Leon Osman savages ‘ridiculous’ Leeds United on Match of the Day 2 after loss v Bournemouth
Leon Osman has torn the Leeds United defence to shreds after their 4-1 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday (30 April).
Javi Gracia’s side fell to their fifth consecutive defeat and plummeted into yet more relegation danger in the process, sitting just one point above the relegation zone, but with Everton and Leicester City set to play against each other on Monday evening (1 May).
Speaking live on Match of the Day 2 (Sunday, 30 April, 45:00), Leon Osman slammed the “ridiculous” amount of goals the Whites have shipped in recent weeks – 17 in five games – and labelled Illan Meslier culpable of yet another individual error in between the sticks.
“I mean Javi Gracia was brought in to give Leeds some defensive solidity, but it has been anything but in recent weeks,” he said.
“They have conceded a ridiculous amount of goals, they lost game after game – all five in April – and they’ve become so easy to play against.
“I mean the centre-half Cooper, who is supposed to win balls in the air, the midfielders, I mean it was McKennie here, you’ve got to work ever so hard to block shots in the Premier League, but I don’t think he tries hard enough to stop that shot on goal, and they could do better.
“This is a huge mistake by the goalkeeper, that’s his third big mistake leading to goals, and he should have done better with an awful lot more.
“But just look at the space they afford the opposition, inside their own half. They don’t have to work hard, nobody gets close, nobody gets tight, nobody tracks runners.”
Shocking
Leeds United are spiralling towards relegation and the 4-1 defeat on Sunday was yet more evidence that change might be necessary in the coming days.
Credit to Bournemouth for taking advantage of Leeds’ mistakes, but they really didn’t have to do much at all to defeat a horribly weak Gracia side.
In a game of such magnitude, the crushing defeat could well be it for Gracia.
The Spaniard looked like a defeated man after full-time and could well be out of the doors if the club can find a necessary replacement at such short notice.
The fans don’t deserve performances such as this, and they made this plain to the players at full-time.
How Leeds move forward from this, god alone knows.
One thing is for sure though, the Whites are sleepwalking their way to relegation at this rate, and the board must take responsibility for their lacklustre leadership over several years now.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has shared a surgery update that could rule another Elland Road ace out for months.