Ruthless Daniel Farke change needed as “shaky” Leeds United man drops 3/10 howler – View
Leeds United captain Liam Cooper was unable to build on his solid injury return in September as his clean sheet against Watford was met with a dismal display at Southampton.
The Whites’ unbeaten run in the Championship is over after a 3-1 defeat away at Southampton on Saturday afternoon, second best for 90 minutes at St Mary’s.
While individuals were culpable at times with the hosts racing into a 3-0 lead in the first half, Daniel Farke will know that his side were not setup up well as Russell Martin got the better of him.
How did the defence do?
There is an intriguing selection headache brewing for Farke in centre-back, with Liam Cooper getting the nod over the returning Joe Rodon after his one-game suspension.
However, Farke’s decision was not justified as Cooper was immediately caught static as Adam Armstrong broke in behind inside two minutes to loft the ball over Illan Meslier, earning a 3/10 overall for his display from the YEP:
“Got caught out for the first and then struggled to make amends. Dived in and didn’t always get the ball. Shaky performance.”
A failure to halt the advances of Kamaldeen Sulemana down Jamie Shackleton’s right, and an acknowledgement from Ethan Ampadu that Will Smallbone shouldn’t have been unmarked to roll home a second didn’t help matters, made worse when Armstrong got his second as he tied Sam Byram in knots.
Where will Leeds finish in 23/24?
Automatic promotion
7th-12th
Bottom half
Attention now has to turn to QPR at home this Thursday, where Farke will be forced to make changes just on the basis of such a poor showing.
Who comes out of the defence isn’t totally clear, with Pascal Struijk the only player coming out of the game with some semblance of pride, having defended fairly well and scored to reduce the deficit.
At full-back, Leeds aren’t blessed with many options, but Rodon simply has to be back in the side in the middle to partner Struijk.
Leeds’ run of clean sheets came with those two playing together at the heart of defence, and to get back to that rock-solid shape, Rodon has to be starting, and Struijk too – who looks to be leading by example right now.
