Following Leeds’ humiliation against Southampton, BBC pundit Pascal Struijk should replace Liam Cooper as a “better” option.
Jon Newsome believes that Pascal Struijk should replace Liam Cooper in the Leeds starting lineup.
Rodon served a one-game ban for receiving a red card against Hull City on Saturday (30 September), thus he watched from the sidelines as the Whites were humiliated 3-1 at St Mary’s.
As stated by Leeds United News, Newsome said: “Rodon’s got to come back in. For me, for Coops. Struijk, in my opinion, fared far better. I believed he was the one who played aggressively.
We still didn’t get any support from it for that unbalanced part. Additionally, he feels uneasy exiting on the right side. Coops wasn’t performing at his peak today, I reasoned.
After Adam Armstrong gave the Saints a rare early lead just two minutes into his journey to the South Coast, Daniel Farke was forced to confront reality.
Cooper’s subpar performance contributed to the end of Leeds’ six-game unbeaten streak in the Championship as things continued to go worse.
Despite the fact that Cooper was only one of many Leeds players who performed below par at St Mary’s, many people were shocked when Rodon was left out of the starting lineup.
Farke’s preferred pairing this season has been the Welshman and Struijk, but Cooper assisted Leeds in keeping a clean sheet last weekend against Watford, so perhaps the coach did not want to alter a winning lineup.
However, this choice backfired. Many would argue that Cooper could have done more to attempt and thwart Southampton’s subsequent goals after he entirely lost Armstrong in the lead-up to Southampton’s opening score.
Rodon has excelled for Farke this season and made a superb transition to the team.
The supporters at Elland Road will remain upbeat despite the outcome but dismayed by the manner of the loss.
Although Southampton has had a slow start to life in the Championship, many anticipated them to pick up steam eventually, and Leeds just so happened to be the unfortunate recipient.
The options are there, and while Cooper has been a key player for the Whites for a number of seasons, quality of often valued over loyalty.
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