Journalist Beren Cross was impressed after Liam Cooper made his return for Leeds this afternoon in his first appearance since the new year.
Cooper has had a frustrating season for Leeds, featured just 16 times in the Premier League, with his last game before this afternoon coming in December against Brentford.
The Leeds faithful will be hoping that Cooper’s return can give them a push for survival, as they are well amongst a relegation battle, sitting just two places above the drop zone on 30 points with seven games to go.
With the return of Cooper to the Leeds squad, Cross gave his praise towards the defender on Twitter after the game and claimed he was “very solid” against Southampton despite the Whites’ drop in performance in the second half.
He wrote: “A far weaker second half and Southampton more than good value for a draw in the end. Lack of quality in the final third from Leeds. Meslier question marks, but Cooper very solid on his return. Rodrigo encouraging. Five more points needed.”
In his player ratings for LeedsLive, handing the captain a 7/10, he continued: “A very solid return to action for the skipper. Did not have the same nervous moments Llorente had in the backline. Marshalled [Che] Adams comfortably for the most part. Aerial dominance was a welcome sight.”
TIF Thoughts on Beren Cross’ comments…
Cooper has been a huge miss to Leeds in his absence this season. In the Premier League, he has an average player rating of 7, has won 64% of his duels and makes an average of 3.2 clearances per game, as per SofaScore.
Leeds currently sit on 30 points with seven games to go, and Jesse Marsch has led the Whites to some good form as they are currently three games unbeaten in the league, so if Cooper can continue his solid form at the back, they should find themselves safe in no time.
Kalvin Phillips also made his return to action for the first time since their draw against Brentford, and if he can have a similar impact to what Cooper had today, Leeds will almost certainly remain in the league.