Leeds United

Leeds United: Journalist slams Diego Llorente for recent form

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Image for Leeds United: Journalist slams Diego Llorente for recent form

Journalist Joe Donnohue recently slammed Leeds United defender Diego Llorente for his recent form and his ‘shaky’ performances which have led to goals. 

Despite their good start to the season, which sees them sitting ninth in the Premier League after their first six games, they have already conceded 10 goals this season and have failed to win in their last three games.

While they have been able to pick up goals easily so far, their porous defence has let them down, especially in their embarrassing defeat to Brentford, where they lost 5-2 with Jesse Marsch picking up a red card.

One player who has since garnered criticism for his performances is Llorente, who has been labelled as ‘shaky’ by Donnohue, who pointed to him as the reason why they conceded two important goals this season.

Donnohue told the Inside Elland Road podcast: “I think past the past two league games, Llorente has been a little bit shaky, hasn’t been able to sort his feet out in on two occasions, which have directly led to Leeds conceding.

“First one being at Everton, when Alex Iwobi played that that ball through for Anthony Gordon to open the scoring at Elland Road and then of course the big one which you just don’t want to see back, it’s the Yoane Wissa goal against Brentford in the 93rd minute and just dawdles on the ball too long, gets dispossessed and it’s one of those things that as a centre-half you just never, ever want to see happen in your team.”

TIF Thoughts on Llorente…

While Llorente has shown himself to be an important figure in this Leeds side since his arrival, he has not performed to his best ability in recent games, which is highlighted in his Brentford match rating of 5.1 (via SofaScore).

During this game, he lost possession 12 times, was dribbled past twice, had one error leading to a goal, won just four of his nine ground duels and conceded two fouls. His passing has also been horrendous, as according to Fbref, he currently ranks in the 51st percentile for passes attempted and 31st for pass completion compared to other centre-backs in Europe’s top five leagues.

The Whites have proven they can put the ball in the back of the net, but with their leaky defence that Llorente is at the heart of, they are going to struggle to break back into the top half. We feel they need to bring in reinforcements as soon as possible, which will see Llorente on the bench or out of the team completely unless he pulls his socks up.

Should Leeds sell Llorente?

Yes

Yes

No

No

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