Leeds United threw away a two-goal lead on Saturday away at Southampton and Wales star Daniel James became the talking point once again among the Whites faithful.
Injuries to strikers Patrick Bamford and Joe Gelhardt meant James was thrust into the centre-forward's role against the Saints.
It's not a position he is unfamiliar with, having fulfilled the brief a number of times for club and country over the last year or so. But anyone who watches James on a regular basis knows that, despite his enthusiasm and impressive work-rate, the 24-year-old is far better suited coming off the wings, using his pace as a destructive weapon.
Leeds started the season with a 2-1 win over Wolves and looked in cruise control on the south coast at St Mary's with 70 minutes gone. But a spirited fightback from the hosts - coupled with yet another injury blow for Bamford - means supporters were left with questions over the club's transfer policy.
James came off the bench to replace the England frontman but fans want to see another striker added before the September 1 deadline.
One fan said: "Do you think, and it’s a long shot I know…THAT WE COULD ACTUALLY SIGN A STRIKER?! Daniel James IS NOT a striker and Bamford clearly does not have it to be fit the entire season. Why can everybody see this but the people who can do anything about it?"
Another wrote: "Hope we bring in another striker soon. I think Patrick Bamford is unreliable and injury prone and we need another option when Joe Gelhardt is unavailable. Playing Daniel James up front is not the answer when we have people out & I’d prefer proven quality over Sam Greenwood up top."
A third commented: "Daniel James has done really well since coming on. He's not a striker but he's done everything right. I really like him as a player. Always working hard," before adding: "I'm frustrated right now. We are into our second game of the season and we are playing a CB at LB and Daniel James at striker. It's just boring, why have the board not signed a ST or LB yet? I really hope we get this sorted quickly before our next game."
"Just twigged that we're likely going to see Daniel James up front again today, already," said another. "Feel sorry for Dan James - he tries his heart but he isn't a striker," commented another supporter.
Boss Jesse Marsch said of the striker situation post-match : "First of all, Patrick, I think is not bad. He had felt a little tightness in his abductor and so I've challenged him to be honest with us on exactly where he stands with things and he felt like he wasn't 100%.
"He didn't want to stress it and he made the right decision I think to come off, even though if it's a cup final or something I think he keeps playing.
"Joffy (Gelhardt) was a little bit injured this week and with a lot of games coming up, we just wanted to make sure that we manage him the right way. But Rodri is playing so well and he has flexibility to play in the 10 or the nine, or the nine-and-a-half is really good and he's been incredibly important."
On further transfer work, he added: "I understand that transfers are always a lightning rod and people want to talk about this a lot. The transfers have I think got us to where we're at, which is we made them early, we brought in players that we think fit the way we want to play and are playing quite well and at quite a high level.
"Now we're just trying to be prudent with how we make our last decision. So striker has always been in our mind, but we're doing it in a way that we think makes sense. But yes, obviously, we think that that's something that we need to continue to evaluate on what kind of move we make."
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