Daniel Farke praises Leeds United resilience as Dominic Calvert-Lewin gets back on goal trail — Yorkshire Post 1/12/25
By Stuart Rayner
Daniel Farke praised Leeds United’s resilience to push
Manchester City right until stoppage-time despite a terrible start on Saturday.
Their run of defeats extended to four consecutive games, but
that did not tell the full story of the 3-2 defeat.
City won through Phil Foden's late goal after Dominic
Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha brought them on level terms in the second half.
That had looked extremely unlikely when Foden put City ahead
after 59 seconds, and Joskvo Gvardiol doubled the lead 25 minutes into a
predictably one-sided half. But a double personnel change by manager Farke and
a shift in formation inspired an encouraging if ultimately fruitless response
from his players.
Asked what went through his mind after Foden’s opener, Fare
replied: "I can't speak publicly about (what I was thinking) because I
would be banned from football, because you're not allowed to swear.
"It is sometimes like this, in football like in life.
You think you have the solution and you do it in the proper way then there's
another sucker punch (Gvardiol's goal). If you dwell on it, you have no chance.
"It's more like, 'Come on, keep going, show resilience,
show reaction, show great heart, show passion and confidence.’
"That's what we did, more or less, and sadly it didn't
pay off with points, but definitely with a performance the lads should be proud
of."
Substitute centre-forward Calvert-Lewin scored only his
second goal in 12 Leeds appearances after Nmecha was preferred to start.
Leeds looked much more dangerous with the pair in tandem and
when Calvert-Lewin won a penalty, Nmecha saw his effort saved but scored the
rebound, his third goal in as many games.
Calvert-Lewin had gone seven games without a goal.
"For offensive players it's always important,"
said Farke, a former striker. "Everyone counts the minutes and is saying,
'Yeah, good performance, but you need a goal.'
"He's happy when Lukas scores game after game, but also
perhaps sometimes he's thinking I would also like to be in this position.
"It puts a bit of pressure on him, but I've mentioned
several times, it's not like I want to win the golden boot with one of my
strikers, I just want to win survival in this league, this is the only thing
that matters.
"Thank God after his injury right now he's back to play
45 minutes or even longer, that's good.
"His quality is never in doubt, he's so important for
us, and it's good to have him back fully fit, and good for his confidence that
he scored."
Leeds were so on top in the second half that at 2-1
Gianluigi Donnarumma went down requesting treatment, allowing Pep Guardiola to
call his players in for a teamtalk before the keeper carried on playing.
"Everyone knows why he went down," commented
Farke.
"It's within the rules, it's smart. If I like it, if
it's in the sense of fair play, I keep it to myself.
"It's nothing I personally like but if it's within the
rules, I can't complain.
"I don't criticise Pep, it's not that he went down. If
there is time I would also do a teamtalk."
Daniel James, withdrawn at half-time, had a hamstring injury
making him a doubt for Wednesday's Premier League visit from Chelsea.
