Daniel Farke's only criticism, faith in defender's honesty and youngster praise – YEP 7/10/23

Daniel Farke had only one criticism of his Leeds United side after a 2-1 Elland Road victory over ‘rock solid’ Bristol City.

By Graham Smyth

Leeds were at their creative best at Elland Road, right up until the finish, spurning numerous opportunities to put the game to bed before the break. Georginio Rutter was guilty of an astounding miss from two yards out with an open net and Daniel James’ opener should have opened the flood gates but Leeds could not find a second and instead went in at the break locked at 1-1. A goal conceded in the final seconds of first half stoppage time, scored by Kai Naismith from a corner, had Farke properly wound up when he went down the tunnel.

“I was so annoyed we didn't bury this game and I know how difficult it is to go back in the second half after a sucker punch,” he said.

"I wanted to throw some water bottles but I didn't want to show the players, they were annoyed anyway and didn't need an overly emotional manager. We spoke relatively unemotional about what was necessary. It was the right choice instead of showing my real fire.”

Leeds took the game to the Robins again in the second half and once again hit the front, this time through Joel Piroe whose laser-accuracy found the corner of the net from outside the area.

There were further chances, Crysencio Summerville hit the woodwork and Leeds failed to turn a number of counter attacks into goals, but they held onto their one-goal lead to make it back-to-back wins at home.

“Very happy with the three points and can't argue against the performance,” said Farke.

"We created so many chances against a rock solid side – away from home they haven't given away many chances. They’re a well structured side. The only thing I can criticise is the effectiveness in using our chances. The game should be buried in the first half. The quality of the chances we missed was unbelievable. With just five seconds to go we concede a sucker punch and well done to the lads how they reacted. We did really well to go back in the lead. We missed an unbelievable amount of chances. Always the same story if you miss chances, opponents take more and more risks. You win the ball and see a big chance to counter. If you don't take the chance, the opponent uses it the other way round and it becomes a bit like transition after transition.

“There's always one moment - there was a cross in and Sam Byram was switched on to drop at the last moment to defend the situation. But I’m pretty pleased with the performance and three points. We could have made our lives easier, our goal difference could have been better after this game.”

Byram was a doubt for the game due to his historic injury issues and the demanding nature of three Championship games in seven days but Farke was delighted to see his left-back come through a third consecutive 90-minute outing.

"Sometimes you have to be a bit careful, when you ask if they're ready to go they all want to play and say let me play boss,” said Farke.

"Sam is really honest, he knows about his history, you always get a really good answer. It's never a guarantee but we had the feeling he would be in shape to go for many minutes. There was one situation in the second half when we needed his experience. His quality and awareness level, he's quite important for this young group.”

On the other side of the Leeds defence was 17-year-old Archie Gray, playing at right-back for the very first time at senior level. His only prior experience of the role was for England Under 17s but Farke had a feeling he was the right boy for the job against Bristol City. What Gray produced received the highest praise from Farke.

"First of all I have to give all the compliments to Archie,” said the manager.

"You can have an idea of something that will work but it's much more important that the player brings it on the pitch. There was no guarantee it would work. We wanted to play a bit more with a technical player, inverted, like an additional midfielder. The strength of him is his pace and tracking the wingers - Bristol City is good with long balls. Archie's pace could help. In possession his positioning allows Dan James to stretch the opponent a bit more, stay a bit wider. Archie was there with a terrific performance, especially against the ball. He was energetic in several positions. To adapt this quickly says a lot about his character and potential.”