United boss left spoilt for choice
Yorkshire Evening Post
Leeds United's strikers are the envy of their rivals.
PAUL DEWS talks to Kevin Blackwell about the potent threat of his illustrious list of marksmen
ASK Kevin Blackwell if he has an embarrassment of riches up front and he will baulk at the question.
Having spent almost £4m on acquiring five top marksmen over the past 10 months, Blackwell is the first to insist that the abundance of striking talent at his disposal is far from embarrassing. In one corner, he has the physical, workaholic presence of Rob Hulse and Richard Cresswell. Two strikers capable of bullying defenders, dominating defences, and both possess natural predatory instincts. In the other corner, Blackwell has pint-sized duo David Healy and Robbie Blake. Two pocket terrors with frightening pace, movement, and the ability to conjure something out of nothing. Then, somewhere in the middle, Blackwell has Ian Moore. A natural worker of a striker with a good goalscoring pedigree, whose versatility, he can play on either flank or behind the front two, ensures he is the perfect compliment to the quintet.
Already this season, Healy has scored four, Hulse, the best goal-poacher to wear a Leeds shirt since Lee Chapman, has three in five games, Cresswell netted his first goals at Rotherham on Tuesday and Blake has one from four starts.
Determined
Moore has yet to start up front this term, but turned in a determined effort on the right in midweek and gave Blackwell a timely reminder of his value to the squad.
Blackwell's insistence on spending the available monies on strikers raised a few eyebrows in the Championship – it also provoked a few snide comments from some of United's envious rivals – but there isn't one club in the division that wouldn't welcome one or more of his acquisitions.
It's a far cry from last season when Blackwell's strike force consisted of the evergreen Brian Deane, Julian Joachim, Danny Cadamarteri, and the now loaned out Michael Ricketts.
"Last year we struggled up front at times," explained Blackwell. "Early on, when we lost Brian Deane we had no real options, but that was circumstances.
"There were lessons there for everyone to see. We had to use Deano as a lone battering him – he did so well – and adapt around that. To be fair, it was similar in the Premier League. We had Alan Smith and Mark Viduka and when they weren't available we were struggling. It's a cliche, but you need to score goals, and with what we have here now, I believe we can do that."
Given the performances of his strikers so far this season, there can be no arguments that Leeds look like a side capable of scoring goals. When your defence is keeping clean sheets, you cannot put a value on the presence of a striker at the other end to convert the chances that come along. But with five strikers jostling for two places, the maths need little explaining and, come what may, United will, more often than not, have three of their marksmen kicking their heels on the substitutes bench. "As the season progresses we will need them all," insisted Blackwell.
Trained
"As it stands now I've got Dave suspended, Hulsey's got an ankle injury and Blakey is coming back from a calf problem and hasn't trained for two weeks.
"All of a sudden you can go from five to two.
"If someone else gets suspended or injured then you can't sign anyone else. No club in their right mind will loan you a top striker, so we had to act while we could to make sure. You need to have four or five good strikers to cover you."
Blackwell is quick to cite Wigan as an example from last season.Jason Roberts and Nathan Ellington spearheaded their promotion bid – they combined to score 45 of their 79 league goals – but Wigan's reliance on just two proved the exception rather than the rule. Sunderland, Wolves and West Ham have all built recent promotion bids around a handful of strikers, rather than just the two, and Blackwell knows his firepower, allied with a meanness at the back, will be the key. But, when all five of your frontmen would walk into sides elsewhere, the Leeds manager has the tricky job of keeping everyone happy.
Already this season, the mischief makers attempted to suggest Healy was unsettled when he was left out, and followed that by claiming Blake and Blackwell were involved in a training ground bust-up. Both players and the manager laughed off the claims, and Blackwell says his players understand the situation. "They know and understand what it is like here," said the manager. "If you took them out of this club they would be first team strikers elsewhere, but there's got to be competition. "When they came to Leeds they knew what a big club they were joining and they expect the competition that goes with being here. "That said, I'd be disappointed if I heard of any player who is happy he isn't playing. They all want to play. "We've been in a position where we've started a game with two and finished with two different strikers. They all have roles to play. "They've all responded as well. They've come in and scored goals and done what is asked of them. I couldn't ask for anything more." Nor could the United fans. They've had a series of striking heroes down the years, now they have their pick of plenty.
Yorkshire Evening Post
Leeds United's strikers are the envy of their rivals.
PAUL DEWS talks to Kevin Blackwell about the potent threat of his illustrious list of marksmen
ASK Kevin Blackwell if he has an embarrassment of riches up front and he will baulk at the question.
Having spent almost £4m on acquiring five top marksmen over the past 10 months, Blackwell is the first to insist that the abundance of striking talent at his disposal is far from embarrassing. In one corner, he has the physical, workaholic presence of Rob Hulse and Richard Cresswell. Two strikers capable of bullying defenders, dominating defences, and both possess natural predatory instincts. In the other corner, Blackwell has pint-sized duo David Healy and Robbie Blake. Two pocket terrors with frightening pace, movement, and the ability to conjure something out of nothing. Then, somewhere in the middle, Blackwell has Ian Moore. A natural worker of a striker with a good goalscoring pedigree, whose versatility, he can play on either flank or behind the front two, ensures he is the perfect compliment to the quintet.
Already this season, Healy has scored four, Hulse, the best goal-poacher to wear a Leeds shirt since Lee Chapman, has three in five games, Cresswell netted his first goals at Rotherham on Tuesday and Blake has one from four starts.
Determined
Moore has yet to start up front this term, but turned in a determined effort on the right in midweek and gave Blackwell a timely reminder of his value to the squad.
Blackwell's insistence on spending the available monies on strikers raised a few eyebrows in the Championship – it also provoked a few snide comments from some of United's envious rivals – but there isn't one club in the division that wouldn't welcome one or more of his acquisitions.
It's a far cry from last season when Blackwell's strike force consisted of the evergreen Brian Deane, Julian Joachim, Danny Cadamarteri, and the now loaned out Michael Ricketts.
"Last year we struggled up front at times," explained Blackwell. "Early on, when we lost Brian Deane we had no real options, but that was circumstances.
"There were lessons there for everyone to see. We had to use Deano as a lone battering him – he did so well – and adapt around that. To be fair, it was similar in the Premier League. We had Alan Smith and Mark Viduka and when they weren't available we were struggling. It's a cliche, but you need to score goals, and with what we have here now, I believe we can do that."
Given the performances of his strikers so far this season, there can be no arguments that Leeds look like a side capable of scoring goals. When your defence is keeping clean sheets, you cannot put a value on the presence of a striker at the other end to convert the chances that come along. But with five strikers jostling for two places, the maths need little explaining and, come what may, United will, more often than not, have three of their marksmen kicking their heels on the substitutes bench. "As the season progresses we will need them all," insisted Blackwell.
Trained
"As it stands now I've got Dave suspended, Hulsey's got an ankle injury and Blakey is coming back from a calf problem and hasn't trained for two weeks.
"All of a sudden you can go from five to two.
"If someone else gets suspended or injured then you can't sign anyone else. No club in their right mind will loan you a top striker, so we had to act while we could to make sure. You need to have four or five good strikers to cover you."
Blackwell is quick to cite Wigan as an example from last season.Jason Roberts and Nathan Ellington spearheaded their promotion bid – they combined to score 45 of their 79 league goals – but Wigan's reliance on just two proved the exception rather than the rule. Sunderland, Wolves and West Ham have all built recent promotion bids around a handful of strikers, rather than just the two, and Blackwell knows his firepower, allied with a meanness at the back, will be the key. But, when all five of your frontmen would walk into sides elsewhere, the Leeds manager has the tricky job of keeping everyone happy.
Already this season, the mischief makers attempted to suggest Healy was unsettled when he was left out, and followed that by claiming Blake and Blackwell were involved in a training ground bust-up. Both players and the manager laughed off the claims, and Blackwell says his players understand the situation. "They know and understand what it is like here," said the manager. "If you took them out of this club they would be first team strikers elsewhere, but there's got to be competition. "When they came to Leeds they knew what a big club they were joining and they expect the competition that goes with being here. "That said, I'd be disappointed if I heard of any player who is happy he isn't playing. They all want to play. "We've been in a position where we've started a game with two and finished with two different strikers. They all have roles to play. "They've all responded as well. They've come in and scored goals and done what is asked of them. I couldn't ask for anything more." Nor could the United fans. They've had a series of striking heroes down the years, now they have their pick of plenty.