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Leon Best


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Guest Nikos34

I have to hold my hands up and admit that I have been one of the culprits for Best bashing since we signed him. However, he's looked a different player the past couple of weeks, particularly against Birmingham.

 

I thought he seemed to actually put a shift in and put himself about a lot more, along with Lovenkrands to be fair. Against 2 so called 'uncompromising' centre backs he won more than his fair share of headers and grabbed another goal.

 

I don't think being slated has done our remaining front men any harm at all. Being nationally dubbed as leftovers since the Carroll sale, seems to have given them the kick up the arse they needed.

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As I've said before his quality isn't the best but he never hides and always puts his all into every game. Can't ask for anything more. :thup: All we need now is for Perch and Big Sol to come good and Hughton has a 100% transfer success rate.

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Guest toonarmymia

As I've said before his quality isn't the best but he never hides and always puts his all into every game. Can't ask for anything more. :thup: All we need now is for Perch and Big Sol to come good and Hughton has a 100% transfer success rate.

 

Sorry Disco, but you're actually wrong, the man got quality :coolsmiley:  But as Pardew already has pointed out: The man lacks concentration on the pitch, but he's working on it. If you go through the goals he scored, you will find that some of them are very well taken:

 

* First goal against WH: A bouncy ball which he expedited in the net with his wrong foot, from a sharp angle

* Second goal WH: Again a finish with his left foot

* Third goal WH: Managed to stop the  hard through ball from Nolan, but this  made it hard for him to finish with his right foot. But he took it very nicely with his left, above the keeper. A cool finish.

*Goal against Bham: Displayed good leaping power and hammered the ball in the net.

 

QUALITY-goals in other words. All  against WH would not have been bagged if it wasn't for the fact that Best finishes with both feet. I can mention some honorable strikers that waste such opportunities if the ball fall on their wrong foot: Van Persie, Carroll, Defoe.. Best didn't.

 

IMO opinion Best has every physical skill to succeed in PL: He's strong, good in the air, two-footed, semi-quick and got a decent touch..What he needs to work on is his football intelligence and general attitude: Be more positive and pay more attention. A very good example was the beautiful crosser from Enrique against Bham where he took the ball from a non-marked Loven who stood on the second post. Best's position should have been the first post. This is a junior mistake, that must be avoided if we want to beat the better teams.

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punk77 you surely can't have played football in your life.

 

Are you seriously telling me that the goals he has scored are quality??? Are you for real? Of all of them only the goal against Birmingham where he showed great power and leap to beat the defender is really a good goal.

 

I mean against WH the first one is nothing special, a bouncy ball is generally very easy to score on and the angle wasn't that hard. Also he would've been fucked if Green had not stayed on the line. The 2nd goal was shoot it and hope it goes in, the 3rd goal was well taken but nothing exceptional. Against Arsenal the same as the 2nd goal against WH shoot it and hope it goes in although he did well to get there.

 

But to tell me that he is quality footballer but lacks concentration as his biggest problem is ridiculous. He can't move with the ball at his feet when under pressure. He has no technical abilities at all as he can't beat  a man. He's good with his head but will lose out against many defenders and his shot is weak for most part.

 

Another thing is that you give him credit for scoring with his wrong foot to seconds later calling him two-footed. Come on.

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But to tell me that he is quality footballer but lacks concentration as his biggest problem is ridiculous. He can't move with the ball at his feet when under pressure. He has no technical abilities at all as he can't beat  a man. He's good with his head but will lose out against many defenders and his shot is weak for most part.

agree with you about the quality of his goals.. but I dont think we know exactly how good/bad his attributes are after a few games if we're honest. And his actual faults you list weren't exactly Carrolls biggest assets!

 

I dont think best is good enough though from what Ive seen and I hope he doesn't play for us next season (ie we've bought 2 strikers). Wish him well though and hope he changes my mind over the rest of season.

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punk77 you surely can't have played football in your life.

 

Are you seriously telling me that the goals he has scored are quality??? Are you for real? Of all of them only the goal against Birmingham where he showed great power and leap to beat the defender is really a good goal.

 

I mean against WH the first one is nothing special, a bouncy ball is generally very easy to score on and the angle wasn't that hard. Also he would've been f***ed if Green had not stayed on the line. The 2nd goal was shoot it and hope it goes in, the 3rd goal was well taken but nothing exceptional. Against Arsenal the same as the 2nd goal against WH shoot it and hope it goes in although he did well to get there.

 

But to tell me that he is quality footballer but lacks concentration as his biggest problem is ridiculous. He can't move with the ball at his feet when under pressure. He has no technical abilities at all as he can't beat  a man. He's good with his head but will lose out against many defenders and his shot is weak for most part.

 

Another thing is that you give him credit for scoring with his wrong foot to seconds later calling him two-footed. Come on.

 

Sorry to butt in but I've played a lot up front and his first against WHU - I was sitting directly in line - came to him at a very arkward height and was taken very well. His skill surprised me at the time !

That said, I still find his movement quite "lumbering" but his record of 5 goals, a good one disallowed, hitting the underside of the bar and winning a vital penalty in just 7 games would say he has done well for the team so far.

We are not at a level where we can expect top performers to sit patiently on the bench waiting for an opportunity, in that context Best will be a good player to have in our squad, because realistically thats what he is - a squad player.

If he gives 100% and chips in with a few goals in that capacity when needed then I'm happy with him.

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His ability to score with both feet (unlike Van Persie, Carroll, Loven and many others) makes him two-footed.  Best scored all three goals against WH with his NON-preferred foot, because nature created him as a right-footed player. . If all his goals against WH had been finished with his preferred right foot, I would not have been impressed. But he took them with his left, which makes these goals nicely taken. So many players would have wasted those opportunities because they would been forced to switch the ball over to their preferred right foot to be able to finish. That would probably have given the defenders enough time to close down the room and deny the goal. It is a BIG difference between finishing with you preferred and non-preferred foot. It ten times harder with the wrong foot. You have to train for years to master it. And Best does..Hence quality.

 

And concentration is the cause of Best problems.  As I mentioned before: Mame Biram Diouf sad the switch two PL was massive. Because of the game speed he's forced to think two three times ahead before each touch. Consequently, Best lack of concentration has serious effects: He sees the rooms that is available too late, he doesn't create room between himself and the defender etc, which enables the defender to deny Best to face goal. That makes his job much more difficult than it could have been. If you have room, it is easier to dribble and so on. That he's constantly standing in offside is also a symptom of the same problem. More focus results in fewer offsides, which again leads to more clear runs at goals, which in the end leads to more chances and more goals for Best. Everything connects as you see..

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I'm sure he's left footed mind.

 

He's two-footed if you are to believe punk77, but I would rather call him no-footer :thup:

 

Jokes aside, I love watching him score and really hope he can keep it up. But I just can't see it happening, very average footballer. But then again as long as he scores I'm happy with him.

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He's scored a lot of goals with his left for being right footed then. Maybe he just doesn't know himself that he is left footed?

 

Yeah..maaybe..  :yikes: He got an advantage, because he's able to finish with the foot the ball falls on. Doesn't need to switch. At all goals against WH the ball fell on his left foot, and consequently he finished with it.

 

Those of you that's still in doubt: When players run with the ball, they usually usher it with their preferred foot.  Best uses his right in such situations.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

He's been poor  even though he's scored.

 

Who have we got who looks good up front scoring or not? They are all shit, if he's getting a few goals that'll do me.

 

He'll do for now, surely he's not out next number 9 though. :)

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At least he is a threat and gets in the right positions, fair enough he is offside a fair bit but for someone who was 5th choice striker at the start of the season he's doing well.

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