Steve McManaman has stated that Robin Koch’s defending during Leeds United’s 4-3 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur was ‘awful’.
Jesse Marsch will be kicking himself days after that defeat because his team took the lead on three occasions in north London, yet they returned to Yorkshire empty-handed.
From an attacking sense, Leeds continued to open up Antonio Conte’s side time and time again.
But they just couldn’t defend their penalty box, which has become a common theme, not under just Marsch, but the previous management of Marcelo Bielsa.
This was a missed opportunity for the Whites, who only weeks before had upset the odds by beating Liverpool at Anfield, but they weren’t able to follow suit against Spurs and McManaman thinks Leeds will be ‘angry’, as he told Premier League Productions (12/11/22 at 5:10 pm).
“Leeds will be very angry about their performance,” said McManaman. “They were so unfortunate. The first goal (foul on Meslier). The second goal then deflected. Rodrigo then smashes one in.
“They are literally all over the place then. This was an awful goal to concede. The Bentancur 3-3 one. If you look at Robin Koch’s defending, when it goes out to Kulusevski, I mean it’s awful. It’s awful, then Bentancur goes and gets the winner.”
LEEDS’ DEFENCE
It’s going to be interesting what Leeds do with their defence in January because there needs to be changes.
Is Koch the best man at the back? Is the £12 million star (Daily Mail) the best of a bad bunch? Because something has to change due to the error-prone performances from the backline.
Liam Cooper isn’t just cutting it and whilst the 31-year-old has played a huge part in the team’s rise back to the top in recent years, this is where Marsch needs to be ruthless and part ways with some of these players.
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