Leeds United’s club captain and boyhood fan has shared a passionate outburst aimed at the underperforming squad following relegation.
Leeds’ relegation was confirmed limply as they were beaten 4-1 by Tottenham Hotspur at Elland Road.
The visitors took just 60 seconds to take the lead and repeated the trick early in the second half, capturing just how lifeless Leeds had become.
Speaking after the friendly victory over Nottingham Forest, Liam Cooper revealed his passionate post-match plea.
He said: “After the Tottenham game last year when our fate was decided I was one to speak up in the changing room and I made it clear, if you don’t want to be here next season – I won’t repeat what I said, it was one of those.
“That’s the way it’s got to be. To play for this club you’ve got to invest in it, you’ve got to give your life for it and certainly, those in the stands won’t accept anything else apart from that. That was the message and the message is still the same. We need players who are invested.
“We’ve got a group of players now committed to the goal. We know what’s expected of us, we know the expectations of the club and we’ve got to go embrace that and hit it head-on.
“We all know what the Championship demands of each other, how committed you need to be and how hard it’s going to be to get out of it.
“Anybody who thinks it’s going to be a walk in the park or stroll then they’ve got a big shock coming. So that’s the message to the boys.”
Although the expletives were omitted from the original transcript, it was later revealed on social media Cooper told the players “If you don’t want to be here then [expletive] off.”
