Leeds United are in a sticky position ahead of Monday’s game against Wolves.
The Whites have two key players out of action as both Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente have been sidelined with injury, meaning that United have only one fit senior centre-back at the moment in the shape of Robin Koch.
Injuries are an issue that affect every squad to varying degrees, and while they are a nightmare to deal with, we can’t help but feel that Leeds should have seen this one coming.
Cooper has a history of injuries that have seen him miss chunks of the past two seasons, and despite only being a month into the new season, this is now the second time he has missed a game through injury already.
Noel Whelan perfectly highlighted the issues that United face when they are without Cooper earlier this season, saying:
“You do miss Liam Cooper when he is unavailable. He has grown into a leader during his time at Leeds. I think he has a little bit more aggression, quality on the ball and knowhow to play the game. He is older, wiser and has more experience than Struijk.”
Add into this the fact that Diego Llorente has a lengthy injury history and you begin to think that this situation was an inevitability rather than a coincidence, and it’s one that Marcelo Bielsa should have seen coming.
The Argentine is famed for his incredible attention to detail, for example, he spent his lockdown studying 19 hours of Alfie McCalmont footage, but somehow this issue has seemingly slipped his mind.
Cooper is a vital player at Leeds, and the fact that Noel Whelan seemed so cut up when talking about the captain’s injury at the start of the season shows that Victor Orta should probably have had a contingency plan in place for when he went down with injury, more importantly, a plan that didn’t rely solely on Llorente being fit as a quick glance at his injury history shows that he’s likely to miss portions of the season.
United having just three centre-backs is a risky game to play, and it’s something we pointed out when the transfer window was still open due to Bielsa’s tendency to play three at the back, but despite there being evidence pointing towards Leeds needing a bit more depth there, they ignored the need to sign a fourth centre-back, and that’s come back to bite them.
