Leeds United boss Daniel Farke addresses 'crazy' decision and defends set-up in Sunderland defeat — YEP 3/3/26
By Graham Smyth
The Leeds United manager was left bemoaning his side's
wastefulness in the final third following defeat to Sunderland.
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke believes Sunderland will
struggle to explain their 1-0 win at Elland Road but bemoaned his side's lack
of 'brutality.'
The Whites had 18 shots, only four of which were on target,
won nine corners to Sunderland's two and enjoyed 70 per cent of the possession
but lost to the visitors' only shot on target. A second half penalty, poorly
struck by Habib Diarra, was enough to send Sunderland to the magic 40-point
mark. And while Leeds again had cause for complaint with the officials having
been denied what looked a stonewall penalty of their own in the first half,
Farke's big issue was with what his side lacked in big moments.
"The bloody result [was what went wrong]," he
said. "Sometimes it's difficult and tough to take. It's football
sometimes. You're so, so dominant, more than 70 per cent possession. We knew we
would face a very compact and competitive side, they're difficult to open. We
had so many shots, set-pieces, we didn't give one chance away but somehow lost
1-0. Perhaps they are struggling to explain how they won.
"I think we were lacking a little clarity in the final
third, the last concentration to play the last pass precise, to anticipate when
the ball comes down, to be at the end and put the ball over the line was
missing. I can't fault the performance, the mentality, but we didn't show the
mentality to put it in the net. Being self critical we have to be more brutal
in front of goal."
Farke described it as a 'crazy' decision when Luke O'Nien
put both arms around Pascal Struijk's neck and dragged him down in the box only
for the officials to miss it and VAR not deem it worthy of a penalty. And when
it came to his own decisions, he refuted the suggestion that he could have gone
with a different set-up to open up a compact Sunderland side either from the
start or at half-time.
"For me it was important not to lose the nerves and run
into counter attacks," he said. "This happens when a team is taking
too much risk and runs into counters. It was still important we didn't lose the
nerves, we had to keep a clean sheet. It's important you're not in a losing
position against Sunderland, they are smart - if you want to label it smart the
game management. The way we set up and the way we played was more than enough
to win this game. It was crucial to be dominant, what do we want more than 70
per cent, 20 shots, so many set-pieces. It's difficult to judge why the penalty
was not given.
"It's a bit the topic in the last two games, we've
created so many chances against Villa and City and haven't rewarded ourselves.
It's not like you just bring offensive players in - we did this against
Newcastle and were accused of being naïve, we did this against Everton and
again were accused. In general it had nothing to do with us having to take more
risks, one team was playing for the win. We didn't show the quality and this is
of course annoying."
And he brushed off any suggestion of complacency from Leeds,
even if there was external expectation that they could and should win this home
game.
