mrniaboc Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 OK, I thought it might be worth starting a new thread for this argument... what's the deal with Liam Cooper? I have not been able to watch a Leeds game yet this season, so I have not seem him play, but here are the stats: 1) Captain of the Championship-leading side 2) Centre back 3) 5/12 clean sheets so far this season 4) 3 goals so far this season 5) 27 years old 6) Currently rated as the 2nd top player in the entire Championship by whoscored.com Normally, someone that looks like this on paper would be a nailed-on call up for our squad, especially considering our lack of depth, leadership, and experience at the back. However, from what I read on here it sounds like he's actually an absolute disaster. So what are the big problems in his game that the stats are hiding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceudmilefailte Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 I think he had a fallout with Strachan the SFA or some one at some point. Bottom line he is 27 and has little international experience and like one or two others (Shinnie, GMS) really shouldn't be near the squad to only be fourth choice. I would say the way ahead is to keep Mulgrew to bring McKenna through until he has the experience to be able to settle one of our younger central defenders Prefer to have a promising youngster come on for twenty minutes in a friendly. Think if you haven't played at a high level you aren't suddenly going to be come an international class player.at 25 and if you do it will be very obvious. A dozen good games for Leeds doesn't make you a world beater. Hopefully one good flick doesn't get you into the next Scotland squad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rab The Crab Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 I think he was the only player in the squad for the Czech/Denmark friendlies a few years back who didn’t get a run which was odd, then I saw him play a few times and realised why. From what I’ve seen he’s average at best but has nowhere near the composure required for international football and would be behind Hanley, Lindsay and Murray Wallace in the pecking order. Add that to rumours that he’s not interested in playing for us and it’s unlikely he’ll ever be selected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirrelhumper Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Saw him last month for Leeds. No better than what's there already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chripper Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Does It really matter? The pool of central defenders we have are all decent and of the same standard. I don't think we have one center back who will greatly improve us, so talking about Liam Cooper or Liam Lindsey, etc, is really irrelevant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrniaboc Posted October 26, 2018 Author Share Posted October 26, 2018 2 hours ago, Chripper said: Does It really matter? The pool of central defenders we have are all decent and of the same standard. I don't think we have one center back who will greatly improve us, so talking about Liam Cooper or Liam Lindsey, etc, is really irrelevant. Do we actually have that decent a pool of centre halves now? I mean Souttar will be out for the next two matches, and we've been starting Charlie Mulgrew. If McKenna or Mulgrew pick up an injury things start to look real ropey. Sounds like Cooper really isn't an option, I just find it fascinating how a player can look so good on paper but not be that good in real life. I guess I should watch the Leeds match this weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chripper Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 1 minute ago, mrniaboc said: Do we actually have that decent a pool of centre halves now? I mean Souttar will be out for the next two matches, and we've been starting Charlie Mulgrew. If McKenna or Mulgrew pick up an injury things start to look real ropey. Sounds like Cooper really isn't an option, I just find it fascinating how a player can look so good on paper but not be that good in real life. I guess I should watch the Leeds match this weekend! Fair point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 On 10/25/2018 at 5:11 PM, ceudmilefailte said: I think he had a fallout with Strachan the SFA or some one at some point. Bottom line he is 27 and has little international experience and like one or two others (Shinnie, GMS) really shouldn't be near the squad to only be fourth choice. I would say the way ahead is to keep Mulgrew to bring McKenna through until he has the experience to be able to settle one of our younger central defenders Prefer to have a promising youngster come on for twenty minutes in a friendly. Think if you haven't played at a high level you aren't suddenly going to be come an international class player.at 25 and if you do it will be very obvious. A dozen good games for Leeds doesn't make you a world beater. Hopefully one good flick doesn't get you into the next Scotland squad. Thats is clearly nonsense. There are many really good internationalists that were not been capped by their mid 20s. Paul Lambert for example... all this pish about playing youngsters... play whoever is the best. If my granny was 80 and better than the rest stick her in. i have heard this for 40 years... let’s build for the future and play the youngsters. If the youngsters are good enough they will force their way in, e.g. Andy Robertson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccaughey85 Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 David bates must be worth a call up. Especially with our injuries at CB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyD Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Have seen a fair bit of Cooper over the years as I watch Championship games regularly. My main take away about Cooper is that he has a complete lack of composure. He panics, and is a red card waiting to happen. He's a great League One centerback, a level where you can just kick your man to bits and the refs not going to punish you. An old-school clogger. This kind of sums him up to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrfLHb9n9c4 Regarding whoscored.. not sure how they work out their stats, but I think its likely that it's a bit of a freak of nature, in that the system/players around him are making up for his faults and so he's doing the few things he does well and that's enough for their algorithms. He'd be very far down my list in terms of a call up. Mulgrew, McKenna, Souttar, Tierney, Hendry, Lindsay, Hanley, Devlin, Bates, Berra are all well ahead to me. If they're all out then you get into the territory of looking at Cooper and Wilson and trying to bring Russell Martin back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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