Sam Matterface says two of Leeds United’s signings look ‘terrible’ already

Add as preferred source on Google

TalkSPORT presenter Sam Matterface has given a worrying assessment of two new Leeds United signings after their debut performance against Sheffield Wednesday.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin was the main lightning rod for criticism after Leeds slipped to an EFL Cup exit at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday, after he missed a glorious chance to win the game late on.

However, Leeds’ attack struggled to fire throughout the full 90 minutes against the Owls, as fellow new signing Noah Okafor struggled to make an impression in his first start.

Daniel Farke criticised his team for being too static in possession at Hillsborough, as Leeds repeatedly failed to break down an inexperienced Owls side.

Now, Matterface has slammed Leeds’ new centre-back pairing of Jaka Bijol and Sebastiaan Bornauw, claiming that they looked “terrible” on their competitive debuts for the club.

Jaka Bijol and Sebastiaan Bornauw criticised after Leeds United debuts

Speaking on Premier League All Access, alongside co-hosts Alex Crook and Scott Minto, Matterface did not hold back in his assessment of Bijol and Bornauw’s Leeds debuts.

According to Matterface, Leeds’ untested centre-back pairing was too slow in possession and will need time to adjust to the pace of play in the Premier League.

Matterface said, “Leeds played a lot of first-team players. They played the two brand-new centre-half signings, Bornauw and Bijol, who had a terrible evening, by the way.

“Both of them looked pretty bad. They looked slow. They looked as if it’s going to take them a little bit of time to get up to the speed of the Premier League.

“And they just didn’t look up for it, Leeds, which is a bit of an issue, really, when you’re playing in an almost empty stadium, three-quarters empty because of the boycott, and your fans have made the effort to go there.”

Criticism of new centre-backs is harsh after a solid performance

Although Leeds’ performance against Sheffield Wednesday was far from polished, to single out the two centre-backs for criticism is harsh.

Bijol barely put a foot wrong with his 126 touches in the game, and Farke stated that he was pleased with Bornauw at full-time, as he played his first competitive game for Leeds.

The stats from FotMob back up Farke’s assessment of the Belgian, as he made 94 accurate passes from 99 attempts, and made three clearances, two interceptions and seven recoveries.

Few Leeds players stood out at Hillsborough on a difficult night. However, when the Whites had an xG of 2.91, 25 shots on goal and 80% of the possession, blaming the centre-backs for the defeat feels misdirected.