Leeds Player Ratings - West Brom 4 - Leeds 1

Leeds United produced a poor performance, with a terrible second half, to lose 4-1 at the Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion.

Leeds were second best for the first 25 mins, then improved to get to half-time at 0-0.

Then, an error-strewn, pathetic second half performance saw goals from Hal Robson-Kanu and Matt Phillips, followed by two in just over a minute from Harvey Barnes, and Dwight Gayle as Leeds self-destructed. Pablo Hernandez did get one back but that really isn’t the story.

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

Bailey Peacock-Farrell - Made a good early save to deny Jay Rodriguez low to his right. Caused unnecessary trouble by not coming to pick up a simple ball which Dallas had defended well. Came for a ball at start of 2nd half and mistimed his punch, could have been dangerous. Shocking goalkeeping for West Brom’s second goal, long shot, fairly simple save, missed it. Made a good save to deny Harvey Barnes soon after. Not covered in glory on any of the goals but the second one is where the massive criticism will come in. Prepare for 2 weeks of debate about Jamal Blackman getting the shirt. 3/10

Stuart Dallas - Looked to get forward down the right. Overcommitted on 2 or 3 occasions meaning he couldn’t get back in when West Brom got down their left. For the opening goal, had so long to get goal side with his man 4 yards behind him, instead chose to stand still in no-mans land. A truly awful piece of defensive play, the sort you would get a bollocking for at 8 years old. After that, pushed up a lot, didn’t get back enough. Had a decent effort from 25 yards but didn’t make the most of the good areas he found himself in. Third goal. Gets wrong side. Run in behind. Again. Goal. Again.

I said on the last podcast, If we have Jamie Shackleton, Robbie Gotts and Stuart Dallas as our 3 options at right-back, he is 3rd of 3 for me. He may be 4th of 3 now. 1.5/10

Pontus Jansson - Saw lots of the ball in the first half. Good in possession in first half too. Great tackle to prevent a breakaway when Harvey Barnes looked to be away. Showed excellent pace to back at Harvey Barnes on a break, but rolled his ankle in the challenge. Not the one to blame on the goals but could have closed down better on the second goal. Should have done better against Jay Rodriguez in build up to 4th goal. 4.5/10

Liam Cooper - Let off early when he allowed Hal Robson-Kanu a free shot at goal having showed him inside. Not particularly the person at fault on the goals, but if you concede 4 your defence have all not been very good. 4/10

Barry Douglas - Much like the Wigan game, found some good penetrative passes inside from the left. Solid defensively too. Leeds best player in the first half. Second half, saw less of him but wasn’t the problem today. Pissed off when taken off, fair reaction. Man of the match, not saying a great deal today though. 7/10

Kalvin Phillips - Couple of sloppy moments leading to WBA chances, one poor pass and one stumble having dealt with Matt Phillips’ run. Got overrun a lot, not always his fault admittedly, but not at his usual level. 4.5/10

Adam Forshaw - Decent effort from 25 yards when he wasn’t closed down forced a solid save. A couple of clever passes including one for Tyler Roberts. Stood out compared to Klich and Phillips but that doesn’t say much. 5.5/10

Mateusz Klich - Made more good runs from deep in the 1st half. Had Leeds best chance from an Alioski pull back but his shot was straight at Sam Johnstone. Should have pulled the trigger when he had a chance on his left-foot just before Hal Robson-Kanu’s goal. Gave the ball away terribly for West Brom’s second goal, should have been saved but that doesn’t mean this mistake isn’t poor as well. Stopped making the runs we saw in the first half. Really dropped off. 4/10

Pablo Hernandez - Put Leeds’ first real chance over the bar. Not able to get on the ball as much as he would like, couldn’t dictate from wide as he likes to. Gave the ball away too much. One of the poorer games you will see him have. Did score a really good header from Saiz’s lofted pass in stoppage time. Drags his rating up. 5.5/10

Ezgjan Alioski - Got into a couple of good positions and found a Leeds body in in the box well when he did. Setting up the chances for Hernandez and Klich in the first half. Not a great first half, but was ok. Far less effective in the second half, moved to left-back when Douglas went off but performed really poorly second half. 4.5/10

Kemar Roofe - Knocked off ball too easily on a few occasions in opening 25mins. One of them, chased back and gave away a dangerous free-kick. Couldn’t get into the 1st half. Went down claiming a penalty just before the Robson-Kanu goal, didn’t look like a pen. Subbed after 65mins, his most ineffective performance for a while. 5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Tyler Roberts (for Roofe, 65mins) - Came on, tried do something but it didn’t come off. More lively than Roofe. 5.5/10

Jack Harrison (for Douglas, 72mins) - Came on, did nothing. One of many anonymous performances this season. 4.5/10

Samu Saiz (for Klich, 77mins) - Couldn’t really get in the game, then produced an excellent lofted pass to set up the goal for Pablo Hernandez. 6/10