Daniel Farke set to axe Liam Cooper after Leeds United defeat by Southampton as Phil Hay shares Joe Rodon ‘message’ update
Daniel Farke didn’t bring Joe Rodon back into his Leeds United starting line-up against Southampton because it would have sent the “wrong message”, he told Phil Hay.
The Whites boss was well within his rights to show faith in the players who produced an excellent 3-0 win against Watford last week, and give them the chance to come up with a repeat performance against the struggling Saints.
Instead his faith wasn’t repaid as Russell Martin potentially saved his job with a 3-1 victory off the back of four-straight defeats.
Cooper had come in for the suspended Rodon last week, and while the club captain may not have been solely responsible for the defeat on Saturday (30 September) he was the leader of a back line which suddenly looked all over the place in going 3-0 down inside 35 minutes at St. Mary’s.
Farke told Hay after the game he didn’t feel his centre-back selection was the reason Leeds United lost their six-game unbeaten run, but Rodon has been a key addition to the squad since his loan arrival from Tottenham and he is surely nailed on to return to the line up to face QPR in midweek (4 October).
The German is right that he needed to show those that came into the changed XI to beat the Hornets, which included Glen Kamara for Archie Gray and Jamie Shackleton for Luke Ayling, that strong performances will be rewarded, but equally it is very likely that poor ones will work in reverse.
It is tough on Cooper who has spent so much of the past couple of years in and out of the team with injury issues, but the defence looked worryingly like it has during major Premier League struggles without Rodon in place.
Pascal Struijk can’t avoid criticism, but has largely been chosen to partner the loan-signing when available as the first-choice pairing and did score a nice consolation goal, even if that can’t make up for defensive deficiencies.
Statistically Rodon has also been the stronger when compared to Cooper so far this season so on paper deserves the nod, and while it is possible Southampton would have still come up with a reaction if the Welsh international had been in the side it seems likely that the captain is now faced with an extended spell on the bench.
Using Opta stats from FB Ref it shows that both have an impressive 100% tackle success rate, but Rodon makes significantly more per game – 0.85 compared to 0.53, while he also blocks more shots (1.49 per 90 minutes vs 1.05) and passes (0.43 vs 0).
Cooper has been better at intercepting the ball with 2.11 per 90 minutes to Rodon’s 1.49, but the Spurs loanee is again way ahead in clearances with 4.26 per game to 2.63 for the Scotland international.
Aerially it is again Rodon who has the edge with a 71.9% success rate compared to 64.3% from his teammate, and while his sending off against Hull City clearly counts against him it was very contentious, so the numbers all point to him regaining his spot and likely to keep it barring another suspension or an injury.
Farke warned that in his prematch press conference (28 September) that it might be the “worst” time to face Southampton, despite the expectation of another big win given the two teams’ form going in, and he was right as his players failed to match their previous performance levels.
The manager will be forced to respond and Cooper is odds-on to be one of those sacrificed as a result, although perhaps not he only one.
In other Leeds United news, another senior player isn’t even training with the first team and the manager has confirmed he is on his way out.