Daniel Farke's forensic 13-minute answer to Leeds United's Piroe-Rutter debate in full – Leeds Live 6/10/23

The Leeds United boss has answered in detail his thoughts in playing Georginio Rutter and Joel Piroe up front and asked reporters not to talk about it again

I asked a little about Joel and Georgi and how that partnership is going. Do you have any temptation to try Joel [Piroe] as the nine to see what he could do in matches, or are you really committed to seeing Georgi play there week in week out?

Daniel Farke: "If I'm honest, I get the feeling, right now, we're discussing this topic in each and every press conference. Before each and every game, after each and every game. In general we speak about Joel Piroe and Georgie Rutter and who is the best up front topic. I totally understand it and it's why we love football so much because everyone has their own opinion and advantages and disadvantages. That's totally okay and I don't want you to stop about this. We get opinions from pundits and experts and everyone speaks about this. Lets make a deal. I'll give you a bit of a lengthy [answer], all of my thoughts on this topic. Then please don't ask me again about this topic. Right now, everyone who's not interested in the striker topic, try not to fall asleep because it'll last a little while. I'll give you my whole thoughts about it and you can discuss it afterwards, but let not talk about this in each and every press conference.

"So, lets start. First my general thought is, I'm a big believer to play the players always in the best position because I think they can just be at their best if they're playing in the best position. That's the first thought, but this means also if we then talk about Georginio Rutter, Patrick Bamford, Joel Piroe, Mateo Joseph, perhaps Joseph Gelhardt, just one of them can be on the pitch because if you ask Georginio Rutter, where does he want to play? Striker. Patrick Bamford, where does he want to play? Striker. Joel Piroe. Oh, he would probably also say I like to play in the striker position. And Joe Gelhardt, Mateo Joseph - that's it. If I'm honest, I also like in game, sometimes, to have two or even three of them on the pitch because we need goals.

"This is also what we were lacking a bit in the past, goals out of the deeper position, midfield position, wider positions and we can't just rely, if you want to be ambitious, just on goals from the striker position. That's my first thought. The second is your best position always differs a little bit between clubs. Obviously Joel has played many games for Swansea in the striker position, but also quite often even behind a quick and mobile striker. And he has also scored goals. So, it's a difference if you scored 20 goals for a club who was fighting against relegation or if you're scoring 20 goals for a club in mid-table, or if you're scoring for club 20 goals who is fighting for the top position. So it's a different ask.

"So, you can't compare. There's never a guarantee that a player who's scored 20 goals for team who fights against relegation, or in mid table or whatever, then also 20 goals and more for team was in a different position. More like fighting for top position and with all respect to Swansea, but I think it's different if you have to score 20 goals for Swansea or 20 goals for Leeds United. So, with all respect because also the setup is different. At Swansea, for example, he was the main man and each and every pass has to go into him. Here he plays with Georginio Rutter, with Patrick Bamford with Cree Summerville with Jaidon Anthony, with Daniel James, with Ian Poveda, with Mateo Joseph, with Joe Gelhardt. There are also some other proper players who are fed with passes so it's a different role.

"If you're just the only main man or if you play together with other players. So, this is something what we must not forget. And also in comparison perhaps to Swansea, it was also a side who - I really rate them and they played proper football but also at times in away games sometimes they were sitting a bit deeper - were a bit more reluctant. We need here, as a striker, also some other qualities. So if we speak about Joel, there are always different qualities and some of his qualities that would tempt me to play him in the one striker position. Yes, of course when we speak about this finishing, I think he's world class. I love his finishing.

"I am struggling to find, even in this whole country, players who are better in these finishing moments. If he has the ball close to the box. You can only go to the halfway line because quite often then, the next touches are from the halfway line. And this is what I love about him. This is one of the advantages why would love to play him also in the striker position. But for us, because we're Leeds United, at the moment, we want to have the ball in each every moment. So we need a player who leads line and the pressing, who is there with intensity in the pressing, and because we playing quite often so dominant and quite often against teams, who're parking the bus a bit more, we need also a striker who stretches the opponent with running behind.

"So with smart movements in behind and with all respect to Joel and his finishing qualities, but I wouldn't label that his pressing qualities are the best in this league. So for example, there is Patrick Bamford or Georginio Rutter, like in the top position, because they always press with intensity or with running behind. So with respect to the qualities of Joel, but he's not the player who's lightning quick and mobile like Speedy Gonzales, who stretches the opponents. So we have to play to his strengths. To play him on the strengths, quite often, at Swansea for example, he likes to drop. Then there were quick players on the wing who went more or less like into depth. And then he arrived late in the box and he was there with instinctive finishes. But our setup is slightly different.

"So, when we ask our lone striker always to drop, to link the play, to play the ball out and then our wingers go deep and we work with crosses, I would then definitely play Joel as a striker, but if our striker has to fulfil also some other tasks, then he's perhaps not always the perfect, perfect solution upfront because we also need some other qualities that's also quite important. I think the next thought, is also I think it's not healthy, if we then after each time he has a great game and when he scores goals after Watford after Millwall, after whatever, Ipswich we're singing the song of Joel Piroe and every time when he doesn't score a goal we're putting in his head he's playing in the wrong position.

"It's not healthy, it's more like we have to send the message across. No, no for example, at Southampton, 'you were in the striker position' Georgie feeds you with a pass, come on be concentrated on the good first touch because then you will score as well.' Instead of giving him always like the feeling, when you don't call you're playing in the wrong position. Anyhow, so I think it's not healthy for him.

"And the last thought, or perhaps second or third last thought, I'm a bit on fire at the moment. Try to calm myself a little bit down. I'm just thinking about the team and I am not here to win the Golden Boot. I'm not here to win the Golden Boot. I just want to be successful as a club and as a team. So, if you want me, my main target is that my striker to win the Golden boot to have to play in each every second. But I want to be successful with the team. And I'm not interested if Patrick Bamford or Georginio Rutter or Joel Piroe wins the Golden Boot. So for me, it's important that our strikers in total are there and our offensive players score more than 30 goals.

"I've spoken about this, possibly even 35 goals. And this is the most important, because with all respect like to Swansea. They've played Joel Piroe upfront, but it's not that they won the title. It's not that they're promoted. It's not that they have a natural finish in the top six. So for me, I have just one target. I want to be successful as a club. And for that, we need players all over the pitch who can score and right now, also the last thought, Joel Piroe was there with four goals in seven games. To be honest, if he goes further on with this average, then happy days because then he'll finish with more goals that at Swansea.

"So, it's more like what should he do? Should he double that tally? Then you finish the league with 60 goals or whatever, so I don't think it's realistic. So, it's it's quite natural that sometimes as an offensive player you don't score goals. He's already there with four goals in seven games and we need also the goals of Bamford, of Rutter, of all the other offensive players. And now it was quite a long story and at the last time, because really my last thought, I always try to stay humble and I don't overwrite my position. Really not at all.

"I always talk about it. It's not about me. I want to be there in order to do a good job for the club and I want to support my players. I'm there in order to help my players but I've won also the league twice, I know what is necessary as a team not to win the Golden Boot, but also what is necessary in order in order to win this league. And believe me we need goals from everywhere in the park. And my really last thought right now, saying this that I'm not interested in the Golden Boot and not interested in the in the goal tally of one striker.

"I was a striker. I started my coaching career at a smaller club in Germany in the fourth tier. We had a striker. He won the Golden Boot there. So, in Germany we speak about the Golden Boot when you want the best goal scorer in the league. We had to sell them, all the financial reasons of a smaller club. New striker, he won the Golden Boot. Same again, we had to sell him due to financial reasons. Next striker he won the Golden Boot. So at this club, I had three strikers won the Golden Boot. Then I moved to Borussia Dortmund and was there with the under-21s. I had a striker called Marvin Ducksch. He was frozen out, out of the bench, I worked with him and he won the Golden Boot in the league. We sold him. Meanwhile, he's playing for Werder Bremen.

"Really good striker, Bundesliga striker. We signed another one - Hamadi Al Ghaddioui. He won the Golden Boot by the way in this league. So, five seasons in a row my striker won the Golden Boot. Then I moved to England. And we signed - at this moment he was a relatively young guy - Teemu Pukki. Everyone was talking about, 'oh, he's a free transfer. He can't be great.' He was horrendous at Celtic. I worked with him. He won the Golden Boot in the Championship - twice by the way. I went to Borussia Monchengladbach, we didn't have one striker. I converted a guy, Marcus Thuram into a striker. He was a winger before, he scored double. [figures]. We were not the best team on Bundesliga level but he scored double figures in the Bundesliga, ended up playing the World Cup final for France. Scored 15 Goals. I think he was runner-up in the competition for Golden Boot in Germany. So sadly, I missed this one. That's fine. But I always try to stay humble.

"But believe me when it comes down to strikers I know my business. I know my business. I know what I have to do and also when it comes down to win this league. I know my business, so let's not speak about this topic anymore. I know exactly what my offensive players need. I know exactly what my strikers need. It's certainly not a guarantee that we will win this Golden Boot during this season. It's certainly not a guarantee that we win the league this season. But, with all staying humble and not overriding my position, but when it comes down to strikers, I know my business and keep going in and speculating and giving opinions and asking pundits everything's okay. But do me a favour also, let's not talk about this topic anymore in a press conference and also leave my boys a little bit alone. Let's let them just score goals for us. When they do this, we are all happy and everything's okay. Sorry for the length of my answer. As you see I'm already in game mode. I can't wait to go tomorrow. Hopefully the same situation from my players and supporters tomorrow we need them."