Daniel Farke sends message to 49ers with unbelievable claim amid discord at Leeds United — MOT Leeds News 2/9/24
George Overhill
Daniel Farke has sent a message to the 49ers after the Leeds
United transfer window and there is some “chagrin” behind the scenes, says
Graham Smyth.
The Yorkshire Evening Post journalist told The Square Ball
(2 September) that there is some “chagrin” behind the scenes between the
manager and his bosses after a summer where the Whites made four late emergency
signings [The Athletic, 16 August] but not everything the German wanted.
Farke called Largie Ramazani, Manor Solomon, Ao Tanaka and
Isaac Schmidt “young and interesting” but played down expectations on the
grounds they’re unproven at this level, while raising the lack of a number 10
to replace Georginio Rutter.
Smyth said of the latter point: “I asked him why it was so
difficult, he talked about the homegrown market being difficult, he talked
about, ‘You want the right experience, you want character, you want quality,
and if you want they you have to spend an unbelievable amount of money, but the
club decided not to do that’.
“When I asked why… he said, ‘I’m not an accountant, I can’t
tell you if we had the money to spend’, whilst also noting that they spend
quite a lot on [Joe] Rodon and a bit on Jayden Bogle…
“It did feel like there was a bit of chagrin in his words,
and I don’t think we’re over-interpreting that, as he would say”.
It is probably no surprise that Farke is less than entirely
pleased with his bosses after he was put in a position to start the season
engulfed in transfer uncertainty for a second year running.
The four late signings as a whole do look very positive and
have rescued a window that was turning into a huge frustrating for the fans and
the manager.
But waiting until after release clauses, the bane of Farke
and every supporter’s existence, had seen Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville
and Rutter all taken to the Premier League by Tottenham, West Ham and Brighton
respectively, didn’t look like a great way of doing things.
If the late signings prove to be hits, as Glen Kamara and
Ilia Gruev did a year ago, then perhaps the manager will calm down and get on
with it, but he’d already dropped four points before they came in.
Victory over Hull City after the window closed suggested
they will do but none are natural number 10s, which leaves the Whites with
Brenden Aaronson as the most obvious answer at a position they also failed to
address last year, only for Rutter to develop into an excellent option.
The 49ers might themselves justifiably argue that they
bought Joel Piroe last summer whom Farke mistakenly believed was a number 10
for months until the evidence became hard to ignore.
So both sides’ positions might have some substance, but for
a manager who has been at pains to project unity before it was a notable
departure from his usual stance to indicate he isn’t entirely on the same page
as the hierarchy.