Leeds United ex-boss talks again but seeing is believing for Farke - Graham Smyth's Ipswich Verdict — YEP 24/12/23

Leeds United and Daniel Farke were facing a stern test of the manager’s words and actions in the form of Ipswich Town in Elland Road’s Christmas cracker but only one side went out with a bang.

By Graham Smyth

Just because a manager says it, doesn't make it true. The days leading up to Leeds United's game against Ipswich Town brought an ex-Whites boss back into the Elland Road discussion, or rather he brought himself back into it with a pair of interviews in national newspapers that will not have changed many minds in Yorkshire. What fans hear from their manager in terms of his football, the direction the team is heading in and the suitability of his players for their roles needs to match up with what fans see on matchdays. That's where belief comes from and how a manager builds credibility with a fanbase. Anything else is quickly dismissed.

At Elland Road on Saturday Daniel Farke was facing another stern test of what he has been asking Leeds fans to believe in, with the spotlight ready to pick out all the old favourite topics. Archie Gray at right-back. Refusing to change the starting XI. Playing Joel Piroe behind Georginio Rutter. It was all there, hanging in the stiff breeze that swirled around LS11 prior to the early kick-off, as one of the Championship's top two came looking for revenge and hoping to stretch their lead over the hosts to 13 points.

What followed was a comprehensive beating, a one-sided annihilation and an almost perfect on-field mirroring of what Farke has been talking up and talking about this season. And though it was always expected that Ipswich would come to play and therefore present chances for Leeds on the break, no one, not even Farke could have dared to put a 4-0 win like this one on his Christmas list.

Putting your best foot forward is a good idea against good teams, dangerous teams like Ipswich who have scored so many goals and indeed put three past Farke's men albeit in defeat earlier this season. That's exactly what Leeds did, not only by taking an early lead. Their big brothering of Ipswich began with Pascal Struijk bullying his man to the deck, coming away with the ball and letting Djed Spence and Crysencio Summerville have their first tandem run down the left. The resulting corner presented two bites at the cherry liqueur, Vaclav Hladky saving wonderfully from Joel Piroe's initial effort but watching in despair as Struijk reacted quickest to nod in the rebound. With eight minutes on the clock it felt like a gift.

A second goal might have followed shortly after had Daniel James shown the necessary composure. Leif Davis backed himself in a footrace with Archie Gray but in doing so left acres of space for James to exploit on the break. The eventual shot was not up to scratch but a trend was already being set.

Ipswich took 23 minutes to muster an effort at goal, kept almost silent by the robust defensive work of the home midfield and back four. When it did come, from the boot of Nathan Broadhead, the shot was hit from outside the area and curled wide. The next Ipswich man to have a go was the desperately unfortunate Leif Davis, at the wrong end of the pitch, on the wrong end of another lightning-quick counter.

Archie Gray turned Ipswich pressure into gold close to his corner flag, beat a man, found James and Leeds were off. Glen Kamara swept it left, Summerville glided past two men and his cross was finished off, unwittingly and unwillingly by ex-Leeds man Davis.

When the post kept out Conor Chaplin's beautifully-struck half-volley, the feeling that it would be Leeds' day was as irresistible as their ability to take awkward defensive moments and transform them into chances. It happened again when Djed Spence cleared from the six-yard area and Rutter's strength and persistence allowed James to send Summerville away. Davis compounded his earlier error with a clumsy felling of the Dutchman, who dusted himself down to blast home the subsequent penalty. Half-time, three zip, thanks for coming.

Any fear of a nightmare before Christmas, or a miracle for those of an Ipswich persuasion, was quickly dispelled in the second half. Piroe cracked the crossbar from an acute angle to let Elland Road and the visitors know there would be no let up, and then went one better with his next try, shimmying smartly in the box and drilling the ball low and hard into the net with all of the required ruthlessness. Rutter, playing at nine and revelling in all the space, played a big part in both of those chances for the man Farke wants arriving on the edge of the box to deliver finishes like the one that made it 4-0.

From there on it was just processional. Rutter, who deserved a goal, hit the bar. Gray continued to lock down his side of the pitch and play with maturity beyond his years. It was as good a right-back performance as has been seen in the stadium for quite some time. Ethan Ampadu and Glen Kamara, starting together yet again, covered every blade of grass with energy levels that their opposite numbers could not match.

Such was the control Leeds exerted that it became olé territory, substitutes coming on and keeping the boot on the throat of a side being suddenly and brutally introduced to the idea of a wobble, just before they face Leicester City. Upon such performances success and serious credibility can be built and there is now no doubting Leeds' big game mentality.

Farke had every right to purr afterwards, and did so, but he spoke undeniable truth too about the need to perform just as well against the Preston North Ends of the world in the coming days, weeks and months, if Leeds are to experience success this season. Beating the top two is all well and good, it's very good in fact, but it has to be followed up. Leeds took their manager's words and his plan and laid down another marker. Now they have to keep matching it.