Marcelo Bielsa could axe Liam Cooper for Leeds United v Norwich City
Marcelo Bielsa could drop Liam Cooper from his Leeds United playing XI against Norwich City this weekend.
The Whites captain has been a reliable stalwart at the back for the Argentine, but his performances in recent games have been far from spectacular.
He’s struggled to be that commanding presence that saw him win over the trust of Bielsa and given the other options in the side, he could do with some time away from the playing eleven.
Usually, despite players being underwhelming, there aren’t too many moments that can be pointed out, to highlight their flaws.
However, with Cooper, there have been two incidents in as many weeks which have resulted in Leeds losing both games.
First, against Southampton, when Nathan Redmond was running towards Cooper and the Leeds goal, the 30-year-old made a huge error.
He defended it like it was a one-on-one even though Armando Broja was adjacent to him, waiting for a tap in.
Most attackers in that situation would pass the ball to their unmarked teammate as their chances of scoring dramatically goes up.
Redmond, who’s not got the strongest of weak feet was allowed by Cooper to play a simple pass to Broja.
What Cooper could have done was show Redmond on his left and ensure that he tried beating Illan Meslier from that range.
He allowed Broja to score from an easy angle and Meslier wasn’t positioned well as he was preparing for Redmond to shoot with his weaker foot.
Similarly, against Arsenal in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, there was no reason for Cooper to try heading the ball back to his keeper.
It made sense to play the ball forward, but yet again, the 30-year-old made the wrong decision and tried picking out his keeper, even though Eddie Nketiah read his intentions.
Dave Farrar, a BT Sport broadcaster, who was on commentary for the EFL Cup world feed said, “Cooper. On as a substitute with an awful header. But it’s enough from Nketiah and surely it’s enough for Arsenal.”
Both times the centre-back has cost his side the game and it may be time for Pascal Struijk and Diego Llorente to be handed a start together.
In other Leeds United news, Bielsa may bench ‘Fantastic’ Whites player after a recent Twitter post