Leeds United have problems in attack, and Daniel Farke has acknowledged that this week. The result against Fulham meant that the Whites had failed to score in three of their five games in all competitions this season.
Farke tried something new last Saturday, playing Noah Okafor, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Brenden Aaronson together. But it failed to produce a goal at Craven Cottage. After the game, the German was brutally honest about the quality in the team’s attack.
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Leeds failing to properly invest in attacking reinforcements is proving to be a huge worry for the club this season.
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Leeds United boss addresses the Harry Gray issue
Harry Gray
Credit: Imago Images
This week, Harry Gray scored a hattrick midweek raising a lot of calls from fans to see him in the first team. Leeds have had problems in front of goal, and many around the club think the young striker is the solution.
When asked about Gray seeing the first team anytime soon, Daniel Farke went on a long rant about his experience in player development:
”I’m far away from wanting to come across arrogant, over-confident or whatever, but in fourth tier Germany it was only about developing young players to sell.
”Then I took over the most important youth team in Germany at Borussia Dortmund U21, working with the best talents in Europe.
”At Norwich, I replaced our club captain with a 20-year-old German centre-back. In the second season I replaced another club captain Ivo Pinto with Max Aarons.
”At Leeds I replaced Luke Ayling with Archie Gray. Last season Mateo Joseph played ahead of Patrick Bamford and Joel Piroe.”
These words mean that it is unlikely the 16-year old will be in the travelling squad for this weekend’s game.
Daniel Farke is right
Many Leeds fans are calling for Harry Gray, but for now he is clearly not the solution. The club has issues when it comes to individual quality and a 16-year old is not a quick fix to that. Farke knows he has to take a lot of the blame for how a team is set up, and how they perform on the pitch.
When he is able to find a balance that can unlock the attacking players, the team might see some goals. But for now, Leeds have to try other options until they find something that sticks.
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