Leeds United appeared to land a coup when they signed Junior Firpo from Barcelona, but Micah Richards wasn’t too impressed on Saturday.
The Whites hosted West Ham United at Elland Road and took a first half lead through a superb Raphinha finish.
It all fell apart in the second half though.
Firpo scored an own goal to bring West Ham level before Michail Antonio won it in the dying embers.
Firpo enduring difficult Leeds start
Leeds wanted a new left back over the summer and managed to lure Firpo from Barcelona.
Firpo was once highly-regarded at Real Betis, but found it difficult to play regular first-team football with Barca.
Quick, athletic and able to get up and down the left flank, Firpo looked ideal for Marcelo Bielsa’s style.
Defensively, Firpo has had some problems. He was tormented by Mohamed Salah earlier this month, which could happen to anybody, but then scored an own goal in the West Ham clash.
Richards critical of Firpo
Speaking on Match of the Day, pundit Micah Richards – a former Leeds youngster – was very critical of Firpo’s defending.
Richards highlighted how Firpo went man-to-man with Pablo Fornals, as is the way in Bielsa’s setup.
However, Firpo ended up leaving Fornals and simply standing inside the box not really marking anybody or closing down the ball.
Jarrod Bowen effort ended up flying off Firpo and into the net, with Richards criticising him for ‘not doing anything’ in the build-up to that goal.
“Firpo is playing left back, he’s gone one-on-one [with Fornals], we know Leeds like to do the one-on-one all over the pitch, but he stays there – he leaves massive space!” said Richard.
“He tried to get in a position, and he ends up getting an own goal – he’s not doing anything there really!” He added.
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