Leeds United's big transfer call that Farke got right as decisions pay off — Graham Smyth's Verdict — YEP 28/11/24
By Graham Smyth
Changing a winning team is one thing, removing a winning
team's star performer is quite another.
Managers have to get big calls right and right now Daniel
Farke is. It was a big call to swap out Daniel James and bring Willy Gnonto
back into the starting line-up for the Elland Road clash with Luton Town. At
Swansea City James was responsible for seeing up three goals, including
Gnonto's winner. But as Gnonto himself pointed out after Sunday's win, there
are so many games in the Championship that starting every single one is not a
reasonable expectation - not least when there are four very good wingers fighting
for two spots.
Farke had made a big call to leave Gnonto out on Sunday as
he deliberately targeted the space in behind a high Swansea line with James'
pace on one side and Solomon on the other and it paid dividends. Whatever the
grumbles when it comes to the manager, his style, his substitutions or anything
else, there always appears to be more method than madness in his decisions.
For Luton he went with something a little different again
because he expected that the visitors would sit deep and space in behind would
be at a premium. Out went James, in came Gnonto on the right and Solomon stayed
on the left, mostly. Farke's wingers rarely stay put for long and the chopping
and changing of positions was evidently a problem for Luton from the off.
Solomon and Gnonto combined for Leeds' first chance of the
game. Joe Rothwell's clever ball over the top put Solomon in space and he cut
the ball back to Gnonto, a defender doing enough to take the sting off the
shot.
They almost combined to create a second opportunity at the
end of what felt like a never-ending spell of possession for the hosts. Solomon
got the ball on the left and again fed his centrally-positioned fellow winger
but Gnonto tried a bit too much after a one-two with Sam Byram and there was no
shot this time.
When the opener arrived from an unlikely source, Solomon was
involved again. It was his pass in the area that gave Byram a first opportunity
to shoot and when the effort was blocked up into the air, the left-back
volleyed home with a scissor kick to reward Leeds' opening 10 minutes of
near-total dominance.
Being a goal down did little to encourage Luton from sitting
deep and letting Leeds have the ball, but they still managed to create a first
chance that so nearly brought an equaliser. Victor Moses got into the area,
Illan Meslier came sliding out and though the ball was dinked over the keeper
and into the goalmouth, Pascal Struijk flew through the air to acrobatically
save a certain goal with a deft flick of his boot.
Still Leeds continued to dominate and their wing pair
continued to drive the Hatters mad. The same three-man combination that created
an earlier chance almost worked a treat between them again. Rothwell put
Solomon away, he cut it back to Gnonto and his first-time sidefoot effort was
too central and too easy for Thomas Kaminski to gather.
Leeds were pulling Luton here and there with neat
combination play, switches of play, dangerous balls into the area and the
occasional shot. Ao Tanaka, Gnonto and Solomon all put crosses in that could so
easily have resulted in more than the apologetic looks and gestures of the
central attackers. But the lack of a second goal kept the visitors and the
jeopardy in the game. When Carlton Morris crossed to the back post and Reece
Burke arrived unmarked the half could and should have ended 1-1, yet he got the
header wrong.
Instead, it ended 2-0. Leeds won a corner on the left,
Struijk's header was just about kept out by Kaminski and Joel Piroe lashed in
the rebound from a couple of yards. Keeping the Dutchman in the line-up always
becomes less of a big call when his finishing speaks louder than any other
talking point.
When Farke's Leeds go ahead at Elland Road it tends to end
well but when they go 2-0 up against a side showing very little ability to
break the spell of dominance, it rarely ends well for the visitors. That was
the case for Luton, who rather than giving it a real go, simply appeared to
succumb to the acceptance of defeat. Initially at least, with Leeds showing
total dominance and the 2023/24 Premier League participants showing no real
plan for, or hope of, getting back into it.
One of the problems for the Championship at this present
moment is another of Farke's big calls that he got spot on. The decision to
once again pursue Tanaka, for a second successive summer transfer window, is
paying off handsomely. Contrary to the fears and concerns about a lack of
control in the wake of injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev, Tanaka has
looked after the ball every bit as well as either of his stricken
defensive-minded colleagues. When the opposition has it, Tanaka either swarms
them until he gets it back or simply stands tall in the tackle and emerges with
possession. Partnering so well with Rothwell, the Japan international has not
just taken to the Championship like a duck to water, he's ruffling feathers and
at the same time gliding through the season. He was at the heart of Leeds'
vice-like grip on the game, which did admittedly waver for a pair of mini
spells for the visitors. Elijah Adebayo's header over the top and a couple of
smart stops from Meslier aside, though, it was Leeds' second half.
And by the time it was done, the score was 3-0. James came
off the bench, as was always the plan, and used his pace against a stretched
and tiring defence to race onto Jayden Bogle's ball over the top. The improved
composure and finishing craft that the winger has showcased since Leeds'
relegation was evident again as he flicked out a boot to lob the goalkeeper
perfectly.
Largie Ramazani's return to action as a late substitute was
another alarming development for Leeds' rivals because he looked sharp and
hungry to make Luton's night even worse.
When Saturday's early kick-off at Blackburn Rovers rolls
around, Farke will once again be faced with selection dilemmas and admitted
after the game that each one always makes him nervous. But just as they have
taken the pressure off Ramazani's return by scoring four and setting up three
between them in the past two outings, his in-form wing trio are taking the word
big away from the calls he has to make. Solomon lasting the course, as he did
on Wednesday, might suggest it will be James and Gnonto at Ewood Park but it
could so easily be any combination of the three. Ask the division's defenders
under oath right now and they might struggle to pick a pairing they would
rather face. Leeds out wide are a big problem for the Championship.
Leeds United in general are a big problem for the division
at present. More points than everyone barring Sheffield United, with whom they
share top spot. More goals than anyone else and the best goal difference, by a
margin of four. But beneath the surface of the headline statistics lie numbers
that come directly from pure dominance, which comes directly from Farke’s
philosophy. Whenever it goes wrong, and it has a couple of times this season,
he hears all about it. When it goes right Elland Road lets him know, as it did
at full-time against Luton. No one needs to tell him that he’s getting it
right, though. The league table says it all.