Liam Cooper can’t have taken much enjoyment out of the last couple of months at Thorp Arch. The defender is thought to have picked up a niggling Achilles issue while training on a treadmill during the off-season and as a result, his pre-season campaign did not go as planned.
He sat out of all five of Leeds United’s friendly games and missed a huge chunk of training, too, while the club’s medical staff monitored the injury and his recovery. As such, when the start of the Premier League season came around earlier this month, Cooper wasn’t ready.
Cooper had hoped to have been involved in some capacity at Southampton, but the decision was taken not to risk him and the same call was made ahead of the Whites’ home clash with Chelsea. However, Jesse Marsch saw the Carabao Cup clash with Barnsley as the perfect opportunity to ease him back into the action.
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The centre-back led the side out at Elland Road, a moment he will no doubt have cherished after his summer of frustration and he produced a performance that he could be more than pleased with after spending so long on the sidelines.
He was called into action on a couple of occasions in the opening few minutes of the game as Barnsley looked to counter at pace and catch Leeds cold, but Cooper, who was playing alongside Diego Llorente, Cody Drameh and Leo Hjelde in the Whites' backline, stood firm and handled the danger. He was calm on the ball, played things safe and got through his work effectively to help United take a 2-1 lead into the break.
That was all Cooper needed against Barnsley and he was brought off after 45 minutes alongside Diego Llorente as Robin Koch and Pascal Struijk entered the fray and it seems he got everything out of the contest that he needed to.
“We were very happy that we were able to include him,” Leeds assistant Rene Maric said aftee the game.” It was constant communication with him, when and how long he will be able to play and I thought the 45 minutes were perfect for him.”
What comes next, though, will certainly be interesting as Cooper looks to work his way back into Marsch’s first-choice Premier League line-up. The captain is likely to be part of the squad that will travel down to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, but, at this stage, he isn’t expected to step into the starting line-up for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, medical staff will be keen to see him edged back into regular action slowly, particularly given the frustrating nature of the injury. Marsch will know rushing him back too quickly would put him at risk of a setback and he’ll be keen to give his skipper the time he needs to return safely.
The performances of Koch and Llorente against Chelsea deserve rewarding, too, and it seems highly unlikely the head coach will look to disrupt that partnership at present. The pair dominated Chelsea’s attacking line-up to ensure Leeds picked up their first clean sheet of the season and they’ll both be keen to build on that this weekend at the Amex Stadium.
As such, how Marsch will look to utilise Cooper over the next couple of weeks intrigues, but he’ll certainly feel stronger for having his captain back in contention.
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