Leeds United credit and criticism leaves Farke with brutally simple truth — Graham Smyth's Man City Verdict — YEP 30/11/25

By Graham Smyth

Chief football writer Graham Smyth’s Verdict on Leeds United’s 3-2 defeat at Manchester City is in.

Daniel Farke emerged from Leeds United's performance at Manchester City with both criticism and credit but another defeat means what he does next could decide his fate.

No one expected Leeds to go to the Etihad and win.

In fact such is the gulf between the two squads that few would have thought it possible for the Whites to escape Manchester with a defeat as close as the one that transpired.

It was 3-2 to City, not the four, five or worse-nil beating many predicted. And at half-time City were cruising in that very direction, 2-0 up and oh so comfortable.

Admittedly they enjoyed a little luck in terms of the officiating to open a two-goal cushion but Leeds fed their travelling supporters a nothingburger of a half.

They barely laid a glove on the hosts. Then Farke changed it, both the team and the formation. And they landed punches, levelling the game at 2-2.

Leeds even pushed for a winner, before they conceded a cruel stoppage-time winner.

Not what was needed at all

Farke undoubtedly got it right at half-time and his changes made a game of it, drawing a second half performance from his side that saw them deservedly cheered off by the away end.

But it needed to be changed because what he got from them in the first half was not what was needed at all.

What's more, the very thing he worked on and took fairly drastic action to prevent happened again inside 60 seconds, giving Leeds a mountain to climb from the very off.

A total of five changes to the starting XI was bold from Farke.

His fix for the left flank defensive issue was to replace it entirely, James Justin and Willy Gnonto coming in for Gabriel Gudmundsson and Noah Okafor.

It removed from the line-up the team's most expensive summer signing in Okafor and one of the early contenders for player of the season in Gudmundsson.

There was a change on the right, too with Brenden Aaronson making way for Daniel James. The expected, enforced midfield swaps brought Ao Tanaka and Ilia Gruev into the side.

All in all, Farke was going with a starting XI that boasted just three new signings and only one outfield player who cost the club any money this summer.

It took City a fraction under a minute to take his best laid plans and wreck them. Though they had help.

Either fell asleep or simply hadn't woken up

Gnonto either fell asleep or simply hadn't woken up and suddenly the ball was in behind on the Leeds left.

One cutback later and Phil Foden was crashing in off the bar in a depressingly familiar scene. This was what Farke had been trying to avoid and yet there it was happening again. It was a disastrous start.

There was a little spell of Leeds pressure as the game neared the 10-minute mark. A free-kick that caused a second or two of panic in the City box and a couple of low crosses that didn't find Leeds players was all it amounted to but it was better than watching the ball go in the net at the other end.

And the game settled down. The pattern was largely the same - City with the ball and Leeds looking to contain them. It was when Leeds were too passive that the hosts got the most joy. One smart move on the right took them deep into the visiting box and Jayden Bogle came up with a huge block to prevent Foden from making it 2-0.

City seemed to smell blood because the intensity went up a little. A Foden corner was headed straight back to him in a clearly offside position and he forced Lucas Perri into his first stop, a strong hand sending the ball over the bar.

And from the resulting corner the hosts stretched their lead. Perri tried to punch it and made no contact under Nico O'Reilly's challenge, the ball bounced down to Josko Gvardiol and he poked home. Tracking back to Foden being offside, Leeds could feel aggrieved.

A lengthy VAR check did look at a possible offside but it was one immediately prior to the goal and it was eventually cleared. Bernardo Silva's little nudge on Perri was not deemed sufficient to rule out the goal.

Barring a high and hopeless Lukas Nmecha effort, the remainder of the half saw all its significant action at the far end. At times City looked like an effortless machine, operating routinely with Leeds offering no more than appeasement. In the final minute of regulation time there were three blocks, an important header and another stop from Perri. As the teams were going down the tunnel the result was only going one way.

Farke tore up his first half blueprint and replaced it with a new one

Farke tore up his first half blueprint and replaced it with a new one at the break. On came Jaka Bijol so Leeds could go three at the back. On came Dominic Calvert-Lewin so they could have two up top. Off came the wingers so the full-backs could provide the width.

All of a sudden Leeds were awkward to deal with, finding central passes that weren't there before and boasting a presence in the final third that asked questions of the hosts.

Before they could come up with an answer, Leeds had scored.

It was a scrappy goal but it was everything Leeds need to be to stay up. Gruev nipped in to nick a pass high up the pitch, Ao Tanaka played it quickly to Calvert-Lewin and though he initially lost control of the ball as he spun into the area he kept the pressure on and was able to take advantage of a loose touch to stab home.

In the moments after the goal they got right after the home side, forced them into errors and fouls and made them look nervous.

The biggest compliment City could pay to Leeds' resurgence and suddenly enflamed belief was the cynical ploy they turned to in order to steady themselves. Down went Gianluigi Donnarumma claiming an injury. Play was stopped and every single outfit player in blue ran to Pep Guardiola for a team talk.

It did seem to work

It did seem to work, because the home side had their first spell of sustained possession since the break, they just weren't allowed to do much with it.

Leeds defended stoutly and looked to get the ball forward quickly, directly, in order to let Calvert-Lewin cause more chaos. One long ball, one header inside from Bogle and Calvert-Lewin was in the area, being chopped down. Leeds had a penalty and a way back. Nmecha took it, Donnarumma saved it and the ex-City man put the rebound home. Bedlam ensued.

There was just over 20 minutes remaining and City's interest in time wasting had completely evaporated. They too had a penalty shout, Bernardo Silva going down in the box but without any contact being made. They looked the likelier but it wasn't all one-way traffic. Leeds continued to pose a threat with balls down the flanks, wing-backs bombing on and Ampadu's long throws.

The fourth official signalled 10 minutes of time added on and City needed just one to find a winner. Having fought tooth and nail to get back into the game, Leeds played a bitterly disappointing hand in their own downfall.

Tanaka had the chance to send the ball down the line and let them push out from the deep position City had forced them into. Instead he went for a risky sliderule pass into the middle that was picked off.

Then Calvert-Lewin failed to spot Foden all alone in the box and couldn't get close enough, with Tanaka slipping a little as he rushed to intercept. Foden had the time and space he needed to pass the ball through a crowd and into the net.

Close but no cigar, again. It has become a theme.

Close but no cigar, again. It has become a theme. So has the sight of free men in the area finding the net. But for the first time since September the Whites could travel back to Leeds with some positivity from an away game.

And what it took for that to be the case was a gameplan that involved some direct football, a proper presence up front and bodies around the big men to take advantage of scraps. What it took was what many have been calling for.

After the game Farke was almost a little spiky in his insistence that it wasn't as simple as a switch to a 3-5-2 formation. It's not going to work against every team, he said.

So keenly aware is the German of the narratives swirling around him and the team that he appears at times to be hellbent on contradicting them and pointing out that it's all far more complicated than the suggestions coming his way.

Whether that's team selection, team formation, substitutions or style of play, he is happy to explain but rarely, if ever, takes a backward step.

But there can be no doubt that what he tried in the first half did not work. Farke put it down to execution. What he tried in the second half did work. It worked well. It not only worked, it looked very well suited to players signed in the summer, like Bijol and Calvert-Lewin. It looked encouragingly like so many have wanted it to look, especially away from home.

The idea of going to something else is a risky one

What Farke does next, against Chelsea at Elland Road, is entirely up to him.

Everyone else can talk and opine but he is in charge and will make the decisions.

But having shown Leeds fans something that they liked in the second half at the Etihad, the idea of going to something else is a risky one for a manager with one win in seven.

At the Etihad he ticked boxes in terms of eventually making Leeds competitive, getting goals out of them and taking decisive, timely action to change the game with his substitutions and tactics.

The players fought for him, ticking another vital box.

The away end stayed with him - one more tick.

He and Leeds deserved more based on the second half.

Yet football really is a brutally simple business because at some point very soon, if results don't follow, then box ticking and deserving more will no longer keep him in a job.