Player Ratings: Leeds United 1-0 Fulham

The ratings are in after a shocking Fulham performance at Elland Road.

Fulham turned in one of their worst performances, if not the worst performance of the season and suffered a deserved defeat, albeit in devastating fashion at the death courtesy of Lukas Nmecha. Fulham were rubbish from the off and never got started, playing slow ineffective football, with no real moments of excitement. It’s hard to find anything positive to say about this whatsoever.

Bernd Leno

Probably better than most. Admittedly threw the ball straight to a Leeds man in the first half which very nearly put us behind and looked nervy from Leeds’ frequent corners, but his shot stopping was decent enough. Leeds had a few half chances in the second half, which Leno not only got to but also held onto every time. Would’ve been a sensational stop to deny Nmecha’s goal, and to be fair he prevented a second just after with his best save of the game. 6/10

Timothy Castagne

Normally when Fulham have experimented with system, Castagne has often been the one moved wider in the backline, so seeing him in a centre back role out of possession was a bit strange. He always looked a tad lost on the ball, not because he played poor passes but more just because he didn’t know where to play it too and often just resorted to going backwards too often. Defensively okay until he switched off in the final moments and saw Nmecha get ahead of him to score at the back post. 5/10

Joachim Andersen

Not terrible on an individual level but just a reoccurring thing with leadership was annoying. He’s frequently captain of this team, with a new backline struggling that had him at the centre of it you are looking at him to show organisational and leadership qualities and he just does not. Passing was fairly solid but also so slow and so often going back to Leno, relieving us of no pressure at all. Struggled in the air against Calvert-Lewin too, getting pushed away by the forward far too easily, far too often. 4.5/10

Jorge Cuenca

Probably comes away with some credit as he wasn’t as obviously terrible as most others. The only one of the centre-backs (one of the only ones in the XI, to be honest) that looked comfortable on the ball and taking it forward rather than looking panicked and going backwards. Made more clearances than any other Fulham player which didn’t surprise me, he just seemed the most assured of the backline throughout in every department. Bassey will do well to instantly displace the Spaniard next weekend. Didn’t do much, but didn’t do as much wrong as the others. 6.5/10 – man of the match

Ryan Sessegnon

It feels horrid to go in on our Sess but it has to be done I’m afraid. The system we played in which he switched between wing-back and winger dependant on game state would be where he would thrive on paper but he looked absolutely lost. His fourteen touches were staggeringly low, completing just three (yes, THREE) passes all game. Defensively, he made zero positive contributions and was constantly chasing shadows. Going forward his final ball was never coming off at all when he got there. Many around me suggested he looked unfit but I disagree, I just thought he was uncharacteristically abysmal. 3/10

Sander Berge

Absolutely infuriating. Not the worst player on the pitch, far from it. But that was because he didn’t involve himself in anything. When Leeds played through us, he was once again too passive in trying to win the ball back. When we lacked control, he, a central midfielder with obvious ball carrying abilities, made no effort to put foot to ball and change that. And all of this after he showed against Chelsea all the qualities he possesses. But what’s the point when you only play like that once in a blue moon? Infuriating footballer who just doesn’t do enough to justify a weekly place in the eleven. Absolute bystander and not for the first time. 3.5/10

Sasa Lukic

I can’t even sit here and say I thought Lukic was even relatively good but when you compare him to his midfield partner you at the very least cannot fault his effort. Yes he struggled to win the ball back and committed multiple fouls but he tried. Yes he struggled to create but he tried going between the lines at least. He made a nice run in the first half which resulted in him setting himself up for a header which was easily stopped by Darlow. He wasn’t good, but knowing he may have a semi-serious muscle injury is terrifying because I’d much rather rely on him in the middle than a bystander like Berge. 6/10

Antonee Robinson

Jesus Christ, not a good day for our wing-backs. The number of times Robinson stepped out stupidly early, got beaten so easily and then failed to recover before a cross came in was like watching a school child trying to learn a new position the way Gary Neville suggests a failed winger has to. He got forward far more often than Sess did and failed to complete a single cross, which is becoming a reoccurring theme again which is infuriating after the assist-heavy season he’s come off the back of. He was terrifying to watch at both ends of the pitch and ended up getting targeted more and more as the game went on. Absolutely rubbish. 3/10

Harry Wilson

Normally in this sort of game I’d go all in on Wilson for being too quiet but thought he was subtly decent at times. Think there definitely needs to be a fair element of criticism going his way for the manner in which he struggled to play in a more central role, also struggling to join Raul in pressing high like our number two normally would. When we were terrible, he was the only one I had faith in creating, playing a couple of lovely chipped balls over the Leeds defence which sadly came to nothing. Need to play him on the right, sorry for stating the obvious. 6/10

Emile Smith Rowe

Can’t fault his effort really either. Of anyone I thought he was one which was most up for the fight, winning more duals than any of our other players in the middle of the pitch from where I was watching. Four completed tackles and more interceptions than any other Fulham player backs that up. Really don’t like him when he’s having to drift further to the left, obviously not his fault it’s how he’s set up to play, but he’s so much less effective on the ball than when he’s more central. 6/10

Raul Jimenez

Just frustrates me watching him when we struggle as a team and it’s not even his fault. Sometimes when we are poor (especially here when we were terrible) he tries to take the game by the scruff of the neck the way someone like a Harry Kane does. But this man is a predator in the box. While seeing him make four clearances, tracking back to his own box to make challenges, playing the ball from the halfway line etc all pinpoints his insanely good effort and skillsets, I just want him in the box. But he can’t, because we aren’t set up well enough to do that most weeks under a pragmatist manager. 6/10

Substitutes

Kevin

Came on with half an hour to go in place of Sess and seemed the obvious substitute to everyone watching with such a lack of pace in the way we were playing. Got frustrated with the lack of service which pushed him into a couple of naïve fouls with some silly pushes in the back and never really got to make an impact in the final third. 5.5/10

Tom Cairney

Like Raul, I felt for Tom here. Replaced Lukic which felt right because we lacked control but those around him failed him. TC got on the ball more than anyone else in the final quarter of the game but every time had to turn and turn and beg for an out ball because there was zero movement around him. No point bringing on your best technical player to gain control if he’s got nobody to pass to. 6/10

Marco Silva

Recently he deserves credit, no denying it. We’ve played some extremely difficult opponent with extremely limited depth and got some great results from taking the game to those teams. So why on God’s earth did he decide he’d set up so negatively with a system alien to so many of the eleven. Castagne, Sess, Jedi, Wilson, ESR all looked completely out of place as we interchanged between a back five out of possession and a back four in it. That level of negativity got what it deserved. We played slow, lethargic football at the back, with f all clear cut chances created at the top end of the pitch. Issa Diop replacing Harry Wilson with two minutes of normal time to play in a level game against opponents below us in the league summed the whole afternoon up for a manager who just can’t seem to help himself from returning to his negative ways. He was a disgrace and his team’s performance and end result reflected his idiocies in how he set them up. Pathetic. And just like I spoke of regarding Sander Berge and how the game with Chelsea planned out, it all felt so unnecessary. We can be so much better than he allows us to be sometimes. 2/10