Sky pundit amazed by ‘quite brilliant’ 27-year-old Leeds player during first-half
Junior Firpo, the left-back who set up Leeds United’s equaliser against Preston North End in the opening six minutes of Sunday’s match, received a lot of praise from Andy Hinchcliffe.
At Elland Road, Leeds could hardly have started any worse. In less than 70 seconds, the visitors took the lead thanks to some very terrible defence from a free-kick.
However, Daniel Farke’s men did not lag far behind. Junior Firpo was questioned extensively by Crysencio Summerville with a pass down the line. Firpo, nevertheless, managed to get a hold of the ball and curl a fantastic cross in the direction of the back post. The next easy step for Daniel James was to nod the ball into the net.
Junior Firpo does brilliantly to set up Leeds equaliser against Preston
Firpo is among many who will be disappointed with his contribution to Preston’s victory. Will Keane had a lot of Leeds players around, including Firpo. However, none of them were able to exert any kind of pressure on the scorer. Regretfully, Firpo still needs to demonstrate his defensive abilities.
And then he had a flash of genius to make up for it. And in an interview with Sky Sports (aired on January 21 at 12:07), Andy Hinchcliffe praised the 27-year-old for setting up James’ goal.
“An more demonstration of Leeds’ ability to bounce back. Here, the issues start down the flanks. Firpo has exceptional ball-running speed. Summerville overhit the ball, which makes for a really amazing cross. Firpo, his patience is wearing thin. However, he acts morally. Simply said, he raises the ball,” he remarked.
Left-back on superb run of form going forward
In the end, Firpo’s future quality is undeniably high, especially at the Championship level. In the victory over Birmingham City, he contributed two assists. Paul Merson was pleased with Firpo’s play.
And the previous Saturday against Cardiff, he contributed another assist. He has now assisted four times in his last three games.
That’s a really good return. And with the calibre of our offensive line this season, you would think Firpo will have plenty of opportunities to increase his total before the season is out.
