MOT View: Dismal midweek display from senior Leeds talent surely raises questions over future
Wednesday evening was one to forget for Leeds United.
What should have been a fairly routine EFL Cup tie against League One Hull City turned into a humbling defeat via a penalty shootout after Ezgjan Alioski pegged back an early Tigers opener in the 93rd minute of normal time.
Needless to say, this was quite the crash back down to earth after the breathless performance we saw against Liverpool on Saturday, but of course, there are some caveats to this loss.
Chiefly, Marcelo Bielsa was essentially playing his second XI here, with a number of players given a chance to prove themselves to the boss.
Few took that opportunity, but one in particular who struggled was Barry Douglas.
The left-back drew widespread ire from supporters for his display, and with Celtic heavily linked with a move for the player this summer, you have to wonder on the strength of this outing how much longer he has left at Elland Road.
Douglas’ pass accuracy rate was 6.7% down on his career average, while his total action success rate was 4.1% lower, as per Wyscout.
But there were bigger issues afoot too.
Douglas attempted just two crosses and one dribble all game, and failed to complete any of them.
As a wide player, Douglas could hardly ask for a better place to cross the ball from than the one pictured above.
He is inside the box, close to the byline, with a number of targets in the middle.
In the end, however, he ends up planting the ball squarely on the head of a Hull defender.
This wastefulness in possession was a recurrent theme all evening from the 31-year-old.
Douglas gave the ball away 18 times against Hull, higher than any total he registered last season and nearly seven times more than his career average.
Most concerning, however, is the fact he relinquished possession nine times in his own half, including once in his own box and three times by his own corner flag.
While that kind of sloppiness may go unpunished against League One opposition, can you imagine if Douglas made the same amount of errors against a side like the Liverpool team we came up against on Saturday?
They would eat him alive.
And fundamentally, that is the worry here.
The fact that Douglas has been linked with a move to Scotland doesn’t exactly bode well for his first team prospects anyway, but to then seem him turn out such a dismal performance on Wednesday genuinely raises questions over whether or not he is good enough for the Premier League.
In other Leeds United news, Paul Robinson has slammed this “unpredictable” Leeds player in an exclusive interview with MOT Leeds News.