According to Jon Newsome, Liam Cooper should be replaced by Joe Rodon, although Pascal Struijk did enough to maintain his spot for Leeds United’s upcoming match.
After Southampton defeated Daniel Farke’s team 3-1 on Saturday, Newsome was speaking on BBC Radio Leeds. The Whites were far from their best on the south coast.
The season has gotten off to a strong start for Pascal Struijk. However, several people expressed concern over Leeds’ decision to keep Liam Cooper in place despite Joe Rodon’s return from suspension and the fact that they had two left-footed center backs playing side by side.
Unfortunately, the game was pretty much put to bed in the first-half. Southampton scored three times. And Leeds were extremely poor in the final third.
It was actually Struijk who scored Leeds’ goal to hand the visitors a lifeline. And it seems that Newsome hopes to see the Dutchman keep his place against Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday.
Struijk receives some praise despite Leeds’ loss
If he would make any adjustments for the game, the pundit was questioned. After urging that Joe Rodon should come back, Newsome said that, in his opinion, Struijk had done enough to maintain his position.
“Rodon needs to enter again. For me, for Coops,” he declared to BBC Radio Leeds.
“I believed Struijk performed much better. I believed he was the one who played aggressively. We still weren’t helped by it when it came to the imbalance. Additionally, he feels uneasy exiting on the right side. Coops wasn’t performing at his peak today, I reasoned.
Rodon needs to return – alongside Dutchman
Struijk and Rodon did appear to be forming an impressive partnership before the latter got sent off against Hull City last month.
In fact, Leeds had kept three clean sheets in a row before Rodon’s red.
Cooper did well against Watford last weekend. But Southampton found it far too easy to carve Leeds open during the first-half. So something surely has to change next time out.
Admittedly, the centre-backs were not the only reason Leeds struggled. Ethan Ampadu probably had his worst game in some time. And the full-backs – who were superb against Watford – were exposed against the Saints.
But as Leeds looks to recover, a change at the core of the defense will undoubtedly send out a positive message. Based on his performance this season, Struijk is most likely the one who deserves to keep his position.
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