Tim Sherwood stunned at what he saw West Ham do to Leeds star Joe Rodon – ‘Ding dong’
Joe Rodon grabbed his second goal of the season as Leeds beat West Ham 2-1 at Elland Road on Friday night.
Rodon headed home Sean Longstaff’s corner in the 15th minute, adding to the goal earlier netted by Brenden Aaronson.
Mateus Fernandes scored in the 90th minute for West Ham, but it was no more than a consolation as the Whites showcased their Premier League survival credentials against a team who’s bound to be in the dogfight this season.
Opta predicts that Leeds will avoid relegation this term, with West Ham going down alongside Burnley and Wolves.
Tim Sherwood baffled by West Ham’s organisation for Joe Rodon’s goal
It wasn’t exactly a shock to see Rodon scoring by heading home a corner against West Ham.
No team in the Premier League has conceded more times from set-pieces than the Hammers (9) this season, and Rodon is an absolute colossus in the air.
But what made the Wales defender’s goal even less surprising was that he was being marked by West Ham’s attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta.
Tim Sherwood was in utter disbelief at how Nuno Espirito Santo organised his side to defend Longstaff’s corner.
Speaking on Sky Sports News on Saturday, Sherwood said: “It’s down to the manager and the organisation.
“Everyone in that stadium knows that Rodon is the best headerer of the ball in the Leeds team and he’s a goal threat. So, what do you do? Who do you put to mark him? Paqueta.
“I mean, ding dong, how on earth do you put Paqueta [with Rodon]? Rodon must have thought it was a wind-up.
“He’s standing there at the edge of the box and Paqueta’s marking him. He must think, ‘you’ve got the wrong person, you probably don’t know who I am’.
“He brushed him aside; it was an absolute mismatch. He just walked in.”
How good has Joe Rodon been this season for Leeds?
Rodon has been going from strength to strength since arriving at Elland Road, initially signing for Leeds on loan from Tottenham in 2023 before his move was made permanent a year later.
The 28-year-old Wales international has started all nine of Leeds’ Premier League matches this term and has an impressive average Sofascore rating of 7.02.
No defender in the top-flight has scored more goals than him, while he ranks 14th for interceptions among defenders (9), 17th for blocked shots (5) and joint-fifth with Everton’s James Tarkowski for clearances.
Also, only Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk (39) and Tarkowski (35) have won more aerial duels than the Leeds centre-back (34).
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