Carragher recoils in horror at Leeds star’s ‘unforgivable’ blunder v Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher has delivered a detailed rundown on how Jaka Bijol played a major role in Leeds United’s downfall at Nottingham Forest on Sunday, in a result that has left manager Daniel Farke in serious peril of the sack at Elland Road.

The Tricky Trees went into the match marooned in 19th place in the Premier League table and winless since the opening weekend of the season, making the clash against 16th-placed Leeds a major six-pointer in the relegation battle. But despite taking a 13th-minute lead through Lukas Nmecha’s smartly taken drive, the Whites were unable to hold on to their lead and were eventually downed 3-1.

That means Leeds have now lost four from their last five games and, having looked largely toothless away from home all season, their display at the City Ground has sent alarm bells ringing among their fan base, with the club facing a hellish run of fixtures once football resumes after the latest international break and before the end of the year.

While Leeds only look to be heading in one direction on current form, sources have delivered their verdict on Farke’s future at Elland Road.

Regardless of that, their performance on Sunday will not have inspired confidence from front to back.

Leeds were way below their best with a number of their more reliable performers, Ethan Ampadu and Jayden Bogle, picking the worst time to put in arguably their worst-ever performances in Leeds colours.

They were far from the only two culpable, however, and now Carragher has taken Bijol apart in a scathing assessment over how he lost Nottingham Forest talisman Morgan Gibbs-White in scoring the goal that set Sean Dyche on course for his first Premier League win.

Carragher can’t believe what he saw from Jaka Bijol

Signed from Udinese over the summer in a deal worth up to £18m, the Slovenian has had to wait patiently for his chance in Leeds United colours, with Farke preferring a central partnership of Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk in the early months of the season.

But when Struijk lost his place after the defeat at Burnley, Bijol was handed a chance and has now started the last three games.

While performing well on debut against West Ham, Bijol has struggled in his last two games and has now been part of a Leeds defence which has shipped in six goals in that period.

Analysing his role for Forest’s second, Carragher was left agast at the way he allowed Morgan Gibbs-White to run past him unchallenged, branding his efforts ‘almost unforgivable’.

Running the VT of the goal when analysing the loss on Sky Sports’ Super Sunday, Carragher stated: “I just want you to look at the Leeds defender in the middle there, Jaka Bijol, and we’re just going to keep an eye on what he does.

“[Pausing the frame, he states] “So right now he can see Morgan Gibbs-White and has a close watch on him and is watching his movements…

“But then, he does something that a lot of defenders do – and sometimes I agree with it, sometimes I don’t, but he shouldn’t be doing this here and now….

“So he’s keeping an eye on Gibbs-White all the time. [Omari] Hutchinson’s going to cut inside and cross that ball on that left foot. And as he comes in, I don’t understand why Bijol would put his arms behind his back right now?!

“Now I would understand if he was one v one and, yeah, the ball’s really close to him and he’s trying to, okay, avoid giving away a silly penalty.

“Now I get that, but there’s no way in the world he wouldn’t be able to react, because how far away is he between the ball when it is crossed?

“And also, because his arms are now behind his back, it allows Gibbs-White to make that run behind him.

“But if he kept his arms where they should be, he can get tight, he can feel him, he can touch him, he can sense where he is going to be making that run.

“But as soon as he loses sight of Morgan Gibbs-White, he can’t feel him because his hands are behind his back, and there’s no need to have his hands behind his back, because the ball is never going to hit him on the arm.

“So Gibbs-White just runs in behind and is gifted an easy header. It’s almost unforgivable.”

Leeds latest: Incredible Klopp claims; Farke replacements assessed

Meanwhile, an apparent ITK account has claimed Leeds United had approached Jurgen Klopp to become the new manager of the club, though were quickly rejected by the Liverpool icon.

In proof of how things can really snowball in the media, the account appears to take an article run initially by ourselves and turn the story into something it most definitely wasn’t or never intended to be…

Elsewhere, and with Farke facing questions over his future, our sister site, F365, has ranked 10 potential candidates to replace the German in the Elland Road hotseat.