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Liam Cooper exclusive interview: 'Leeds are one of the biggest clubs in England, you have to lead by example'
If manager Marcelo Bielsa has launched a cultural revolution at Leeds United, redefining the way football can be played in the Championship, captain Liam Cooper ensures the club retains, perhaps, a few more traditional Yorkshire values.
Leeds are a team transformed, playing exhilarating, high-octane football few thought would be possible to maintain in England. Everywhere you look, Bielsa has converted sceptics into believers, but none have been more important than Cooper.
For a revolution to be successful, you need more than an idea. You need people to help bring about change, leaders who carry the rest with them.
Cooper is the link between the old and new, someone to constantly remind them of what they are, who they represent and what they stand for. Cooper is the epitome of Yorkshire grit, the boy from Hull who has become a leader in Leeds.
“I hope that is what I represent,” Cooper said, ahead of the potentially decisive promotion clash with local rivals Sheffield United. “I understand, being a Yorkshire lad, that Leeds are the biggest club in Yorkshire and one of the biggest clubs in the country.
“I get some stick in Hull for saying that, but it’s just the way it is. All my friends are Hull fans, but when you come to this club, you realise how big it is.
“Until your part of it, with the fans, who have been starved of top-flight football for far too long, you don’t really appreciate what it takes to play for Leeds United.
“The fans deserve promotion as much as anyone. We have to think of them in everything we do. They are with us all the time, they are different class. That’s down to the players, as well, we’ve inspired them and they inspire us, that’s a recipe for success.
“I think that is what I bring to the dressing room. I hope I show them what it means to play for Leeds, to be a Yorkshireman. Even in training, I play to the best of my ability every day, just to try and set an example.
“I’ve been a young lad and I’ve had those days when you turn up to training and don’t really fancy it. You can’t do that. If you do that in training, you’ll find the games pass you by as well. You will get found out at the weekend. I’ve been that guy, not again, that’s not for me.”
Cooper is not close to Bielsa, nobody is, but the players accept it, partly because Cooper does without questioning.
“From the moment the club brought Marcelo in, I’ve been optimistic,” he explained. “He’s the best manager I’ve played for, 100%. He’s probably one of the best tacticians in the world.
“The attention to detail, the stuff on the training ground, how intense the sessions are, all we needed was to get off to a good start and we did that. The lads really bought into it from day one.
“His relationship with the players, you could call it, stand offish. He doesn’t want to get too close, he’s an honest coach and is going to say things that are going to disappoint and maybe upset players, but he wants to get the best out of us. That’s his way, I think it’s a great way.”
Cooper admits he does not really remember when Leeds were a Premier League club, he was 12 when they were relegated from the Premier League in 2004. He has done a lot of growing up since.
He was highly-rated at Hull but was not first team ready under former manager Steve Bruce. He was also not the person he is now. The realisation he was not good enough to hold down a place at his hometown club, hit him hard.
“I was at Hull, it was my boyhood club,” Cooper explained. “It was an emotional time when I was told I had to leave, but life doesn’t work out how you want it to sometimes. It’s how you overcome that adversity that defines you as a man, let alone a footballer. I’m for a working-class family, a council estate and my dad, Dave, taught me to never give up.
“I thought when I went to Chesterfield, dropping down from the Championship to League Two, that was it for me at this level. That’s a tough thing to get your head round, it felt like a big drop down, I felt like my career was dropping off a cliff edge.
“But that didn’t happen. I stuck at it, it was a great 18 months for me at Chesterfield, we got promoted, it was a team full of great characters. I learnt a lot from them as a 21-year-old.
“Be prepared to take a bit of criticism, because if you can’t be told, you can’t be taught. I used to be that player who answered back in training. The only place that got me was League Two. I had to fight to have a chance to achieve my dreams.”
He certainly has. The 27-year-old has captained Leeds more than 100 times, only the 12th player to have had that honour and he scoffs at the suggestion Leeds are running out of steam ahead of the Sheffield United game.
“We’ve still got the same energy levels we had at the start of the season,” he replied. “I was looking at the running stats against Reading and they were one of the highest they’ve been.
“I watched the Manchester City documentary and I remember Pep [Guardiola] saying at this stage of the season, you can’t be tired, not when you’re competing for a prize like this.
“The last thing on your mind is feeling tired. You can’t use that as an excuse when you’ve got the chance to grab something so important with both hands. I don’t think there is any worry about blowing up. We know what we have got to do and that is what we will do.
“This game against Sheffield United, I cannot wait. These are the games you want to be involved in, a Yorkshire derby, a top of the table clash, it does not get any better than that.”