The World Cup has started, and Leeds United fans have a lot to look forward to with as many as four of their players involved in the summer extravaganza.
Brenden Aaronson and Noah Okafor didn’t come off the bench in the United States and Switzerland’s opening World Cup games, respectively, and there are concerns around Gabriel Gudmundsson’s involvement early in the tournament for Sweden.
Ao Tanaka may feature in Japan’s big game against the Netherlands later tonight after Wataru Endo was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury.
However, Leeds fans still have enough reason to follow the World Cup due to several narratives, and one former White has earned scorn for his actions early in the tournament.
Danny Murphy slams Tyler Adams
The United States had a brilliant start to the World Cup, beating Paraguay 4-1 in their opening group game on Friday evening. However, Tyler Adams didn’t gain any fans with his actions.
Former Premier League midfielder Danny Murphy was left annoyed by the American midfielder’s penchant for hitting the ground too easily to win free-kicks.
He has insisted that it is not nice to see a tough-tackling midfielder like Adams resorting to such ‘cheating’ tactics on the pitch.
Murphy said on the BBC: “I was praising Tyler Adams as being a tough midfielder who gets stuck in and puts himself about, but he’s dived twice now in this game.
“What is he doing? There is no need for him to go down like that; it is embarrassing. He is a great midfielder; he’s tough, and he does not need to do that.”
However, the former Premier League star stressed that the US have a strong squad in the World Cup, which is evident from the fact that Leeds star Aaronson is not getting a game despite having a brilliant season at Elland Road.
He said: “The USA have actually got a really strong squad full of Premier League and top-level experience.
“You look across the team, and they have some great players. I mean, even on the bench, they have Brenden Aaronson from Leeds who has had a terrific season.”
Leeds fans do not have fond memories of the US midfielder
Tyler Adams has established himself in the Premier League with Bournemouth and has been linked with the top-flight’s heavyweight clubs.
However, Leeds do not have fond memories of the midfielder after he joined the club in the summer of 2022 and was part of the team that suffered relegation from the Premier League.
Adams was at the heart of the Leeds midfield that struggled and stumbled before going down to the Championship.
He was more than happy to leave Leeds following their relegation and moved to Bournemouth, where he has emerged as a tough-tackling midfielder.
However, Adams’ image at Leeds was of a player who looked out of his depth and then didn’t dare to stay back and help them get promoted.
