Many Leeds United fans were left hammering the performance of centre back Liam Cooper in the first half of their clash away at West Brom on Saturday evening.
The Whites travelled to the Hawthorns in a clash which pitted two sides chasing a top six finish this season, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side coming off the back of a 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic last weekend, Darren Moore having seen his men sink to a 1-0 defeat away at Hull City.
In a first half which the Baggies dominated in terms of chances, a large number of Leeds fans turned to Twitter to slam what they saw from senior mainstay Cooper, who they judged to have struggled against the likes of Jay Rodriguez and Harvey Barnes.
COMMENTARY
No wonder why the Leeds faithful were left raging over Cooper, for he was drastically exposed by the silky skills of the West Brom attack. He lacks pace, that much is well known, and the Baggies took full advantage of that over and over again, with poor finishing and some smart saves from Bailey Peacock-Farrell saving him from a goal resulting from the 27-year-old being caught out. He needed to find a way to stop the West Brom forwards from being able to use their pace so often, and as the first half drew on you could see he was sitting deeper and deeper to try and prevent the opposition from using their pace. It still was not enough for this selection of Leeds supporters and their criticisms were well warranted after the first 45 minutes. Could this be an area which Marcelo Bielsa looks to strengthen in January? The Whites do of course have to play West Brom again and if Cooper is starting then they are going to face the same sort of pressure as they did at the Hawthorns.
This is Futbol has gathered a selection of the supporters’ tweets:
https://twitter.com/Michael_Sells/status/1061314510974345221
Cooper gona struggle here
— julian LUFC tanner (@tanner2906) November 10, 2018
Cooper's scaring me a bit early doors ?#LUFC
— Kevin Hird's Barber (@Dwarfland25) November 10, 2018
Cooper skinned twice in the first 10 minutes. He’s having a mare tonight #lufc
— Greg Spencer (@Spendog1986) November 10, 2018
Pathetic defending from Cooper that
— Jake Mahon (@JakeMahon_) November 10, 2018
Cooper lucky not to give away a peno
— Marco Bielsa (@nashblaine1919) November 10, 2018
https://twitter.com/LufcHutchy/status/1061312807818444806
https://twitter.com/RyanLUFC92/status/1061312804114886656
Cooper on toast everytime #LUFC
— ? Leeds Are Falling Apart Again ? (@Smitty_DanSmith) November 10, 2018
https://twitter.com/Hagar62lufc/status/1061312744438333441