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Exclusive: Nigel Martyn comments on Diego Llorente as Leeds lose to West Ham United
Nigel Martyn has told The Boot Room that Diego Llorente “gets lost” at set-pieces and was at fault for Craig Dawson’s goal during West Ham United’s 2-0 win over Leeds United on Monday evening at the London Stadium.
Leeds suffered a fourth defeat in five Premier League games against Champions League-chasing West Ham as their London hoodoo continued. The Whites have failed to win in the Capital since 2017, and now face Fulham and Chelsea next time out.
Llorente, 27, is finally starting to get his fitness back on track after two groin injuries and a hamstring pull since joining Leeds from Real Sociedad last summer. Monday’s defeat was only his fifth game for the club, but has now featured in the last three.
Certainly, Llorente was very good against Southampton and hardly put a foot wrong against Aston Villa. But on Monday, he failed to cope with the strength of Michail Antonio – and West Ham’s quality from set-pieces.
The Hammers are top of the table for set-plays while Leeds sit bottom – proof of which came about in the reverse fixture, with West Ham winning 2-1 and both goals scored from set-pieces. Martyn criticised Llorente for his defending on Monday.
“I noticed that they changed Llorente, he seems to be easily lost in those situations. What I found surprising is that he didn’t look at the ball when it was kicked. He was only interested in his runner, not the flight off the ball,” Martyn told The Boot Room.
“If you watch the ball, you can adjust your position – rather than worrying about the ball. You need to be in a position where you can do both. He doesn’t, he’s just worrying about his man. He gets lost. By the time he looks up, it’s too late and it’s over him.
“He’s been lost a bit too easily, he is the ball-playing centre-half – we saw the ball through to Bamford, he does have those sort of attributes. But as a dominant ball-winning centre-half, that’s not where he is. There is still work to be done on set-pieces.”
TBR’s view – Llorente needs to learn quickly in the Premier League
The physicality and importance placed on set-pieces in the Premier League and English football in general is far greater on these shores, than what he is used to in Spain. Indeed, you will find far more short corners being used abroad.
In England, teams like West Ham, Burnley, Palace and plenty more thrive on the chance to lump the ball into the box. When you have a player like Aaron Cresswell who can swing a ball in to perfection, it is very difficult to defend against.
As Martyn says, Llorente looked lost in the middle of the penalty area as Leeds struggled to cope – something which they looked to have improved in recent weeks. The £22,000-a-week () ace needs to learn, and learn quickly, before it happens again.
