Former Leeds United player Paul Robinson suggests that Diego Llorente’s poor form for the Whites has been a factor in the sacking of Marcelo Bielsa.
Llorente has been poor this season for Leeds and the Whites have the worst defensive record in the league as they have conceded 60 goals, five more goals than any other side.
Last campaign, the Spanish defender played a big part for Leeds as they secured a top-half finish, but this was when he was playing next to club captain Liam Cooper, who has been sidelined this season due to injury.
Paul Robinson told MOT Leeds News that some of Llorente’s defending has been “inexcusable” at times this season under Bielsa.
He said: “Llorente’s defending has been schoolboy at times. His defending has been inexcusable, which hasn’t helped the situation.
“Yes, they’ve created chances but they haven’t got Bamford up there, they haven’t got Kalvin Phillips, they’re creating chances but they’re not taking them.
“Do you know what? The longer it goes, the players don’t want to lose possession so rather than take that chance in the final third, they’ll play the easy ball so they don’t lose possession. Nobody wanted to take that risk.
“The quality in the final third they had has gone due to a lack of confidence. That’s the reason they’re not creating as many chances as they did.”
TIF Thoughts on Paul Robinson’s comments…
Although Llorente hasn’t been outstanding this season, with an average SofaScore rating of 6.73 over his last five games, considering the injuries that Leeds have and the sides they have faced in recent weeks, this isn’t the worst score.
Bielsa’s final two games as Leeds boss were thumping defeats – 6-0 against Liverpool and 4-0 against Spurs. But before this, Llorente was one of the better performers under the Argentine, after he received a 7/10 rating against Everton, he scored against Aston Villa and was awarded a 7.4 against Newcastle, as per SofaScore.
Llorente is enduring his second season in English football, and only featured 15 times last term, so he may still be adapting to the English game. If club captain Liam Cooper was fit and able to play alongside the Spaniard, then he might have been able to learn from the experienced defender, but this hasn’t been the case.
Therefore, perhaps Robinson should cut Llorente some slack despite the Whites’ poor fortunes this season.