The Leeds United stopper is struggling but the Whites have had injuries at the back.
Leeds United goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald has come in for plenty of criticism in recent weeks, shipping eight goals in his last three matches to bring back memories of a woeful spell near the end of his time at Werder Bremen when goals were flying in left, right and centre.
But is the German solely to blame or could much of the stopper’s shakiness be down to the regular changes ahead of him?
After all, Leeds manager Thomas Christiansen has been unable to field the same two centre-backs regularly this season, dealing with injuries to Matthew Pennington and Pontus Jansson along with Liam Cooper’s ill-timed suspension.
Conor Shaughnessy has featured far more than he would have expected in the early weeks of the campaign, and while the youngster has done well, Leeds really need the resurgent Cooper and Jansson to be playing week in, week out.
Against Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds fielded Pennington and Jansson before the latter’s second-half injury. Against Cardiff City it was Jansson and Cooper before the Scottish defender’s red card and in the clash with Ipswich Town, Shaughnessy and Cooper took to the field.
Against Millwall, Shaughnessy partnered Jansson, meaning that time and again the Leeds ‘keeper has had to get used to a different centre-back pairing, just as they have had to get used to each other.
That is not the only excuse and Wiedwald really should be commanding his box better. However, Leeds’ defensive problems have not helped matters and it may be worth waiting to judge the stopper until he has had a run of games behind a regular back-line.
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