Elvis Hammond

[Bert]

I hope people who slammed Elvis are going to/will eat thier words if he continues his form, regardless of who our opponents are he seems to be the striker that is doing the business at the minute, I've rarely heard Fryatt or Hume mentioned in these pre-season games!

[Jonbluefox9]

Am I he only one left with genuine faith in the guy.

Question, Who would you rather mark? Hammond or Maybury?

At the moment I believe he is one of our best 11 or 12 footballers and if it were up to me I would find a way of fitting our best players into the team.

If something didn't work I might adjust it or think again but I would rather have players that make things happen than players who don't and we have too many of the latter.

I could ask the same question from a defensive point of view too though. Apart from Hammond's pace that would help him trackback I don't think I've seen him put a solid challenge in for the ball before. He could work on that but he can't work at everything at the same time e.g Crossing, tackling and shooting.

It would seem he's worked on his positioning more than anything from the highlights I've seen of two of his goals. Right place, right time. Important aspect, something Hume maybe lacks more so than Fyatt does for example. I get the impression RK has tried to get a group of strikers together who all have a skill which the others may not have. Hume has got a great shot on him, Fryatt can finish cooly under pressure, O'Grady offers us the long ball option and can hold the ball up all day long and Hammond seems to be turning into a bit of a "fox in the box" (not having seen his last goal yet). Dodds may surprise next season. It's not just the fact that he's scored goals at every level he's played at, he just has a real eye for goal and he seems to be able to create goalscoring opportunities out of very little. Could do with doing an O'Grady and going on loan somewhere to help him progress but if injuries happen he may get his chance here at some point next season.

May sound like I've changed my tune. Not really, still don't think Hammond has become a composed finisher just is being used in a different way by Kelly in these friendlies that seems to suit him. Can't make much more of a comment than that as I haven't been to any of the games myself so I'm using what I've read and watched on the OS and LC World to form an opinion of how he's done in pre-season. You can't ignore three goals in as many games though whatever the level. He's doing something right now.

[davieG]

Some strikers need the right partner to excel, maybe Hammond's one of those and found his ideal partner in COG.

[Fez of Mahrez]

Having a good pre-season is completely irrelevent. Pre-season is forgotten as soon as the season starts. It doesn't do Leicester any good at all even if he scores twenty goals in pre-season if he's going to shoot like he did last season. I will give him a clean slate but he has a lot to prove.

[Thracian]

I could ask the same question from a defensive point of view too though. Apart from Hammond's pace that would help him trackback I don't think I've seen him put a solid challenge in for the ball before. He could work on that but he can't work at everything at the same time e.g Crossing, tackling and shooting.

It would seem he's worked on his positioning more than anything from the highlights I've seen of two of his goals. Right place, right time. Important aspect, something Hume maybe lacks more so than Fyatt does for example. I get the impression RK has tried to get a group of strikers together who all have a skill which the others may not have. Hume has got a great shot on him, Fryatt can finish cooly under pressure, O'Grady offers us the long ball option and can hold the ball up all day long and Hammond seems to be turning into a bit of a "fox in the box" (not having seen his last goal yet). Dodds may surprise next season. It's not just the fact that he's scored goals at every level he's played at, he just has a real eye for goal and he seems to be able to create goalscoring opportunities out of very little. Could do with doing an O'Grady and going on loan somewhere to help him progress but if injuries happen he may get his chance here at some point next season.

May sound like I've changed my tune. Not really, still don't think Hammond has become a composed finisher just is being used in a different way by Kelly in these friendlies that seems to suit him. Can't make much more of a comment than that as I haven't been to any of the games myself so I'm using what I've read and watched on the OS and LC World to form an opinion of how he's done in pre-season. You can't ignore three goals in as many games though whatever the level. He's doing something right now.

Good post Johnbluefox, full of interesting insight. Kelly as a coach does seem able to improve players' flaws and to see where they might best make a contribution.

I agree with you about Dodds. He will probably benefit from a loan spell because his first team opportunities will be limited by us having four in form strikers and if he returns as greatly strengthened and improved as O'Grady, then brilliant.

I think Dodds is a special talent in many ways. Another Allen Clarke type who only seems to be around when he's putting the ball in the net and really hurting the opposition.

In some ways I worry that his quiet, understated on field demeanour - he's not a hustling, bustling here, there and everywhere player - might tend to get him overlooked but, thankfully, he's been a long time at Leicester, his goalscoring record is consistently outstanding and I am damned sure the club will appreciate what they've got, or should do.

One thing, there's going to be some disappointed footballers and I cannot imagine they'll all stick around.

For instance, assuming Kelly sticks with his 4-4-2 and continues (sadly) to insist on his insurance policy of Maybury in midfield, how will people like Low, Tiatto, Gerrbrand, Williams, Wesolowski, Porter, Johnson, Hughes, Sylla - nine more players - fit into four spaces?.

Injury might take a couple out, two would be substitutes which means three, probably four are categorically surplus. I already have my view on which three/four but we'll see.