Leeds United captain Liam Cooper’s performance has been described as “some way short” in the side’s 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace.
That is the opinion of Yorkshire Evening Post writer Graham Smyth, who gave the 31-year-old a 5/10 rating for his performance in his player ratings article.
Cooper made just his second appearance of the season in Sunday’s clash, after the centre-back returned to action last week in Jesse Marsch’s side’s 0-0 draw with Aston Villa last weekend.
However, he could not keep a clean sheet at Selhurst Park, as goals from Odsonne Eduoard and Eberechi Eze helped secure a 2-1 victory for the hosts after Pascal Struijk had given the Whites the lead.
And Smyth criticised the skipper for his performance after he “dived in” for the home side’s opening goal.
“5 – Made a mistake that led to the opener, dived in and didn’t get there for the second. Some way shy of his best,” the reporter wrote in his player ratings article.
TIF Thoughts on Smyth’s comments
We believe that Leeds fans will be concerned about Cooper’s performance, with the captain showing signs of rust on his return to Premier League action.
He received a rating of just 6.1 in a performance which saw him lose five duels, lose possession 18 times, achieve a pass success rate of just 51% and accurately made just two of his nine attempted long balls (Sofascore).
Whilst this is totally understandable, there can be no room for sentiment if the club are to succeed at the top level, and Marsch may consider replacing the centre-back with one of his other defensive options in the side’s next fixture.
Therefore, we believe that Smyth’s comments were fair, and Cooper will know that he needs to pick up his form sooner rather than later for the Whites.