Ex-Leeds United defender pinpoints Daniel Farke's weak link with glaring issue to 'iron out'

Former Leeds United defender Jon Newsome has pinpointed Junior Firpo's defensive shortcomings as a weak point in the Whites' backline. Firpo has been in and out of Daniel Farke's side this season after struggling for fitness over the opening half of the campaign.

However, the Dominican has found traction in the side of late, registering four assists from left-back in his last five league games and helping Leeds keep as many clean sheets over the same period, with the most recent coming at Bristol City on Friday night.

Firpo played the full 90 minutes in that 1-0 win at Ashton Gate, which took the club second in the Championship momentarily, but it must be said he failed to hit the standards he had set in previous weeks as he struggled to deal with the threat down the Robins' right edge. It was his performance that was singled out after the game, too, with Newsome pointing to issues that he believes must be addressed.

“If there is anybody on the pitch that I would like to have a word with, it would be Junior Firpo," he said while working as a pundit for BBC Radio Leeds. It’s about his lack of stopping crosses and his lack of awareness of danger in stopping those crosses. It’s a real issue in his game that needs to be ironed out.

“He thinks that jogging towards the winger is his job and that’s my job done. If they crossed the ball and I have dangled my foot, I have done everything. You haven’t done everything to stop that ball. When that ball ends up in the back of the net, I think you could have done more to stop that cross. Even if you don’t stop the cross, what you do is put the crosser under pressure. It is things like that and it amazes me that it’s not being picked up from within yet.”