have answers very soon
We should get the same punishment as Accrington FA. They are allowed to shout foul and abusive language at the lino for a good 5 mins and the crowd in the East Stand and get nothing. Ref lost control and ignore it. Yet we have a player taken out by a Bristol C player. Johnson gets nothing but both players get charged for failing to lose control. Hey FA give us a break. You gave a crap ref for this one and we couldn't control our players as the Manager was on a 3 month ban which you gave.. oh and how is that investigation going on into the Leeds GK that said something racial to our player allegedly? No, of course not, you have cleverly brushed it under the carpet.
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That Leko has played far more minutes than Field is more of a reflection of our strength in midfield and relative weakness up front than anything else. When Lyle comes back, on current form Bonne will be the one partnering him.
The other Chuks is the one we say last night, lumbering around at half mast. It may well be that that’s his style, but it was noticeable in the ground that players like Bonne were literally draining themselves of everything and Chuks just didn’t look like he was putting in the same commitment as those around him. All you need is a couple of bad touches and loose balls and you’ve got people narked.
i think he was put on last night to be like he was at Reading, a physical presence further up the pitch, an out ball to try and hold possession and buy us some defensive time to get our shape back. Sadly it didn’t work out. Had we not conceded in 98 a doubt much would have been said about it.
He’s definitely got it in his locker to win games and put in match changing inputs. I still hope he will come good but he needs better nights than last night when the opportunities arise.
He said he was struggling a bit to get to the level of fitness required in The Championship (as compared to the lower level of fitness in L1. JJ was in no way critical of Chucks).
Scapegoating is an emotive word and is a misreading of the criticism imo.