Leeds United: McGilligan makes claim on current defender

Connor McGilligan has claimed that Leeds United can’t rely on Liam Cooper being fit for the entire of next season in the Premier League.

Leeds United defender Liam Cooper was out injured for large chunks of last season, meaning that he ended up featuring just 21 times in the Premier League, and his absence was noticeable when Leeds ended up breaking the record for the most goals conceded in a calendar month in the Premier League in February when they conceded 20 goals.

Although Lees have signed six new players this summer, Jesse Marsch has decided to not bring in any central defenders, which could be concerning for the Whites considering the injury history of Liam Cooper.

With Cooper missing a large part of last season for Leeds, McGilligan claimed on the One Leeds Fan YouTube channel that you can’t rely on him for a full season without getting injured.

“I like Liam (Cooper), but he is a bit of a crock isn’t he, a bit like Kalvin Phillips is a bit of a crock, you are not going to be relying on Liam Cooper for that available throughout the season,” McGilligan said.

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TIF Thoughts on McGilligan’s comments…

Cooper has been at Leeds for eight seasons now, and he has been a mainstay in the side, after making 246 appearances in all competitions, but he is going to be turning 31 years old next month, and last season’s injuries might be a sign of things to come for him so Marsch might be keen to bring in defender as cover.

With the route that Marsch is seemingly going down, after the oldest player that he has brought into the club being 25 years old (Marc Roca), if a central defender becomes available that is young and suits the bill for the American coach, then Cooper might see his game time limited.