Leeds United had a few departures in the summer as the squad were overhauled ahead of their return to the Premier League. However, the club didn’t want to lose a couple of players who had left, and one of them is struggling to settle at his new club.
Junior Firpo’s last two seasons were good enough for many fans to forget that he struggled when Leeds were last in the Premier League. He was instrumental in getting the Whites promoted from the Championship last season.
He developed his defensive game in the Championship, but his marauding runs from left-back into the final third were a feature of a dominant Leeds side who scored 100 points to win the league and earn promotion.
However, the defender’s contract expired at the end of last season, and he opted to leave on a free transfer and return to his former club, Real Betis in Spain.
Former Leeds United star is getting slammed for performance in Europe
Real Betis star Antony scored a late equaliser in Real Betis’ 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest at the Villamarin Stadium on Wednesday night.
El Desmarque took stock of Real Betis’ performance and rated each player individually.
They slammed Firpo’s performance and gave it a 3 out of 10 for being defensively insecure and failing to contribute adequately in attack.
They conceded that the left-back didn’t get enough protection, but pointed out that, individually, he was poor as well, losing 75 percent of his duels.
“Another wasted opportunity”, the outlet noted.
“He gives off a tremendous sense of insecurity. He almost always arrives late and doesn’t even contribute to the attack.
“He’s overwhelmed by his flank, although [yes] he didn’t have much help from Abde either.
“A fact that says it all. He lost 75% of his duels.”
Leeds have upgraded on Firpo
While some fans wanted Leeds to hold on to Firpo, the Whites were well aware of his struggles in the Premier League and were not prepared to offer him a huge new deal to stay.
His defensive flaws are being exposed in Spain, too, while the Whites have secured a major upgrade in Gabriel Gudmundsson for just £10m.
He may not be as good as Firpo in the final third, but Leeds were aware that they needed a safer left-back in defence, and he has already shown his quality there.
The Swede is far more defensively secure and strong than Firpo, and has already looked like a real rock in the Leeds defence this season.
Leeds believe they have got a better player overall in Gudmundsson than Firpo ever was, especially in the Premier League.
