Daniel Farke made a notable point about referee decisions last week
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
07:00, 16 Apr 2026
Dominic Calvert-Lewin adjusts his hair
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Dominic Calvert-Lewin adjusts his hair(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Daniel Farke is a manager who upholds respect and class at high value, so it was quite something to hear him suggest that Leeds United needed to be more forthright when it comes to appealing for decisions.
Delivering his comments last week, he stopped short of stating his players should feign injury but so tired is he of supposed ‘clear-cut’ decisions not going the way of Leeds this season that he mused whether his team has been too naive.
“We will learn out of this to be perhaps a bit more smart in [how] we react,” Farke said when outlining his annoyance that Axel Disasi’s equaliser for West Ham United in the FA Cup quarter-final tie was not ruled out for a high boot.
“I'm not sure if we actually want it, to pretend a bit that there is a cut or whatever. But if a foul is not given for this, then we should perhaps even behave a bit more mature.”
It has been notable that Leeds players are slow to surround and put pressure on referees. There is a moral debate to be had here. For many this is the right course of action, and the way to conduct yourself in the spirit of the game. Be the example.
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But Farke was not talking about 50-50 decisions or blatantly cheating appeals. He was talking about incidents such as the decision not to hand Pascal Struijk a penalty against Sunderland despite being brought down by the throat by Luke O’Nien.
The no action taken against Rayan Cherki’s stamp on Ilia Gruev against Manchester City. Being denied a penalty for a late crunching challenge on Anton Stach by West Ham’s Max Kilman. It’s these moments which have left Farke feeling he has to resort to going to a place he would rather not.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin seems to have heeded the message. Whether aggressive or not, the textbook says that the decision to send off Lisandro Martinez for pulling the hair of the striker was correct, according to PGMOL guidance.
It would be remiss to start speculating whether the force used warranted Calvert-Lewin going to the ground, because it is neither here nor there when it comes to the decision itself.
But what the Leeds attacker said after the match revealed that, whether intentional or not given it was VAR who pulled it up, he had carried out what Farke had been asking for in regards to appealing for decisions.
Lisandro Martinez is shown a red card during Manchester United's 2-1 defeat to Leeds
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Lisandro Martinez is shown a red card during Manchester United's 2-1 defeat to Leeds(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
“I felt my hair get pulled and obviously I told the ref, he's the one that makes the decisions at the end of the day,” he said. “Unfortunate for him [Martinez]. Whether he's meant it or not, I don't hold no grudges, but it is what it is."
For what it’s worth, Farke said he had not seen the incident back when asked in his press conference but he was of the view: “If the referee... has time to watch it back, and gives the red card - I'm pretty sure it was the right decision.”
The Leeds boss felt the sending off actually worked against Leeds given the momentum the hosts gained from it with nothing left to lose. Indeed Man Utd soon found a goal. But Leeds hung on and, as widely shared, Michael Carrick was left seething.
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But even if the rulebook did not back up the decision - which it did - it felt like lady luck allowed Leeds the hub of the green for the first time in a very long time.
Whether that came about from being “more smart” with appealing for the red card, only the officials know. But it certainly helped, and in a way leaves Farke justified in saying what he did.