Daniel Farke reveals full extent of Leeds United injuries as he lauds youngster for Chelsea show — YEP 28/2/24

Daniel Farke saw a Leeds United performance worth celebrating at Stamford Bridge despite their 3-2 FA Cup loss to Chelsea.

By Graham Smyth

The Whites came agonisingly close to producing a shock result, with a display that received an ovation from a sold-out away end. They hit the front early on through Mateo Joseph’s fine finish after Archie Gray forced an error from a Chelsea goal-kick. The Blues were level on 15 minutes, Nicolas Jackson finding the net at the end of a move that exploited Leeds’ left flank. Mykhailo Mudryk put the hosts ahead before half-time as the visitors struggled to cope with the Premier League outfit’s one-touch passing, again on the Chelsea right. But Joseph followed his first ever senior goal with a second, heading home a pinpoint Jaidon Anthony cross just shy of the hour mark.

Leeds bossed long periods of the second half and Joseph could have had a hat-trick, but got a second attempt at a close range header all wrong. And in the very final minute Chelsea secured their quarter-final spot with a Conor Gallagher dink over Illan Meslier. Even in stoppage time, however, Leeds pressed for a third and Liam Cooper was inches away from connecting with a corner.

Farke was pleased that the 5,000-plus Leeds fans in attendance felt as he did about the performance. “First of all congratulations to Chelsea, they were really clinical, especially second goal, a top class finish. We are disappointed that we lost this game, we want to win wherever we go. I know it's not realistic that we, a Championship side, win the FA Cup but I wanted to win it. We played without several key players, we had young players like Mateo Joseph taking his first steps in a central position, 17-year-old Archie Gray in the middle of the park.

“We had more possession, more shots, more xG, the lads would have deserved to get a reward tonight with a win. You can talk about the additional load of extra-time but I would perfer to have extra-time because I wanted to win this game. I'm pretty proud of what my lads did today. The game should be played exactly in this way. Even if you go with a young side, you should be offensive, try to dominate the ball, try to create chances and stick to your beliefs. This is what we did, the supporters have a good sense for this and though we lost the game they celebrated, especially our young guys. The level of performance and commitment were excellent.”

Farke was delighted to see 20-year-old Joseph’s individual performance rewarded with end product, in what the manager saw as a big step forward. “Mateo is a really good young player, I loved to work with him in pre-season but then he was out for several weeks and it's never easy for a young player to come into a good side, we have lots of competition in the striker position,” said Farke. “What I like about him, he's humble, he likes to work additionally, he's open for hints. It was not a gift or coincidence, he earned this appearance in the starting line-up. He was there with a good performance away at Plymouth but for offensive players it's more pleasing when you're there with end product. I think it was a major step in his development, we're all happy we have him and he signed a long term contract. It was a key piece of business.”

The Leeds side boasted five changes from the starting line-up from last Friday’s win over Leicester City and Farke was forced to tinker with things due to fresh injury concerns. Georginio Rutter [hernia] and Ilia Gruev [hip flexor] missed the trip to Stamford Bridge, along with Joe Gelhardt [back spasm]. Jamie Shackleton did travel but fell ill in the team hotel.

“Today it was a bit tricky, we travelled without Rutter and Gruev, they reported during the last training a few problems, Ilia with his hip flexor and Georgi with his hernia,” said Farke. “They weren't able to finish the training session so no chance to travel. We have to wait for assessment. Cree [Summerville] and Patrick [Bamford] weren't able to train on Monday, just yesterday, were just there for short-term appearances tonight. Sam [Byram] is just two days back in training. During the afternoon Jamie felt unwell in the hotel, perhaps the flu or cold, he was named on the bench but not capable to play. If you have a tight group and go with the right mentality and unity you can still put a shift in and deliver a performance like we did today. I would prefer to have a few key players back [for Huddersfield on Saturday] but one thing is for sure we are competitive and we try to win.”