Daniel Farke reveals favourite ‘quality’ of Leeds United striker as promising history uncovered - YEP 27/9/23

Leeds United boss Daniel Farke says scoring the ‘decisive’ first goal in matches is of great importance to him – something new striker Joel Piroe has demonstrated a knack for throughout his time in English football.

By Joe Donnohue

The ex-Swansea City forward netted on a regular basis for the south Wales club between his 2021 arrival and the summer move which brought him to Elland Road this year.

Currently on 45, it is extremely likely the Dutchman will reach a half-century of Championship goals in just his third campaign this year, given how he has begun life under Farke. His next strike for Leeds will mark his 50th in all competitions since arriving on these shores.

Piroe’s start for the Whites has helped propel Leeds from the lower reaches of the Championship standings to sixth in the table, currently occupying the final play-off spot behind Leicester City, Ipswich Town, Sunderland, Preston North End, Hull City and Sunderland.

His £12 million signing was hailed by supporters as a statement addition, which came only towards the end of an emotionally-taxing summer transfer period.

Two of Piroe’s four strikes in a Leeds shirt have given Farke’s men the breakthrough, in games against Millwall and Watford. The German manager uses a word to describe such goals: decisive.

Termed ‘go-ahead goals’ by others in the footballing world, they simply refer to goals which give a team the lead.

During his time at Swansea, Piroe scored 21 go-ahead goals, 19 of which broke the deadlock in games. Considering the 24-year-old scored 46 times for the Swans, almost every second goal he registered for the club was what Farke would call ‘decisive’.

In 2021/22, his first year in British football, Piroe netted nine go-ahead goals, eight of which were the first goal in games. The year after, Piroe upped his numbers, scoring 11 go-ahead goals, ten of which were openers. This season, he added to his tally in the Carabao Cup First Round, scoring Swansea’s opening goal in a 3-0 win over Northampton Town.

At Leeds, two of his four goals have been such.

“I always tell my players, the most important goal is especially the first goal even when it’s a tight game, a decisive goal,” Farke said following the 3-0 win over Watford last weekend, in which Piroe opened the scoring.

"In the 4-0, or the 5-0 or the 7-1 everyone can score but be on it when it's a tight game, it's really crucial.”

Dan James’ pinpoint cross from the right-hand side found the Dutchman in space at the back post, where he applied the finish, wearing down Watford’s buckling defence after 67 minutes of dominance from the home side.

"This quality, Joel has. He’s always there with nice goals – and he’s allowed to score the fourth or fifth one – but when it counts, you have to be there.”

Breaking the deadlock is an oft-underappreciated aspect of the modern game, given how frequently teams who score first, particularly at home, go on to earn all three points. To have an attacker in Leeds’ midst with a track record of doing exactly that will only stand to benefit the team – something Farke is acutely aware of.

"I want us to show this all over the pitch because one thing’s for sure, we can’t just rely on the goals of Joel Piroe, or Georginio Rutter or Patrick Bamford if he’s playing.

"It’s also important we score goals out of midfield, out of defensive positions. For that I’m also quite pleased that again, we have goals today from Jaidon [Anthony] and Sam Byram.

"It's important that our defensive players deliver with goals, but to be there with a crucial, decisive goal, it’s a quality and it's good that we showed this quality today.