Kemar Roofe is in his best form since moving to Leeds United, but Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s arrival could throw a spanner in the works.
Kemar Roofe has already scored more goals this season than he did during the whole of his debut campaign at Leeds United with 43 games to spare.
The former West Bromwich Albion youngster, who joined from Oxford United for £3 million last summer (BBC), endured a disappointing first campaign at Elland Road with just three goals in 49 games in all competitions.
However, thanks to a clinical hat-trick against Newport County in the EFL Cup and a well-placed header in last week’s 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest, Roofe has already netted four in six this time round.
And it should not pass anyone by that Roofe’s purple patch has coincided with him playing in his preferred centre-forward position rather than out wide, where former Leeds boss Garry Monk often deployed him last season.
Although Roofe, who won League Two’s Player of the Year award after netting 18 times as a central striker for Oxford in 2015/16, owes his run of games in the middle to Chris Wood’s summer departure to Burnley. And new Leeds boss Thomas Christiansen must be very careful to avoid bringing a swift end to Roofe’s renaissance in West Yorkshire.
New signing, new role?
After all, Pierre-Michel Lasogga should to prove a like-for-like replacement for Wood after arriving on a season-long loan from Hamburg. The German is a powerful, old-school centre-forward not exactly renowned for his speed or mobility.
Therefore, if Christiansen deploys him rather than the quicker, agile Roofe as a centre-forward, the temptation may be the drop the 24-year-old back into a supporting role once again – a position Roofe struggled in last season.
However, Leeds fans will tell you that the side have played far more fluid, exciting football without a targetman up front this season and Roofe has certainly contributed to that.
In that time, Leeds have risen to third in the table. The phrase ‘if it ain’t broke…’ comes to mind.
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