MOT View: 28-year-old has been most under-rated player among Leeds fans this season
Leeds United fans are the best in the country and when things are going well, they are always full of praise for the players.
However in every team there is always a player who does not always get the recognition he quite deserves.
A lot of Leeds fans have said that Mateusz Klich is under-rated but that is mainly among those who do not support the Yorkshire giants.
We believe that club captain Liam Cooper is the most under-rated player among Leeds fans and deserves a lot more praise for his performances this season.
One of the main reasons why Cooper, 28, has never really had the praise he deserves at Elland Road is that he has always been playing alongside a centre-back who grabs the limelight away from him.
Before this season it was Pontus Jansson while this term it has been loan star Ben White.
While we agree that White has been one of the best centre-backs in the Championship this season and all the speculation about his future is fully justified, it has taken the shine away from what has been a huge season for Scotland international Cooper.
On WhoScored, Cooper ranks fourth in the Leeds squad for his overall match rating. Only Luke Ayling, Kalvin Phillips and Pablo Hernandez are ranked higher than Cooper, who is one place above White.
According to stats by WyScout, Cooper [77%] has won more of his defensive duels than White [71.9%] this season in the Championship and has won a higher percentage of aerial duels – 59.6 per cent to White’s 53.8 per cent.
Cooper has also made more interceptions per 90 minutes of league football [4.83] than the on-loan Brighton man [3.87] and more recoveries – 16.11 to White’s 12.51.
White does beat Cooper in other areas. For instance, the 22-year-old has been more successful at sliding tackles, averaged more clearances per 90 minutes and has a higher pass accuracy – although Cooper completes a higher number.
We’re not saying that Cooper is better than White, we are simply pointing that Cooper matches the 22-year-old in some areas and does better than him in others.
Cooper probably doesn’t get the praise he merits because he’s a long-serving player who is club captain and those performances are expected of him.
However we believe that the Scottish defender deserves to be talked about just as much as White has been this season and Leeds fans are culpable of that.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are cutting losses with this pre-agreed exit for a 23-year-old player.