Leeds United's 49ers-bred machine throws its weight around just as Farke readies reinvention — Leeds Live 22/10/23

Here are our five talking points from Leeds United's 3-2 win over Norwich City at Carrow Road in the Championship as Crysencio Summerville leads the fightback from 2-0 down

One loss in 10 and the machine gathers momentum

At this rate, the pain of that loss at Southampton last month may never subside. It is the one blot on Leeds United’s copybook going back to the second weekend of the season and the anomaly in an unbeaten streak of nine matches.

While the frustration may remain, the strength of the reaction to that defeat is plain to see. With each passing game, the Whites are making a mockery of that loss in Hampshire.

Yesterday’s trip to Norwich City threatened to go the same way, but the players' application and Daniel Farke's decisiveness stopped the occasion from sliding away from them. The early concession, the ease with which the Canaries repeatedly cut through Leeds and the visitors’ wastefulness bore the hallmarks of a long afternoon.

For those travelling between West Yorkshire and Norfolk for the match, they were faced with, roughly, an eight-hour round-trip through Storm Babet to watch their side. It was a treacherous journey in sections and the first half of Saturday’s match will have had many wondering why they bothered.

United never seem to find any middle ground. It always feels like they are either outstanding or desperately poor. It was jarring to see how open and exposed the defence seemed after the progress recently made in the five clean sheets of the previous seven games.

Farke’s decision to stick with the same 11 players after half-time was puzzling. The flow of the match seemed to demand a change to break Leeds from the cycle they were in at Carrow Road, but the German, as ever, was ultimately proved right.

The character shown in the fightback was tremendous. It’s almost worth the pain of going two goals down for the sheer adrenaline rush of coming back to win 3-2. Almost.

Much like the victory down the road in East Anglia, the manner of this victory will do wonders for morale, belief and camaraderie in the Whites camp. These are the wins, the most unlikely of points, which successful campaigns are built upon.

Farke’s note-perfect return

Everything about this game was centred on Farke’s return to by far the most successful venue in his entire career. The 46-year-old has himself admitted his playing days were not the most distinguished, while silverware in Norfolk is, up to now, his crowning achievement as a manager.

This was the German’s first time at Carrow Road since being sacked in the away dressing room at Brentford by Stuart Webber in November 2021. It was an important opportunity to say thank you to the home side’s supporters.

Farke navigated the afternoon expertly. There were muted hands raised as he got off the Leeds coach and again as he came out for the start of the game.

There were no histrionics on the touchline or any over-elaborate celebrations as the United goals went in. The final sign-off, even after an especially emotional comeback victory, kept both sets of fans on side.

Farke addressed all four stands with applause before going to the Leeds end for his moment with them, but he stopped short of the normal waves he instigates after victories. It was something he used to do with the Canaries and like a respectful ex-partner, he did not want his former flame to see him dishing out the same treatment to his new love.

Summerville turns it on

We saw it on the opening day of the season, we saw it at home to Watford and we saw it again yesterday. At his best, Crysencio Summerville can tear any Championship defence to shreds.

The 21-year-old had been among the crop of young, ambitious and talented attackers some had expected may move on after relegation in the summer. It was not a massive leap to expect either Premier League or continental interest in a winger who had been memorably unafraid to ask Marcelo Bielsa if he could leave for more opportunities elsewhere in January 2022.

As it was, the interest was there, but the will to leave wasn’t. Had Summerville stomped his feet or kicked up a fuss about playing second-tier football, it’s probable United would have cut their cloth accordingly and made an exit happen, as they did with so many wantaway names.

Yet, that messaging never came from the attacker, who was seemingly set on having a proper go of it in the second tier with the Whites as a key player in the drive for promotion. An August injury may have stymied his progress at the start of the season, but since returning to the line-up at Salford City, Summerville has only been absent from one XI.

That was the night at Hull City which, you might remember, ended with the Dutchman as the most potent Leeds weapon of the night. He had been thrust into the action earlier than expected after injury to Wilfried Gnonto.

That impactful dribbling technique was on show at Carrow Road. Even in a wasteful first half that predicted only one winner, Summerville was asking questions when Leeds did break into the home half.

The goals were of outstanding quality. The difference on another nail-biting, dramatic day in the Championship. Every player will have their special stand-out day on the road to May 4 and this will certainly go down as one of the days Summerville put the team on his back, like his number 10 predecessor, and dug out the quality needed in front of goal.

Jaded Gray

Much had been made of the quantity of minutes in Archie Gray’s legs coming into Saturday’s game. The 17-year-old had played five full matches in 13 days for club and country, but Farke saw fit to give him a sixth match in 17 days.

And, again, gave the youngster the full 90 minutes. Farke would praise Gray after the match, though he was never likely to publicly criticise him or worry about his level of fatigue. It was staggering to see the makeshift right-back left out on the pitch for the full game.

It almost felt cruel seeing the teenager marched up and down the field, in the first half especially, by Norwich’s control on the game. Onel Hernandez would give Gray a torrid time on a day he looked nothing like the zippy, energetic, Cafu-like force we saw against Bristol City a fortnight ago.

The manager will have had his reasons for playing Gray and evidently saw nothing in the medical data to suggest it was a risk playing him. This is borne out in Farke’s decision to then keep Gray on the field for the full game.

A seventh match in 21 days on Wednesday night at Stoke City will surely be a game too far for the youngster. Time will tell how Farke sees it, but he has the options to give Gray a breather and Saturday’s evidence of him running through treacle has to be enough of a push to make it happen.

A new formation

A rudimentary assessment had it marked down as a 4-1-3-2 with Daniel James as an especially attacking left-back, while Farke called it a 3-5-2. Either way, we saw a new shape from Farke’s Leeds on Saturday and the early signs were promising.

Farke would admit, after the game, he had felt wedded to a 4-2-3-1 formation for much of this season because of the limited time he and the team had had to work on anything too drastically different. However, he saw an opportunity this weekend.

The manager did not elaborate on whether it was because of Norwich’s weaknesses or the composition of his own squad that convinced him, but a seed had been planted with the players this could be called for during the game. Patrick Bamford and Gnonto had been prepared to come one before Shane Duffy’s own goal changed things.

Farke stood them down and allowed a few more minutes for a reinvigorated response from the visitors to unfold. It did not take hold and so the forwards were called on. Seeing a left-back and a midfielder go off in their places was the big surprise.

Leeds were left with Joel Piroe, Summerville, James, Georginio Rutter, Bamford and Gnonto all on the field at the same time. It looked like Farke was swinging for the fences and going for broke. This show of force, this throwing down of the aces Farke has in the hole, is exactly why 49ers Enterprises invested as heavily as they did.

It’s the kind of power play Leeds must look to at points of this season given the strength in depth they have throughout this squad. As unbalanced and risky as it was, you have to admit it worked and it will be a temptation for Farke from the start of some games.