Adam Pope rages at ’embarrassing’ Junior Firpo for what he did in Leeds United win vs Peterborough United
BBC commentator Adam Pope slammed Junior Firpo for his “embarrassing” and “terrible” defending despite Leeds United easing to victory over Peterborough United.
The Whites booked their place in round four of the FA Cup with a 3-0 win over third-tier side Peterborough at The Weston Homes Stadium on Sunday (7 January).
Firpo did not have the best of games at left-back, though, and he was called out by Pope live on BBC Radio Leeds [7 January, 3:39pm] after failing to tackle a Peterborough player in the second half.
“Firpo is beaten far too easily,” Pope said. “I have to say, that’s the weakest defending I’ve seen. It’s terrible.
“Patrick Bamford gives the ball away but it’s all brought on because Firpo – it’s embarrassing, his inability to put in a challenge.”
Caught out
Firpo was handed just a second start of the season for this third-round cup tie, but the defender did not make the most of the opportunity.
Whereas against Birmingham City last week he set up a couple of goals, he was unable to do so against Peterborough.
Not only that, he was caught out a couple of times defensively, including in this particular incident that made Pope rather angry.
Firpo is a former Barcelona player, of course, so you would expect him to be able to combine both the attacking and defensive sides of the game.
However, he has never been the strongest defensively and that is why he is not as trusted as a player of his calibre perhaps should be.
It was good to see others make the most of their chances, though – Bamford among them after scoring a sensational second goal for Leeds.
The competition for places is heating up, and it will be interesting to see what happens now with Firpo.
In other Leeds United news, a Whites player is now reportedly in the final stages of completing a permanent exit from Elland Road.