Has Leeds been defined by great strikers?

[Mountain]

There is a media image of Leeds as a dour club.
But if you look at the list of strikers over the last 3 decades you'd be hard pressed to think of a club that has had better players up front. Even in very dark times, Leeds seem to pop up with goalscorers that were amongst the best at whatever level the club was at...

Patrick Bamford
Chris Wood
Ross McCormack
Luciano Becchio
Jermaine Beckford
Mark Viduka
Michael Bridges
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Tony Yeboah
Lee Chapman

And that does not include Roofe, Healy, Wallace and others who put in good shifts.

Have we been very lucky or am I biased in favour of Leeds strikers?

[Byebyegeegee]

There is a media image of Leeds as a dour club.

Is there?

I wasn’t particularly aware of that Mountain. Where does that assertion originate?

[Muppet the Cat]

There is a media image of Leeds as a dour club.
But if you look at the list of strikers over the last 3 decades you'd be hard pressed to think of a club that has had better players up front. Even in very dark times, Leeds seem to pop up with goalscorers that were amongst the best at whatever level the club was at...

Patrick Bamford
Chris Wood
Ross McCormack
Luciano Becchio
Jermaine Beckford
Mark Viduka
Michael Bridges
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Tony Yeboah
Lee Chapman

And that does not include Roofe, Healy, Wallace and others who put in good shifts.

Have we been very lucky or am I biased in favour of Leeds strikers?

Mountain your thread heading is "Great Strikers"

Unfortunately, I would disagree in that I don't think we have been blessed with 'great' strikers.

Chappy was very efficient and clinical from five yds, but I don't know I'd describe him as great.

I think Yeboah, could have become great and a club legend

JFH was very good and an international class striker

Viduka on his day was unplayable, but on other days just seemed as though he couldn't be bothered.

Jermaine was a goal machine without which we wouldn't have got out of Div 1, when we did

As for Paddy, Wood, McCormack, Becchio - decent, but not great.

For me Michael Bridges is a bit of an unknown. A real talent, but unfulfilled due to his really bad luck with injuries.

[YorkshireSquare]

I've never thought we've had world class strikers who can fire the ball in from all over the pitch and regularly rack up 20 goals a season.

Glipmses from Viduka, Hasselbaink and Yeboah but otherwise we've had some fairly average strikers.

[mentalcase]

TBF to mountain, it's a very good debate indeed, we have had some some excellent strikers in t' time mentioned, 30 yrs is a long time indeed.
JFH was a brilliant but me me me finisher, all about himsen, Mc Cormack, well, it was different division and class football, Yeboah, wow, wonderful , managed to be at his spectacular ones, including Monaco, wimbledon & livrerpool, Beckford, I honestly thought he left too early, shame reallly. the club didn't have the anbition, or was it the money , ring any alarm bells !!!
Really. really hope we don't waste the talent we have in the youth now instead of waiting for bamford to return.

[Rook]

People seem to have forgotten about the greatness that was Michael Ricketts.

[Overman]

I'm surprised Frank Strandli, Imre Varadi and John Pearson are not on that illustrious list.

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Not really - more when we have shone in the past it was due to exceptional midfields.

Revie - Bremner, Giles, Collins, Lorimer

Wilkinson - Strachan, Batty, Speed, McAllister

O'leary - Batty, Bowyer, Dacourt, Baake, Kewell.

[1964white]

Patrick Bamford
Chris Wood
Ross McCormack
Luciano Becchio
Jermaine Beckford
Mark Viduka
Michael Bridges
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Tony Yeboah
Lee Chapman

And that does not include Roofe, Healy, Wallace and others who put in good shifts.

Have we been very lucky or am I biased in favour of Leeds strikers?

John Charles, Mick Jones & Allan Clarke were above all those strikers mentioned, by a country mile with some.

[1964white]

John Charles, Mick Jones & Allan Clarke were above all those strikers mentioned, by a country mile with some.

Apologies, I've just noticed over the last three decades.

[1964white]

Yeboah, undoubtably my favourite striker over the last 30 years.

He had everything, didn't need the ball laid on a plate, created his own special magic

[Cjay]

John Charles, Mick Jones & Allan Clarke were above all those strikers mentioned, by a country mile with some.

Viduka and Hasselbaink?

Scored more career goals I'd imagine than the latter two and many types.

Tap ins, volleys, screamers, headers.

A tad biased me thinks

[hector]

Why has nobody mentioned Billy Paynter??

[1964white]

Viduka and Hasselbaink?

Scored more career goals I'd imagine than the latter two and many types.

Tap ins, volleys, screamers, headers.

A tad biased me thinks

Charles, Clarke & Jones would feature heavily in many of LUFC All-Time Greatest Teams.

All three won many trophies.

Leeds goals

160 Charles
110 Clarke
77 Jones
59 Viduka
34 Hasselbaink

[Mountain]

I really liked Michael Bridges, he really slotted into the role after JFH left. His injury at Besiktas was such a tragedy. I guess it did leave the door open for Smith.

[Cjay]

Now rank them in terms of natural goalscorers.

Nothing else just goals.

Patrick Bamford
Chris Wood
Ross McCormack
Luciano Becchio
Jermaine Beckford
Mark Viduka
Michael Bridges
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Tony Yeboah
Lee Chapman

Will need to give this some thought

[Cjay]

Charles, Clarke & Jones would feature heavily in many of LUFC All-Time Greatest Teams.

All three won many trophies.

Leeds goals

160 Charles
110 Clarke
77 Jones
59 Viduka
34 Hasselbaink

Viduka is our top Premier league goalscorer who got 72 goals in 166 games and we were a lower league team in 2 of his 4 seasons unlike for the players you mentioned who played for successful teams.

Hasselbaink is one of the top goalscorers in Premier league history who scored goals in two of the top 3 European Leagues.

He got 34 goals and 11 assists in just 64 matches worth of minutes. His record would was a goal every 169 minutes which I would bet stands up well against any other striker we have had.

I never saw the 3 players you mentioned but Viduka and Hasselbaink were in there day 2 of the most highly rated strikers in the world at one stage.

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Viduka is our top Premier league goalscorer who got 72 goals in 166 games and we were a lower league team in 2 of his 4 seasons unlike for the players you mentioned who played for successful teams.

Hasselbaink is one of the top goalscorers in Premier league history who scored goals in two of the top 3 European Leagues.

He got 34 goals and 11 assists in just 64 matches worth of minutes. His record would was a goal every 169 minutes which I would bet stands up well against any other striker we have had.

I never saw the 3 players you mentioned but Viduka and Hasselbaink were in there day 2 of the most highly rated strikers in the world at one stage.

It was such a shame that we lost Hasselbaink when we did. We might well have won the PL title under O'Leary had he stayed. Bridges came in, but hit injury problems after one season. Viduka and Hasselbaink would have been quite a combination - I thought that Smith was overrated, probably because he was a local lad.

[1964white]

Viduka is our top Premier league goalscorer who got 72 goals in 166 games and we were a lower league team in 2 of his 4 seasons unlike for the players you mentioned who played for successful teams.

Hasselbaink is one of the top goalscorers in Premier league history who scored goals in two of the top 3 European Leagues.

He got 34 goals and 11 assists in just 64 matches worth of minutes. His record would was a goal every 169 minutes which I would bet stands up well against any other striker we have had.

I never saw the 3 players you mentioned but Viduka and Hasselbaink were in there day 2 of the most highly rated strikers in the world at one stage.

Sorry to sound fictitious but, you can't offer an accurate opinion if you never saw three of our greatest strikers, Cjay.

Those figures I produced were goals scored for Leeds only

[Mountain]

Now rank them in terms of natural goalscorers.

Nothing else just goals.

Patrick Bamford
Chris Wood
Ross McCormack
Luciano Becchio
Jermaine Beckford
Mark Viduka
Michael Bridges
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Tony Yeboah
Lee Chapman

Will need to give this some thought

Now that's a great angle.

I'm very biased, I like strikers who look calm and unhurried because their technical ability is so good. And while I admire the big guy up front who can put their head into a meat mincer and emerge with a goal, it's not my preferred style.

There are other factors, how many years they spent at Leeds, how many goals they scored, how they fared in the Premier League etc.

So I'd probably have Wood, Becchio and Chapman at the lower end of the list, as good as they all were in a Leeds shirt. And Viduka would have to be at the top for his style. Bamford also has the languid air, but think JFH was able to score any type of goal, and Yeboah has to rank above him too. McCormack and Beckford were wonderful...but they didn't get the chance to do it for us in the top flight.

Mark Viduka
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Tony Yeboah
Patrick Bamford
Michael Bridges
Lee Chapman
Ross McCormack
Jermaine Beckford
Chris Wood
Luciano Becchio