The Whites have now lost three Premier League games in a row after the defeat away at Fulham.
Journalist Beren Cross has slammed Leeds United midfielder Marc Roca for his “poor performance” in the club’s disappointing recent defeat.
What’s the latest on Marc Roca and Leeds?
The Whites have now lost three Premier League goals in a row as they edge worryingly closer to the relegation zone with just six games left to save them.
Indeed, after losing 5-1 and then 6-1 at home to Crystal Palace and Liverpool, Javi Gracia and his team were away against Fulham this weekends.
In the end, despite a late consultation from Patrick Bamford (that may well be an own goal from Joao Palhinha), goals from Harry Wilson and Andreas Pereira saw the home side win 2-1.
Understandably, few players truly impressed in a Leeds shirt but it seems as though Roca may well have been the worst on the pitch.
Cross certainly didn’t hold back in his player ratings for LeedsLive as he handed the Spaniard a 4/10 – the joint-worst in the team – and called him “clumsy”.
He wrote: “A poor performance neatly summed up by the four consecutive corners he failed to get beyond the first man in the second half. Looked overrun as the sole pivot. Tackles were clumsy or non-existent.”
How poor was Marc Roca against Fulham?
Interestingly enough, Graham Smyth also gave Roca a 4/10 in the Yorkshire Evening Post player ratings and wrote: “Couldn’t get to grips with the game, gave away free-kicks, gave the ball away ahead of the second.”
While these two journalists concurred, the stats also go some way to outlining just how poor the £50k-per-week midfielder played on the day.
Indeed, as per Sofascore, Roca lost the ball 20 times and made four fouls (only Max Wober was poorer than him in both categories). He also was dribbled past once, while he failed with his only dribble attempt and made just one tackle – which shows why Cross calls his defensive work in the middle of the park “non-existent”.
This certainly doesn’t reflect well on Roca who was slammed by Cross in his LeedsLive player ratings just last week after the Liverpool defeat, handing him a 3/10 and writing: “Dire in possession when Leeds were in half-decent positions. Bypassed too easily at points.”
Following that same game, One Leeds Fan Channel host Conor McGilligan said (via Football FanCast): “I’ve said multiple times, I’m a big fan of Roca. He is embarrassing at the minute, embarrassing.”
All in all, it’s been a terrible few weeks for both club and player and it could soon get worse if they can’t fix things in the near future with the threat of relegation now looming large.
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