As Leeds United again fired a blank in the Premier League for the third game running, Daniel Farke made a rod for his own back in his post-match comments.
A trip down to Craven Cottage hasn’t often been a successful one for Leeds, and the weekend just gone proved to be a familiar tale in London.
Despite an encouraging performance and a handful of chances, Leeds ultimately came away with nothing thanks to a brutal and totally bizarre own goal from Gabriel Gudmundsson.
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The late 1-0 defeat doesn’t tell the whole story that Leeds’ back four and overall out of possession structure again looked strong, strong enough to mount a serious survival bid.
Again, though, the problem was at the other end, as Leeds failed to find a route to goal. It’s the fourth game running they’ve failed to score from open play, having netted once from the spot against Everton.
Post-Fulham defeat, Daniel Farke spoke to the media in which he addressed his attacking options, and how he feels about the current goalscoring struggles.
Daniel Farke under pressure to resolve Leeds United’s attacking issues. (REUTERS/Isabel Infantes)
“No criticism or no disrespect of my players, but the players we have, Willy Gnonto, Daniel James, Jack Harrison, Brenden Aaronson, they were all with us two-and-a-half years ago when we were relegated from the Premier League,” he said, per The Athletic. “They were all called hopeless and not good enough for the Premier League.
“This is the reality and they were, of course, outstanding on Championship level, but right now they still have a point to prove that all these labels and all these judgements are not right, but it’s a gulf between the Championship and the Premier League. We have this type of player in the offensive positions and I’m looking forward to working with them, to improving them, but we shouldn’t expect any miracles.”
Is Daniel Farke suggesting his Leeds United attack simply isn’t good enough to stay up?
These comments are really eye opening from a manager just four games into the season. And to be honest, they don’t bode well for Farke.
Yes, there’s an argument to be made that Leeds’ attacking additions and overall quality aren’t as good as we’d like.
But it doesn’t seem to be an issue for Sunderland (five goals) or Burnley (four goals). Neither of those have an attack that’s any better than ours.
Intriguingly, making this sort of comment about your players is an attempt to absolve any personal blame. “I can’t work miracles, look at the players I’ve got,” is how this reads.
A set of players that scored 95 goals in the Championship don’t instantly lose their ability to find the net.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!