Junior Firpo reveals major downside of leaving Leeds for Spain – ‘they catch you quickly’
Junior Firpo has revealed a key difference about playing for Leeds United compared to his new club Real Betis.
The left-back was released by Leeds last summer after four years at Elland Road.
Leeds fans were unsure whether Firpo would re-sign throughout the final months of his contract, and many were left disappointed when he eventually exited.
Firpo signed for Real Betis on a free transfer, and has already made three appearances for the Seville-based club.
Now, he has spoken to the Spanish press about a key difference between his time at Leeds and playing in La Liga.
Junior Firpo says that he prefers English referees to Spanish ones
Firpo was speaking to the media about the standard of refereeing in Spain shortly after Real Betis’ 2-2 draw with Levante.
In that game, Betis had a goal disallowed thanks to a foul by Firpo in the build-up, and this was confirmed by VAR.
Commenting on the decision, he suggested that his opponent had dived and that this goal would never have been disallowed in England.
According to Estadio Deportivo, he said: “There’s a culture of not cheating, and there are heavy penalties for trying.
“They catch you quickly, and the referees even talk to you before the match if they see you’re a player who dives.”
- Read more: Junior Firpo left red-faced after making ‘special’ prediction on Leeds striker Mateo Joseph
The jury is still out on Gabriel Gudmundsson at Leeds
After releasing Firpo, Leeds moved to sign Gabriel Gudmundsson from Lille as his replacement.
Gudmundsson has started every Premier League game this season at left-back, and his performances have been a mixed bag.
- He was as solid as anyone else during the win against Everton and the 0-0 draw against Newcastle.
- He had a performance to forget in the 5-0 demolition against Arsenal
- Most recently, Gudmundsson scored an outrageous stoppage-time own goal to cost Leeds the points against Fulham.
The Swede admitted that he was hurting after that dreadful error. Now, Leeds fans must wait and see how he recovers.
Having played many times in the Champions League and for his national team, they should expect him to have the mentality to bounce back and have a great season.
They’ll need him and the rest of the back four to have a strong performance in the big game against Wolves this Saturday.
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