Daniel Farke on Sunderland tactics, attacker's 'naivety' and goal conceded — YEP 12/12/23

Daniel Farke refused to criticise his Leeds United players for their performance in a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.

By Graham Smyth

The result snapped a seven-game unbeaten streak for Leeds, who fell 10 points behind new league leaders Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys were also in action on Tuesday night and came from behind to beat Watford 2-1 away from home. Leicester City take on Millwall, at home, on Wednesday night as they look to leapfrog Ipswich once again and stretch the cushion between themselves and Leeds to 11 points.

Farke’s men were frustrated by their hosts at the Stadium of Light, who presented an organised and disciplined unit out of possession to stifle Leeds’ creative players. It was a tight game from start to finish but the Whites struggled to fashion clear cut chances. Crysencio Summerville had a free-kick palmed over and Joel Piroe saw a late effort cleared off the line, but at the other end Illan Meslier had to be at his best, pulling out a sublime first half save from a Jenson Seelt header.

Sunderland took the lead on 78 minutes, Alex Pritchard’s reactive header on the edge of the area catching out Meslier and his backline, allowing Jobe Bellingham to nip in and score what felt even then like a winner. Although Farke went on the offensive, throwing on both Patrick Bamford and Mateo Joseph, Sunderland rarely looked troubled in the final minutes and deserved their clean sheet.

The Leeds boss was full of praise for Sunderland’s efforts behind the ball and said all his team were lacking was their usual crispness in the final third: “So first of all congratulations to Sunderland to a great defensive effort. I think in general I'm struggling a bit to criticise my lads too much. It was clear we had a difficult away game. I think we dominated it in many periods, we had nearly 60 per cent of possession first half, more than 70 per cent in the second. We didn't find the cutting edge. In recent games we've created so many chances and scored so many goals. Today when it came to play the final pass we were not tidy enough or sharp enough.”

Farke ran through the various scenarios in which his team could have scored, starting with open play and moving on to set-pieces, shots from long range and counter attacks. The latter were difficult for Leeds to create due to Sunderland’s defensive structure and the one time that Crysencio Summerville did look to race away into the opposition half, Farke felt there was some youthful naivety because the winger could have made more of a tug on his shirt by the last man.

“Whenever we had a counter attack, Cree Summerville was through, if he goes down it's a red and we play against 10 and it's just a question if we find the winner or go back with a point. I liked his attitude to stay on his feet and keep going but when you watch it back it was probably the wrong decision, the keeper was able to save his effort. Cree, if he's 32 he goes down and knows it's a red. I love the young naivety to say no I want to score the goal. I love this attitude, so no harsh words.”

Farke, similarly, refused to criticise the manner in which his side conceded the winner. Pascal Struijk defended the first cross into the box but his header went straight to the head of Alex Pritchard and the ball found its way to Jobe Bellingham, who beat Illan Meslier. The Leeds back four were caught out by Pritchard’s intervention and Archie Gray played Bellingham onside, but Farke felt it surprised everyone in the stadium.

"In the first half we gave away two chances from set-pieces, Illan was there with a fantastic save but second half I was pretty pleased with how we defended everything,” said Farke. “I'm struggling to accuse my lads for this goal. When you're always trying to create and you have to run back 70 yards to defend it's not easy. We had seven lads in our own box, we defend the cross, the ball bounces off the head of Alex Pritchard and it bounces exactly to the offensive player of the opponent. I’ve worked with Alex, he’s a great lad but even he doesn't know how he was able to put the ball back into the box.”

Although Farke pointed to the difficulty presented by the pitch and revealed that several of his group were struggling with a cold, he credited Sunderland for the work they put in to keep Leeds out. He said: “It was difficult for each and every player, it's always the same against a side parking the bus that much, five at the back and three midfield players and more or less the two attacking players covering the wings. Credit to them, they were well structured, they were trying to be there with the counter and they were dangerous on the counter. There is no right or wrong in football, you have to accept how the opponent plays. It was difficult to create over the wings and if I'm honest through the centre.”