Leeds United: Scottish media react to 4/10 Liam Cooper in Scotland defeat
Scottish media has slammed Leeds United captain Liam Cooper for his performance as Steve Clarke’s Scotland team lost 1-0 to Northern Ireland on 26 March.
The main criticism for Cooper was the way he defended as Southampton’s Shea Charles was allowed to fire a dangerous shot on goal which, luckily for the Leeds man, missed the mark.
Another unconvincing display for the centre-back does not bode well for Scotland ahead of the European Championships, nor Leeds as they approach the Championship run-in.
The Scottish Daily Mail handed Cooper a 4/10 rating for his display as they wrote: “Stood off too long when Charles had a great chance to make it 2-0 on 43 minutes and was not convincing.”
The Daily Record, meanwhile, rated his performance a 6/10 and summed up his performance by simply sharing: “Done as Charles shot just wide. Header wide.”
Liam Cooper slammed after 4/10 Scotland performance
As previously mentioned, an uninspiring performance from one of the main leaders for his country will not be looked at positively ahead of Scotland’s Euros campaign, with that friendly as the last opportunity to step up.
His display will also not be looked upon positively by his club, especially the moment facing one of their Championship promotion rivals, as they will need everybody at their best to secure automatic promotion amid a tight race.
Cooper has been linked with a permanent departure from Elland Road in a similar fashion to Luke Ayling, with both club legends coming to the end of their current contracts and no renewal in sight as we approach the end of the season.
While Ayling opted to leave in January, moving on loan to Middlesbrough, Cooper made the decision to spend what is likely to be his final months with Leeds at Elland Road to help them towards what he hopes to be a second successful promotion campaign.
In other Leeds United news, the club is set to make an Elland Road announcement shortly.
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