Leeds United manager Daniel Farke is under pressure after his side suffered a tame and concerning 2-0 defeat at Burnley on Saturday. The result exposed a few glaring frailties of the team, but more worryingly, the German head coach didn’t believe that his team were poor against the Clarets.
The defeat at Burnley appears to have exposed some of the frailties in the Leeds side that they were able to mask in the first couple of months of the season through grit and determination.
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Leeds are still struggling to score goals despite creating chances, but it has reached a point where it doesn’t matter how many opportunities they are conjuring up, if they are not finishing off those chances inside the penalty box.
It was a particularly galling performance on Saturday as it appeared Burnley knew exactly how to play against Leeds, and they just picked them off when they got the chance.
However, Farke’s defence of his team was shocking, and he compared the underlying performance of Leeds to Manchester City and Arsenal, which was both laughable and concerning.
Leeds United are not Manchester City or Arsenal
The Leeds manager made a few ludicrous claims following the Burnley game. While some of it was him defending his players, a few other arguments were borderline laughable.
He claimed Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka made a top save to deny Brenden Aaronson, when in reality the American had hit the ball straight at the shot-stopper.
However, his most outlandish claim was when he insisted that Manchester City or Arsenal would not play as well as his team performed against Burnley on Saturday.
“Went wrong in both boxes. Cannot have better stats than we did away from home today”, he told reporters after the game.
“Possession, shots, big chances, xG, corners. Even when Arsenal, Man City et al come here, they will not repeat that.”
For starters, Leeds are nowhere close to Manchester City or Arsenal, and secondly, both teams would have found a way to beat Burnley.
Farke is right that Leeds dominated the game, but it is hard to escape the feeling that Burnley had no interest in controlling the ball. The home side were just waiting to pounce when the away team committed errors, and they did exactly that.
Arsenal and Manchester City would not play as well as Leeds against Burnley is a ludicrous notion. Farke’s men are far away from either team, and there should be no comparison.
West Ham is a must-win for Farke
Leeds will not drop into the relegation zone this weekend, regardless of the results. However, the positivity around the team has quickly dissipated since the Burnley defeat.
They should have beaten Bournemouth at home, had on business in losing to Tottenham just before the break, but the Burnley defeat could be a tipping point.
Scott Parker’s limited side seemed to have a measure of the Leeds team, and they are now under immense pressure ahead of facing West Ham at Elland Road on Friday night.
The Hammers are 19th in the league, but could be just a point behind Leeds if they beat Brentford at home on Monday night.
Leeds need a positive result against a potential relegation rival, as another poor performance at home could pile the pressure on Farke.
The Leeds boss has credit in the bank with the 49ers. However, his previous record in the Premier League means he is on a shorter leash than usual.
A defeat at home against the Hammers on Friday night could lead to conversations in the boardroom around Farke’s future at Elland Road.
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