OPINION
The joy and relief of a 1-0 win at Sheffield United that lifted Leeds United back to the Championship summit has been tempered by news of a serious injury to Liam Cooper. Many fans would have been concerned after the skipper limped out of the action at Bramall Lane after 21 minutes of Saturday’s clash with what looked like a knee injury. Their worst fears were realised when Yorkshire Evening Post correspondent Phil Hay reported after the match that he had learned from Marcelo Bielsa the centre-back has a “serious” and “important” injury.
Bielsa on Cooper: "It's an important injury. It's not a ligament injury but it's a serious one."
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) December 1, 2018
The manager explained that Cooper has not suffered a ligament problem, which means his absence should not be more than a couple of months, at least. But that is a small crumb of comfort for supporters assessing a squad already without senior defenders Luke Ayling and Gaetano Berardi until the start of next year. Little wonder there were some despondent and negative messages in response to Hay’s tweet.
This Is Futbol has rounded up some of the best tweets below:
Where’s the “unlike” button
— Dave (@mcbdave) December 1, 2018
— Lord Ash ?? (@Ash__1992__) December 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/JoshAHobbs/status/1068884966732386304
Surely now we have to get a new centre back in January @PhilHayYEP ?
— Chris Elvidge (@ChrisElvo) December 1, 2018
Gutter for @LiamCooper__ -heal soon.
— John Quinton-Barber (@johnqbarber) December 1, 2018
meniscus tear I reckon..had 3…trying to “clear locked knee”….looked ominous
— Jason Sheehan (@jasonsheehan25) December 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/REDPLANET2025/status/1068883135117578241
Can we have an emergency centre back? ?
— Matthew Marshall (@Marshall4860) December 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/petermauriceuk/status/1068882710356287489