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'Not good enough' - Sky Sports pundit blasts Leeds senior player v Preston
Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe blasted club captain Liam Cooper for his performance as Leeds United lost 1-0 to Preston at Elland Road on Boxing Day.
Leeds’ defence were all over the place in the first half of their meeting with Alex Neil’s side on Thursday and Cooper, 28, stood out as being one of the sloppiest players on the pitch.
The former Hull defender was loose with his passing and really struggling to fend off Preston’s attackers as they rushed forward at Leeds’ back-line.
Former England and Sheffield Wednesday left-back Hinchcliffe was less than impressed with the Scotland international’s performance, as well as everyone else in Leeds’ defence.
“Liam Cooper’s just nudged off the ball there – it’s not good enough from the Leeds centre-back,” said Hinchcliffe on Sky Sports Football on Thursday [05:29pm].
“They’ve got to learn their lesson. Cooper, the goalkeeper, the back-four. They’re going to be put under pressure.
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“Preston have come here to give them a real game, they have to get rid of the ball a lot quicker than that.”
Cooper really struggled to cope with Preston’s high press.
As the away side’s attackers put him under pressure he made some very loose passes and some of his challenges to win the ball back were simply not good enough.
According to stats by WhoScored, Cooper completed 75 per cent of his passes – only Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas had a lower percentage.
He was Leeds’ best player in the air though as he won five aerial duels but Preston played their most dangerous football on the deck, where Cooper struggled.
Cooper needs to improve soon because Leeds are leaking goals that they wouldn’t normally be.
In other Leeds United news, fans raved about this player after the draw against North End.