Liam Cooper may have started last game for Leeds United after what happened recently, Daniel Farke won’t be impressed
Leeds United defender Liam Cooper may well have started his last game at the club after his recent display for Scotland which highlighted his stark decline at the top level.
Steve Clarke called up the Whites ace for their huge Euro 2024 qualifier against Spain on Thursday (12 October) but was nowhere to be seen in their 2-0 defeat as he was resigned to a spot on the bench.
The Elland Road veteran has also endured a bit-part role back at his club so far this season with Tottenham loanee Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk Daniel Farke’s preferred pairing at centre-back, starting just three Championship games.
The 32-year-old was close to leaving Elland Road during the summer after plenty of interest from the Saudi Pro League, a situation where many would have expected him to call time on his nine-year career in West Yorkshire.
The Athletic journalist Phil Hay reported on 17 October that Cooper had a £4million contract offer on the table from Saudi Arabia over the summer.
A £40,000-a-week contract for two years, tax-free was ready to go from Al-Qadisah, currently managed by Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler.
The interest and contract offer never made it to the stage of a formal bid to Leeds themselves, and the skipper remained at Elland Road, rather than forcing a way out.
Despite that amount of money being on offer, there was said to be no question of Cooper sticking around and he managed to keep his captaincy under Daniel Farke.
However, that responsibility has so far been mostly required in the dressing room rather than the pitch.
With his contract at Elland Road up in under a year in June 2024 and no talk of a contract extension at the club, the countdown is certainly on for the Leeds veteran to finally call it quits.
The international break will have given him the opportunity to boost his fitness and match rhythm after limited minutes under Farke, but in his only start of the October international break against France on Tuesday night (17 October), the Elland Road centre-back was woeful.
As per SofaScore, Cooper failed to win any of his ground duels, recorded zero tackles on his 65 minutes on the pitch, touched the ball just 36 times all evening, dribbled past once and gave away a penalty for which Kylian Mbappe converted to make it 3-1 before half-time.
The Elland Road veteran has proven a remarkable stalwart for Leeds United over the past few seasons but this latest international showing proves he is certainly on his last legs.
Cooper may not offer Farke much in the way of defensive quality any longer as the club gears up for a strong promotion challenge this season in a gruelling 46-game campaign.
Cooper’s last start came in the disastrous 3-0 defeat to Southampton, another performance which indicated to Farke that the 32-year-old may not be able to cope with the high intensity of the Championship and that could well have been his last start at the club.
In other Leeds United news, one Thorp Arch academy graduate may have to leave in January with his career now in serious jeopardy.