Leeds United potential 'without question' hides behind Daniel Farke's £150m Real Madrid quip — YEP 28/10/23
Daniel Farke's tongue was firmly in cheek when he spoke about £150m sums, Real Madrid and Georginio Rutter after another joyful display but the manager is in no doubt as to his striker's potential.
By Graham Smyth
Rutter has this season presented an altogether different
picture of himself from the youngster who arrived amid Premier League
relegation stress and was handed little more than a cameo role. The Frenchman's
struggles, following a £35m move from Hoffenheim, and noises about his
emotional reluctance to leave his former team-mates behind, led to a feeling
that he could well depart in the summer. But when the transfer exodus came
Rutter was not among those rushing for the exits, opting instead to stay and try
to put things right. As far as incoming owners 49ers Enterprises were concerned
during the summer there was no salvage job to be done because in their eyes
Rutter was a young player with just a handful of months of Elland Road life
under his belt. And Farke was more than happy to make the 21-year-old a big
part of his plans.
The result, thus far, is two goals, five assists and
countless flashes of brilliance, including dribbling magic and sliderule passes
to cut defences apart. Rutter was at it again in the Yorkshire derby meeting
with Huddersfield Town, sending Crysencio Summerville away with a lovely lofted
ball deep in his own half, running past right-back Tom Edwards as if he wasn't
there and then feeding Summerville for one of the Dutchman's two goals. As has
been the case for eight consecutive outings now, however, Rutter provided
everything but the finish and was unable to get on the scoresheet himself in
the 4-1 victory.
"I also want him to be keen and greedy to score,"
said Farke in yet another purring appraisal of Rutter's performance.
"He's excellent in so many ways, his fitness level, his
work ethic for the team, in the first half he was unplayable, involved in each
and every goal, great amounts of assists already. His goal tally could be a bit
better, today he could perhaps have scored in the first half but he's a young
player - if he would be perfect in all areas we'd have to accept Real Madrid
would buy him for £150m. He has all the potential to do this but thank God it's
not the case at the moment. Still space for improvement and could also do with
a few more goals and then we'd all be a bit more happy."
It can be difficult not to foresee greatness in Rutter's
future when he's gliding past players, flicking his way out of pressure or
laying chances on a plate for team-mates but where Farke believes he can make
the biggest strides towards realising his potential is in his mental approach
to in-game scenarios.
"His potential and his talent is outstanding without
question, he can be some player one day, but sometimes he chooses too
complicated a solution, it's finding the balance of going for a risky
unexpected thing or the easy pass," said Farke.
"He's a young player, he can still improve his decision
making. We've worked a lot on his effectiveness. He's on the top level already
but we can still improve his ability to score more goals. There's still space
for improvement. But he can be a really, really special player in the
future."