There were a few sniggers from Sunderland fans when Leeds United pursued and signed the Black Cats midfielder Liam Bridcutt on an emergency loan. In today’s win against Hull City, the ex-Chelsea youngster showed more than a hint of just why Steve Evans pursued him so vigorously.
In a result that not many Leeds fans saw coming, yet many are now applauding, Liam Bridcutt stood out and deservedly won the man-of-the-match award (below)
Congratulations to Liam Bridcutt who, on his @EllandRoad debut, was today's @LUFC Sponsors' Man of the Match pic.twitter.com/s5xqdJ0Xdg
— Elland Road (@EllandRoad) December 5, 2015
To say that Elland Road debut boy Bridcutt’s performance was an improvement on his previous game would be underselling the contribution the on-loan Sunderland midfielder made to an excellent team effort by Leeds United.
Liam Bridcutt – stats vs. Hull City
Bridcutt’s performance was ‘good enough’ to warrant a deserved award would be to really undersell the frankly fantastic contribution that the Sunderland loanee made to a team cause and ensuing result.
- Passing: 42 passes – 73.8% accuracy
- Tackles: 11 from 13 attempted – 84.6% accuracy
- Interceptions: 1
- Headers won: 1
- Blocks: 1
Sitting in front of the back four, Liam Bridcutt staunched the flow of a lot of the Hull City attacks and this gave fellow midfielders Lewis Cook and Tom Adeyemi the greater freedom to get forward and put in more of an attacking shift than they usually do. Today’s match also saw Bridcutt lead the way with the highest number of both pass attempts (42) and completed passes (31) in a display that saw a change from the previous modus operandi where full backs dictated the passing tempo.
Bridcutt’s overall performance also caught the eye of Leeds United fans on social media, with Twitter being full of praise for the Sunderland loanee.
Bridcutt puts in Man-of-the-Match performance against Hull City – Twitter gushes
Liam Bridcutt home debut @LeedsNews #lufc #lufclive #yplive #eplive #mot @PhilHayYEP @alex_mowatt pic.twitter.com/H4nLkIKB5X
— Jonathan gawthorpe (@jgawthorpeYPN) December 5, 2015
https://twitter.com/LUFC27/status/673405375488663552
Bridcutt looks a very useful player. Impressed with what I saw today. If he loses the ball he's straight back trying to win it back #lufc
— Leeds Mad 🏆 🙂 (@LeedsMad2012) December 5, 2015
https://twitter.com/5O887/status/673224345477582849
Bit drunk but the role Bridcutt played today is the most important position in modern football. He plays well we have a chance. #LUFC
— Jonny Howard (@Jonny__Howard) December 5, 2015
https://twitter.com/PButlek/status/673271178027495424
https://twitter.com/MichaelMilnerr/status/673203922308349952
It’s amazing what a week and another game does. At home, in front of a blustery near 25,000 crowd, Liam Bridcutt was part of the glue that bound Leeds United together in a more coherent display today.
