Leeds United left-back Junior Firpo has been criticised for his performance for the club’s Under-21 side.
Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Joe Donnohue, was rating the performances of the Whites’ youngsters following their Papa John’s Trophy defeat at Crewe Alexandra on penalties following a 1-1 draw on Tuesday evening.
After being an unused substitute in Leeds’ last two Premier League fixtures, Firpo was selected for the under-21 side in a critical group-stage clash for the youngsters.
The 26-year-old missed his kick in the penalty shootout, with the defeat meaning that the side missed out on a spot in the competition’s knockout stages.
And Donnohue believes that the £13m signing was a solid presence in the team, but would have expected more from a senior figure playing away at a League Two side.
He wrote: “Junior Firpo: Fine all-round, but you expect a bit more from a senior player.”
TIF Thoughts on Donnohue’s comments…
We agree with Donnohue and believe that Firpo could have put in a more dominant performance given the situation the side was in.
Despite achieving an impressive SofaScore rating of 7.0 for the fixture, the former Barcelona man only attempted two dribbles throughout the game (neither of which were successful), attempted three crosses (none of which were accurate), and lost possession 25 times in the fixture, according to the same stats provider.
Therefore, we would suggest that this shows that Firpo maybe didn’t take his opportunity to stand up and be counted in the U21 side, and fans may feel a bit underwhelmed with his display.