Leeds United suffered a fourth successive Premier League defeat at home to Fulham on Sunday afternoon as the pressure continues to mount on manager Jesse Marsch – and here are our player ratings from the disappointing loss:
Illan Meslier – 6
Meslier could do little regarding the three goals, but ultimately, the French goalkeeper still conceded three times. It is now 16 goals conceded in 11 games this season, managing just two clean sheets. His kicking was particularly poor.
Luke Ayling – 6
In what was his first start of the Premier League season, Ayling offered so much more going forward than Rasmus Kristensen has done. But he almost gifted Fulham a goal, losing possession. Meslier made a one-on-one save.
Robin Koch – 4
A wonderful goal-line block was his only solid moment of the entire match. The German could not cope with Alekansdar Mitrovic, or the energy in Fulham’s attack. It says a lot that he has been our best centre-back this term.
Liam Cooper – 4
Shaky in possession and like Koch, unable to cope with the power of Mitrovic. Cooper has been seen, since Premier League promotion, as the man to bring order to the Leeds defence. On this showing, he simply is not good enough.
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Pascal Struijk – 5 (85 mins, replaced by Gelhardt)
An improvement on Junior Firpo’s woeful showing at Leicester, but still some way off the required standard. Indeed, some way below how good he has been this season. Offered nothing going forward, throughout the 90 minutes.
Marc Roca – 5
Some neat passing at times but without the combative Tyler Adams alongside him, he was limited in how much he could get forward during the 3-2 loss. Some questionable decision making, a long ball in the second half, for example.
Sam Greenwood – 6 (76 mins, replaced by Klich)
Coming in alongside Roca with Adams nowhere to be seen, the England youth international was one of the pick of our players. But ultimately, that was not hard. Some neat passing, and a decent effort on goal in the second half of the loss.
Jack Harrison – 4
Hard-working, as Harrison returned to the starting line-up. But at times his first touch was like a trampoline, and he often seemed to run at the Fulham defence with nothing on. Perhaps, trying too hard after a spell of poor form.
Brenden Aaronson – 5
Aaronson has probably been our best player this season. But the United States ace was snuffed out by Joao Palhinha at the base of Fulham’s midfield and was rarely seen in the second half. Perhaps, Leeds being over-reliant is draining him.
Luis Sinisterra – 5 (63 mins, replaced by Summerville)
Some glimpses but nowhere near enough to drag Leeds out of the mire. He seems as if he is lacking in a bit of confidence and often gave the ball away. But you can see the talent is there and certainly not our worst performance.
Rodrigo – 4 (63 mins, replaced by Bamford)
His goal saved him. Some horrible first touches, including one that saw him latch on to a neat chip from Sinisterra. His touch saw the ball spring out of play. Nice to see him score his fifth of the season, but a feeling that did not last long.
Leeds player ratings from disappointing Fulham loss
Crysencio Summerville – 6
Got his first goal for Leeds but the no.10 offered little again, during his brief cameo role. Some nice touches, but far too light-weight and often pushed off the ball. If he is to make it at this level, a lot more is needed.
Joe Gelhardt – 5
A player that needs more minutes. Instantly made things happen when coming on and played a big part in our second goal, to give Marsch hope. But it is unfathomable that he was only used from 85 minutes onwards.
Mateusz Klich and Patrick Bamford – 5
Hardly contributed – other than Bamford missing a glorious chance when put through on goal. But the striker offered more when coming on, and arguably an improvement on Rodrigo even without scoring. Klich did little.
