Bristol City v Leeds United: Daniel Farke on the remarkable rise of talismanic forward Georginio Rutter — Yorkshire Post 2/2/24

ON several occasions in previous seasons, winter window chatter at Leeds United tended to centre on the top end of the pitch as opposed to the back.

By Leon Wobschall

At times, the noise has been cacophonous.

The fact that it was pretty silent in the window-that-just-was owes a fair bit to Georginio Rutter, in truth.

Brought in for a club-record £30m fee from Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim last January, the fee seemed to weigh heavily on the shoulders of the Frenchman during the second half of 2022-23.

It proved a torrid one for all and sundry at Elland Road with the young striker forgiven for thinking what he had walked into. Even a player so young, there was not much sympathy amid a relegation scrap.

Rutter rolled with the punches and persevered. After noting that character trait, Daniel Farke was then suitably impressed by the talent behind the person when he started to work with him.

His performances this season have been full of verve and quality. Rutter is joint third in the Championship ‘assists’ league with nine.

Granted, his current goal tally could - and should - be higher, but Leeds have a gem whom their top-end rivals would jump at the chance of having.

It helps to explain why Farke has shown no real desire to boost his attacking options in the past month.

Bringing in some new defensive options at full-back dominated his thinking latterly, with Leeds busy working towards sealing a loan deal to sign Burnley right-back Connor Roberts ahead of Thursday’s deadline.

On the rise of Rutter, Farke commented: "He is still a young player and has to learn a lot. He always plays with a lot of risk and creativity.

"He still has to balance it a bit; when to take risks and when to go a bit more for it.

"He has delivered lots of end product, but he can be even more effective, especially in chipping in with more goals, I think.

"He also has to learn to channel his energy. He always plays with lots of energy and freedom on the pitch and he has to channel it and think ‘is it really necessary to waste some energy on the pitch in areas where it does not bring so much effect?’

"Or is it more important to concentrate on the moments when you can really make it count during a game.

"But this is quite normal and natural for a young player. We are working on it a lot.

"I think he has improved a lot, otherwise he wouldn’t be there with so many scoring points already.

"He is improving each and every game. It’s a pleasure to work with him as he’s always committed and works hard for the team and is really a team player.

"But he is still capable of letting his individuality and individual quality shine.”

Leeds’s 2,000-mile tour of the south west - which includes five games over the space of 15 days - begins at Ashton Gate on Friday night.

A long trip to Plymouth Argyle for an FA Cup replay is pencilled in for next Tuesday. After brief home comforts at home to Yorkshire rivals Rotherham United on Saturday week, Leeds hit the country’s congested motorway network once more.

They trek to Swansea City on February 13 before another epic journey to Devon and Home Park again.

The incentive this evening is obvious and psychological. Should Leeds prevail, then a compelling race for automatic promotion will get even more intriguing.

United can put ‘scoreboard pressure’ on most notability Southampton and Ipswich Town if they prevail on Severnside. A win at a venue where they have won on their last three trips - and triumphed six times in their visits in total - would also move them into second spot before Saturday’s action.

It’s a handy carrot, but Farke will be mindful of another statistic, should Leeds win for a fifth league match in a row in 2024.

On the ‘prize’ of victory, Farke added: “It would be the first time we were in the top two during the whole season. It would be nice little recognition, but to be honest, we are not too addicted to think of the table right now.

"Especially not when other teams have games in hand. It’s a big chance in a difficult away game to keep our winning run and momentum and show what we are capable of and return back to a two-point average (per game).

"Let’s be honest, we have played a fantastic season so far with nearly a points average of two per game.

"At the moment, we are playing the best season in the history of this club in the Championship (at this point). No-one really speaks about it, but we are two points ahead of the legendary title winners of 2019-20 (at this stage).

With our points average in more or less each and every other season, you would sit on top of the table.”

Unfortunately for Leeds, this is no ordinary Championship season in the top-two race.