'You will probably cry' - Leeds United players told to snap out of it over delayed transfers — Leeds Live 20/8/24

There was no room for moping about

Moping about the lack of incoming transfers at Leeds United is something Daniel Farke has tried to drive out of the dressing room since news of Georginio Rutter’s exit. The transfer was finally announced last night, but the players and staff have known about since before the Middlesbrough cup tie last week.

The manager could sense the news had an impact on his players going into that Boro game. He would later say they are not stupid and can see what is going on around them. It was an emotion Farke tried to expel ahead of Saturday’s clash at The Hawthorns.

It has been more than four weeks since Jayden Bogle, the club’s last arrival, signed with the club. Farke wants to see at least four new faces added before August 31 and he suggested his players shouldn’t be concerned about incomings when they’re likely to rob them of game time.

“That's what I urged them to do (pull together),” he said. “We didn't have many training sessions, but it's always the same.

“It's not like ‘Let's not think about who will come in because when we add three or four quality players in a couple of weeks, you will probably cry about not enough game time. So, be happy that you play, let's stick together.’

“The sun is not always shining. Sometimes you have to be a bit patient and it's even more important we then stick together and show mentality and be compact because once you lose one or two times a game, then sometimes you have the tendency everyone is a bit on his own one-on-one mission and just thinking about himself.”

Digging out a clean sheet on Saturday was one of Farke’s chief aims in resetting the narrative after a difficult week.

“No, I wanted to show we are really a proper group today and have this team spirit,” he said. “This is, more or less for me, the most pleasing thing.

“Even if we would have conceded a 92nd-minute set-piece or whatever, you have never a guarantee for a good result, but to show this steel and this unity and this togetherness and this fight for the group, this was most pleasing today.”