Daniel Farke’s attempts to downplay Leeds United’s humiliating defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday have not gone down well with Chris Powell.
Leeds United crashed out of the Carabao Cup at the first hurdle after losing to a beleaguered Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 on penalties.
Daniel Farke’s side were expected to breeze into the third round past an Owls XI largely comprised of untested youngsters.
Yet, in front of a cavernous Hillsborough with fans staying away in protest, Wednesday put on a brave display and took the lead when Jamal Lowe’s tame effort slipped through Karl Darlow’s legs.
Jayden Bogle equalised and Dominic Calvert-Lewin had a hat-trick of chances to get the winner but couldn’t take one as the game went to penalties.
Joel Piroe, Calvert-Lewin and Sean Longstaff all missed from the spot as Wednesday picked up a remarkable victory.
Afterwards, Farke attempted to downplay the relevance of Wednesday fielding a young side and focused on his team’s statistical dominance.
Leeds United squad during penalty shoot-out with Sheffield Wednesday.
Photo by Pat Scaasi/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Daniel Farke launches defence of Leeds United after Sheffield Wednesday defeat
Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports in the aftermath of the defeat, Farke bemoaned how unfair football can be, given his side controlled the 90 minutes but failed to win.
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He said: “I think we had more than 80% possession, 24 shots, expected goals 3.something, but somehow they managed to be one time in our box and somehow they have scored.
“An own-goal perhaps. Yes, we simply missed too many chances, and if you don’t score in such a game, out of your twenty corner kicks or free kicks, and when you have so many chances, and you are so dominant, you should win the game, but in football it’s never fair.
“Football sometimes can be the most unfair sport in the world.
“Not for them, because they deserved, with a spirited, tactful performance, to win the game, but in most other sports, by far the better side wins the game.
“Our offensive players missed the chances, definitely not the game of their lives. So yes, we are self-critical and we should have scored goals.”
The average age of Wednesday’s starting XI, despite including a 31 and 30-year-old, was still just 21, compared to the Leeds side comprised of big-money signings with an average age of 27.
When pressed on whether his team should have easily swept aside such an inexperienced outfit, Farke attempted to downplay the significance of the age and level gap.
“No, we shouldn’t make it a lot out of their team being an Under-21 team or whatever,” the manager continued.
“I know the public does this, but they are all professional football players, they are in the squad, it’s not as if we played an Under-21 side.
“Not when you bring Barry Bannan in for the first penalty. We were the favourite today, and normally the favourite should win, but this happens quite often in cup games.”
Daniel Farke’s Leeds United defence falls on deaf ears with Chris Powell
Farke’s arguments didn’t go down well with pundits Chris Powell and Izzy Christiansen.
Powell, who was Wednesday assistant manager as recently as August 1, believes Leeds’ result is a ‘big story’ regardless of how much Farke tried to brush it under the rug.
“There’s a big story there,” he said. “Because there were six players who have been at Sheffield Wednesday since they were eight, making their debuts or their second game.
“He used the stats. I admire Daniel Farke because he’s done brilliant for Norwich and Leeds, but they expected to turn up and win.
“They didn’t earn the right to win. A bit of urgency towards the end, yes. 24 shots, but I think [goalkeeper, Ethan] Horvath made four, five saves?
“So, for me, it’s a big story. Absolutely huge story, but he has to back his team. They’ve just started in the Premier League, couple of games, so it’s a big, big result for Sheffield Wednesday and it’s a poor result for Leeds.”
Christiansen, who doesn’t believe Leeds deserve any plaudits for dominating the stats, agreed with Powell.
She said: “He’s obviously got to come out, I think he’s spoken quite well there, albeit he used a lot of statistics to suggest they were the dominant team. We know that.
“But I just don’t think his side had enough grit today and I think they were outworked.
“Sometimes, in football, going back to basics, you have to earn the right to win the game, you can’t just expect to be favourites and win it.
“You have to turn up in the match and surpass the work rate of the opposition. They absolutely did not do that.”