Joe Hart defends struggling Leeds United player Lucas Perri, he was given an impossible task

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Leeds United fans have been questioning why Lucas Perri didn’t attempt to save Morgan Rogers’ free-kick for Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, and Joe Hart has now explained why.

With the scoreline reading 1-1 after Rogers had cancelled out Lukas Nmecha’s Leeds United opener, another mistake from Gabriel Gudmundsson meant Pascal Struijk had no choice but to commit a foul.

It resulted in a yellow card for Struijk and a free-kick for Villa, 20 yards from goal. Emi Buendia had attempted to perfect the knuckleball technique in the first half, as he had in a win over Bournemouth.

But with Buendia axed at half-time, the responsibility fell to Rogers, already confident after netting an equaliser for Villa. His technique was perfect, leaving the struggling Perri completely flat-footed.

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Joe Hart’s analysis explains why it was impossible for Lucas Perri

The knuckleball technique sees players connect with the ball towards the back of the foot, rather than the laces or the instep. A completely different style to the standard curling shot David Beckham perfected.

On Match of the Day on Sunday evening, Joe Hart explained why it is nearly impossible for a goalkeeper to save Rogers’ style of free-kick, if executed correctly. Even if it makes Perri look silly for not moving.

Hart gave an insightful bit of analysis that explains how the ball threatens to go one way, but goes the other way, while the dip instantly falls from above the bar to below the bar, in this case, more than 3ft.

“Rogers approaches it straight, making it difficult for Perri. His technique, like Gareth Bale’s, he hits below the ankle. 8ft 10in, [when the ball passes the wall] the goal is 8ft high. Perri has no idea of the trajectory.

“This is the time frame he has [from the ball passing the wall, to hitting the back of the net], a millisecond later, it’s at 5ft. Unbelievable dippage. Everyone at Elland Road is asking why is he just stood there?

“It threatens to swerve right to left. But it dips the other way. Perri is set for the ball to come towards him, making calculations in his head, but it dips the other way and Perri is stuck in the mud. Can’t move.”

Lucas Perri sits bottom of the Premier League for shots saved

While he might be excused from saving Rogers’ free-kick on Sunday afternoon, Perri’s performance was still far from convincing. The criticism he has from supporters is because he’s hardly won fans over, yet.

After an excellent start with two clean sheets in his first three games, Perri then got injured and his last four games have seen Leeds concede nine. On Sunday, his kicking was poor, and he almost dropped one.

A frantic bit of calculation saw Perri scramble it out for a throw-in, almost passing it to Donyell Malen inside the box. What is alarming is that Perri is bottom for shots saved among those to play six or more.

Indeed, Perri has only managed to save half of the shots he has faced in the Premier League, while new Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs is leading the way with an incredible tally of almost 80%.