No singular player in Leeds United's side can be blamed entirely for their woeful recent performances in the past couple of weeks, but it seems clear that Javi Gracia must make changes if he wants to avoid another defeat against Fulham this weekend.
The recent home thrashings ensured that Leeds now have the worst defence in the top flight with 60 goals conceded thus far, which has served as a reminder that relegation is a very real possibility for the West Yorkshire outfit.
Gracia has preferred a centre-back partnership of Robin Koch and Pascal Struijk in his time at Elland Road, but we think he must consider dropping the German defender if he wants his side to bounce back at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Should Leeds drop Robin Koch vs Fulham?
Leeds signed the Germany international from Freiburg in a deal worth £11.5m in 2020 but he has arguably failed to live up to his potential in his three years at Elland Road.
The 26-year-old, who earns £40k per week, averaged disappointing 6.59 and 6.35 ratings from WhoScored in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns, but has been trusted as a mainstay in the defence under both Jesse Marsch and Gracia so far this term.
In his 30 appearances in the top flight this season, the towering centre-back has struggled immensely, with a woeful 6.53 rating from WhoScored for his performances, which ranks him as the 12th-best performer in Gracia's squad.
Considering Struijk and Max Wober are ranked as the top performers at Elland Road, while captain Liam Cooper is ranked seventh, it seems baffling that Koch has been first-choice in defence this season, only missing one game in the Premier League.
Only Illan Meslier has started more games than the centre-back, but it is surely time for Gracia to try something different as he looks to turn the Whites' defensive fortunes around in west London this afternoon.
Reporter Beren Cross perhaps summed up what Leeds fans could expect to see from Koch when he produced a shocking display in the 5-1 defeat by Manchester United last season.
He said: "Koch and Struijk today, not good enough at all, for me. I think I gave them 3s in the ratings.
"I mean, [Bruno] Fernandes almost retired Robin Koch, it was just horrible to watch, at times, because he just could not get a handle of him."
Given the importance of tomorrow's game in Leeds' ongoing fight against relegation, it seems clear that Gracia has to make changes to his defence, and the out-of-form Koch should surely be one to drop out.