Noel Whelan reacts to Liam Cooper’s display in Leeds’ 1-0 win

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Liam Cooper was superb as Leeds United claimed a dramatic win in their latest Championship clash.

Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds (27/11 from 22:00) that he thought that Liam Cooper was fantastic during Leeds’ dramatic victory over Reading at Elland Road on Tuesday.

The Whites are back up to second in the Championship as Stuart Dallas’ goal proved to be enough to secure the three points against the Royals, but only after a fantastic penalty save from Bailey Peacock-Farrell in the final moments of the contest.

Reading did cause Leeds a few problems throughout the game, but Peacock-Farrell was not given too much to do. And that was largely down to an excellent performance from the new-look centre-back pairing of Cooper and Kalvin Phillips.

Phillips obviously deserves credit for the way he adapted to the role. But Cooper was exceptional. His passing rarely went wayward – Whoscored.com reports that 85 of his 90 passes found a teammate – and his composure on the ball seemed to make a huge difference when the visitors were asking questions.

And when a fan suggested that Cooper’s style of play was actually harming Leeds’ momentum, Whelan insisted that he has been incredibly impressed by the skipper.

“I think Cooper’s been fantastic. Today was a prime example, got to be patient,” he told BBC Radio Leeds. “He gets loads of touches on the ball when teams want to defend from the halfway line because that’s how you get your patience, draw them forward and that’s how you find your space. Once they start committing themselves to trying to get that ball back and they start stepping on to the centre halves, that’s when the midfielder’s come alive and they drop into those little holes.

“I can’t really criticise Cooper because I think all the back line have got a good understanding of how the manager wants them to play the game and how to create the space and get those men on the ball.”

Cooper has really stepped up this season. In previous years, he has come in for criticism for some rash decisions that have cost Leeds in particular games. But he no longer appears to have those mistakes in his locker.

He is establishing himself as a key man in Marcelo Bielsa’s side. And if he continues to play as he did against Reading, then it will not be long before his critics have a completely different view on the Whites skipper.