Leeds United’s performance against Brighton was arguably their worst display of the season, alongside the defeat at Arsenal, and Adam Pope has criticised Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri.
Leeds were easily beaten by Brighton. Supporters expected a difficult afternoon at The Amex, in which Georginio Rutter faced his old side for the first time since his £40m exit back in the summer of 2024.
But it was more that Leeds failed to put up much of a fight on the south coast, in front of fans that had travelled a long way to watch their side. There can be honour in losing, but Leeds failed to show that.
Gabi Gudmundsson was caught out of position for the first, while Jayden Bogle made a glaring error for the third, allowing Rutter to find Diego Gomez. But Adam Pope has criticised goalkeeper Lucas Perri.
Diego Gomez scores against Leeds.
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Adam Pope says Lucas Perri was guilty of ‘unnecessary’ mistakes
Perri has often been seen preferring to clear the ball, rather than go short. But against Brighton, Perri was trying to play out from the back a bit more often. A pass into Ethan Ampadu almost saw Leeds concede.
A bad pass to Gudmundsson was noticed by Pope, who discussed Perri’s decision-making on the Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet podcast this week. He feels Perri was guilty of making some “unnecessary” mistakes.
“There was poor decision-making. Brighton’s press was really aggressive. Perri was making unnecessary decisions and it put players under pressure, or hit a poor pass. Like the one with Gudmundsson.
“It was dropped onto his right foot, he was stretching, and gave it away. Too much of that. When you get a side that is good in possession, willing to press, and you give them glimpses, it only ends in one result.”
MORE LEEDS UNITED STORIES
Lucas Perri’s stats in the Premier League so far since joining Leeds
Perri’s stats do not make for good reading. While he might have two clean sheets in his five Premier League games for Leeds, the Whites have not kept a clean sheet since the 0-0 draw with Newcastle.
He’s conceded nine goals in those games, five of which came against Arsenal, three at Brighton and West Ham’s late consolation. He’s only managed nine saves so far, conceding half of the shots he has faced.
Even more worryingly, his pass accuracy is hovering just above 50%, at 53.4%. It means that one in every two passes or clearances, Leeds lose the ball. That is something Perri has simply got to change, quickly.