Slovenian media reacts as ‘everything went wrong’ for Jaka Bijol away from Leeds
Leeds ace Jaka Bijol had a nightmare start to the international break on Saturday.
Bijol has been given opportunities at Leeds by Daniel Farke lately, but he could not use that to inspire his nation to victory on 15 November.
Bijol started as Slovenia were defeated 2-0 by Kosovo in their first of two World Cup qualifiers, in a night to forget for the Whites ace.
Bijol will face Leeds teammate Gabriel Gudmundsson’s Sweden side on 18 November, hoping to put his last performance behind him.
Jaka Bijol earns dismal reviews in Slovenia
Bijol played a huge part in the defeat as he was at fault for the opener, as Fisnik Asllani beat him before slotting home the opener in the sixth minute.
Ekipa handed the Peacocks star a five out of 10 rating, saying: “This time we hope Leeds manager Daniel Farke wasn’t watching the game. He almost fell on his backside when he conceded, then again. He made mistakes in his passes and was very insecure.”
RTV SLO said that “everything went wrong in Stozice from the 1st to the 93rd minute” and “Jaka Bijol failed to stop Fisnik Asllani in the 6th minute, the excellent Hoffenheim striker masterfully received the ball, beat Bijol, moved to the right and tricked Jan Oblak with a diagonal shot.”
Daniel Farke needs Bijol to bounce back
Given that Bijol has begun to forge a role in his team, Farke needs the 26-year-old to put the defeat behind him and bounce back.
Bijol has started the last three matches, the 2-1 win over West Ham, the 3-0 loss to Brighton and the 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
- Bijol signed for Leeds from Udinese this summer for a £15m fee
- He had not made a single Premier League appearance before the West Ham game
- He had been restricted to one Carabao Cup fixture
The Whites face a difficult fixture list in the run-up to the new year, with the likes of Aston Villa, Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool in their next four matches, so it is hard to see where a win is coming from.
Farke has to hope that his defence can step up, and Bijol and Co. can stop some of those teams from scoring, or the LS11 side will be in genuine relegation danger, as they struggle to score themselves.
Three of the games are at Elland Road, and the German will hope that the Whites’ impressive home record can help them spring some surprises against the best sides in the division, but it is hard to see that happening.
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