Dave Farrar: Liam Cooper ‘awful’ in loss to Arsenal
Liam Cooper has been slammed for his header in the Leeds United v Arsenal game on Tuesday night at the Emirates Stadium.
Dave Farrar, a BT Sport broadcaster, who was on commentary for the EFL Cup world feed, wasn’t impressed with how Cooper dealt with the ball for the Gunners’ second in their 2-0 win.
The 30-year-old aimed to head it back into the arms of Illan Meslier, but made a mess of it and Eddie Nketiah capitalised on it to slot the ball into an empty net.
Speaking about the Leeds captain and the goal, Farrar said, “Cooper. On as a substitute with an awful header. But it’s enough from Nketiah and surely it’s enough for Arsenal.”
Shocking error
Cooper is an experienced custodian and has won the trust of Bielsa so it’s shocking to see him being so casual in situations like this one.
He had all the time in the world to head it forward and anyone watching it would’ve questioned his intentions to play it to the Frenchman.
Meslier was far away from the Scotland international and it didn’t look like he even expected him to head the ball into his stride.
Nketiah, to his credit, was sharp enough, and possibly working with Cooper gave him a bit of an insight as to what he was more likely to do it.
It seemed like a perfect assist from Cooper to the Arsenal forward and these are errors that should’ve been eradicated from his game, given how much of a perfectionist Bielsa is.
Should Bielsa have all his defenders fit and available, there’s a good chance that Cooper will no longer be the first choice.
In other Leeds United news, Chris Foy shares if Saiss should have seen red in Leeds draw v Wolves