Leeds Player Ratings - Wolves 4 - 1 Leeds

Leeds United weren’t near their best and by the end took a bit of hammering from a Wolverhampton Wanderers side who look every bit a side that will win the league this season. After a poor first half where Leeds went in 2-0 behind, Leeds got back into the game with a fine goal from Ezgjan Alioski and Leeds were well in the game before Ronaldo Vieira was dismissed for a second yellow card. Following this, Wolves ran away with it.

This doesn’t feel like some of our previous defeats, the anger levels aren’t nearly as high. Most people came into the game expecting a defeat, and that’s what we got. Every criticism of Leeds tonight does have the caveat: “Wolves are really good though”.

Time now to look at each player and how they performed. As always you can tell me how wrong I am @mightywhitespod or @ThruItAllLUFC on twitter.

STARTING LINE-UP

Andy Lonergan - Another poor day for the under pressure keeper. While it pales in comparison to his aberration against Brentford it is another game where two goals conceded by Leeds can be directly attributed to him.

Wolves second goal, while a decent strike from Ivan Cavaliero, is a shot which Lonergan definitely should have saved as he quite comfortably got there. Then, on the fourth goal, he drops a simple shot (to give him credit he saved the rebound very well) and then comes out and fouls Bonatini to give away the penalty. Although the penalty looked a harsh decision it was a very poor drop in the build up that put Leeds in trouble in the first place. At the moment, the experienced stopper inspires absolutely no confidence unfortunately. 4/10

Luke Ayling - Not close to his best but the majority of the problems for Leeds came down the other side. His passing was not up to scratch as he gave the ball away a lot, but that was the case for most players on the pitch for Leeds as we struggled to deal with Wolves pressing. Did some decent defensive work up against Barry Douglas and Diogo Jota who are both very good players. Had a couple of decent moments going forward, the best moment coming after a couple of minutes when he beat three players and got a cross in. 5.5/10

Pontus Jansson - Wasn’t at his best for most of the game but wasn’t terrible. However, made a crucial error in letting the ball bounce in front of the back four and then getting beaten to ball which lead directly to Wolves 3rd goal. Had none of the dominance we saw on Sunday against Middlesbrough, but he was against a much better side with much more attacking threat and a lot of pace up front. 5/10

Liam Cooper - Similar story to his defensive partner, with his major error coming for the same goal. After Jansson’s error Diogo Jota is bearing down on goal Cooper was in position to come across and cover and instead jogged backwards doing absolutely nothing and made the job easy for Jota to finish. Was a similar error to on he made against Preston North End earlier in the season, Josh Harrop hit the bar for Preston, today we weren’t so lucky. Also, not a very good tackle to give away the free-kick for Barry Douglas’ opener, although he wasn’t the only one to blame for that one. 5/10

Gaetano Berardi - All Leeds fans love Berardi, always gives it his all and will never shirk his responsibilities, but today he had a shocker. Was always going to be a struggle for him against their right sided duo of Matt Doherty and Ivan Cavaliero, and he wasn’t helped by having Pablo Hernandez in front of him but he made errors constantly and never regained his composure.

Gave possession away very poorly which lead to Cooper giving away a free-kick for Douglas’ opener. Wolves got in again and again down his side without really having to do anything creative. Could well drop out of the side for the Barnsley game on Saturday, whether for Vernon Anita or Cameron Borthwick-Jackson. 4/10

Ronaldo Vieira - In the first half was one of the better performers for Leeds, although that isn’t saying a lot. Won the ball back well and was a major part of Leeds starting to get on top at the start of the second half. Another who gave the ball away a bit too much but so did most.

Unfortunately, his decision to dive in on Diogo Jota when on a yellow card was the kind of decision that can’t be justified whether the player is 19 or 35 years old. The Red Card stopped Leeds having any chance and despite Vieira being one of better performers for an hour, his score suffers for his mistake. 5/10

Kalvin Phillips - Against Middlesbrough, he was more effective than Vieira but today he was the quiter partner in central midfield. Fairly anonymous in the first half but he improved at the start of the second half. After the Red Card Wolves had too much space for him to really be effective. Not a great day but not at fault much either. 5.5/10

Ezgjan Alioski - This and Saiz’s ratings will read very similarly. Unable to get on the ball and really have an impact in the first half. Scored a fantastic goal from a Saiz ball in to the box to get Leeds back into the match. Back to being quiet after the goal when Wolves got back on top. 6/10

Samu Saiz - Unable to get on the ball and really have an impact in the first half. Although, as usual, looked the most likely to create something. A fantastic ball to find Alioski for the goal which got Leeds back into the match. Back to being quiet after the goal when Wolves got back on top. For me Leeds’ best performer. 6.5/10

Pablo Hernandez - First half was very quiet and had one of the quieter games I have seen him have. Didn’t help Berardi nearly enough, which plenty of fans said would happen before kick-off. Second half had an absolute stinker, couldn’t pass, couldn’t keep hold of the ball, and it was his error which lead to Viera’s foul for his second yellow card. Should have been subbed off earlier. 4.5/10

Kemar Roofe - No service at all really but at least showed willing when chasing around. Not a lot to say really. Was quieter than you would expect during the 15mins at the start of the second half when Leeds actually got on top. 5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Caleb Ekuban (for Roofe, 67mins) - Much like Roofe, got no service. Similar level of performance to Roofe as well. 5/10

Eunan O’Kane (for Hernandez, 67mins) - Kept the ball fairly well but Leeds were down to 10 men and Wolves were overrunning Leeds all over the pitch. Will need a good performance on Saturday against Barnsley with Vieira suspended. 5/10

Stuart Dallas (for Saiz, 77mins) - Not enough time to do anything of note with the side 4-1 down and down to 10. Was a willing runner and that’s about it. Said before the came he should come in for Hernandez, still think he should for Barnsley. 5/10