Leeds United made just one signing during the January window, and the FA Cup clash against Birmingham City was loan arrival Facundo Buonanotte’s full debut.
Daniel Farke’s focus on staying in the Premier League meant he could afford to make six changes to the side that drew against Chelsea last week.
However, it was a first half where Leeds’ fringe options brought in were unable to stamp their mark on the game against a zealous Birmingham side.
Facundo Buonanotte hooked at half-time after full Leeds United debut to forget
Birmingham took the game to Leeds and were unfortunate to find themselves needing a goal to stay in the tie in the second half.
During opening 45 minutes, Leeds were unable to flex our Premier League quality and show why we romped promotion from the second tier last term.
Amongst those starting, Facundo Buonanotte particularly struggled. When I saw the lineup, I thought it was a very fun setup from Farke and one to platform these sorts of players, but the Argentine showed virtually nothing.
|Facundo Buonanotte v Birmingham City|
|---|---|
|Minutes played|45|
|Touches|30|
|Shots (on target)|0 (0)|
|Dribble success|0% (0/3)|
|Pass success|15/19 (79%)|
|Pass success in opposition half|8/11 (88%)|
Having completed zero out of three take-ons and just one pass into the Blues penalty area, Buonanotte was hooked at the interval. Captain Ethan Ampadu was his replacement and the skipper set the tone with some high pressing right before Leeds took the lead through Lukas Nmecha.
Facundo Buonanotte facing Daniel Farke’s cold shoulder at Leeds United after disaster debut
My worry now is that the Argentine has squandered what could be his best opportunity to force his way into Farke’s starting lineup at Elland Road.
He’s already got an uphill battle to get ahead of Farke’s heavily-relied-on attacking options Noah Okafor and Brenden Aaronson. A performance like this only pushes him further away from changing Farke’s mind.
After the game, the Leeds boss wasn’t overly critical of the January loan signing.
“It’s what I spoke about – he’s a very young player, so young he doesn’t take a spot on our Premier League list,” Farke told the YEP. “He’s not played much football in the last years. It’s not like you come here and can deliver, step-by-step you have to fight and get your rhythm back.
“He knows he’s a bit away from his very best and has to work hard in training. And, when he gets a chance, use every minute to bring himself to a level where he can shine in every game, even on Premier League level. Important 45 minutes nonetheless. I don’t want to be overly critical, it’s difficult to shine when you haven’t played much.”
Farke is willing to give Buonanotte some slack, and rightly so. He’s not just suddenly lost his Premier League quality since joining Leeds in the Premier League. The same goes for Ao Tanaka, who had a poor game. These players are obviously rusty through a lack of regular playing time.
The concern for Buonanotte is there’s very limited time left (12 league games) to get up to top speed. Farke can ill afford to be patient with players in his starting lineup that aren’t at 100%. So, it may mean Buonanotte finds himself having to cope with smaller cameos in the league.
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