Daniel Farke reveals Leeds United striker hope, experimentation and new opinion on Georginio Rutter — YEP 28/1/24
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke says he hopes Joel Piroe has saved his goals for the Whites' upcoming games after the striker drew a blank upon returning to the starting line-up against Plymouth Argyle.
By Joe Donnohue
The Pilgrims largely thwarted Dutch forward Piroe at Elland
Road on Saturday, limiting the 24-year-old to just two attempts on Conor
Hazard's goal as the two teams could not be separated. Leeds' 1-1 draw means a
replay will be required to decide which team progresses to the Fifth Round of
the FA Cup, the result putting an end to United's 100 per cent start to 2024
with five wins from their five previous matches.
Piroe has recently had to settle for a place on the bench,
after starting in the majority of Leeds' games during the first half of the
season. A return to form for Patrick Bamford has led Farke to persist with the
experienced striker ahead of Piroe, while tweaking creative lynchpin Georginio
Rutter's position on the field.
"Obviously, I would have been delighted if he [Piroe]
would have scored or would be there with an assist," the manager said.
"We tried today the first time the combination with him and Georginio,
also to change a bit the position.
"We played a bit more flexible than we did with Patrick
and Georgi because when Patrick is playing he is the target man.
"Today with Joel and Georgi we played a bit more
flexible but it was the first time that we started Joel upfront and Georgi a
bit behind him," Farke added, explaining the change in approach, admitting
there was an element of experimentation behind his thinking.
"It was also to see how this would work because we got
the feeling Georgi has meanwhile more and more improved in this No. 10
role," Farke said, suggesting he now prefers Rutter in a deeper starting
position.
Farke also intimated Piroe was unhappy not to have found the
back of the net, but hopes he will be back to goalscoring form sooner rather
than later.
"Yes when the striker doesn't score, he's never 100 per
cent happy but like I mentioned we also had several changes in the offense and
if you mix the offense up that much it’s often not that easy to shine on an
individual level.
"If you ask him right now, yeah, he would have
preferred to be there with an assist or with a crucial goal but perhaps he has
saved them for the next game. We’ll see."
Piroe moved onto ten goals for the club with the conversion
of a penalty kick in Leeds' most recent win against Preston North End, but was
an unused substitute as the Whites saw off Norwich three days later. His
reintegration to the starting line-up during what could prove to be a
physically-demanding February, will likely hinge on the fitness and
availability of preferred duo Bamford and Georginio.
