Every word Daniel Farke said ahead of Leeds United vs Oxford including Pascal Struijk injury, Ilia Gruev update and January transfer outlook — YEP 19/12/24

By Kyle Newbould

The Leeds United boss spoke to the media on Thursday.

Oxford are back in the country’s second tier for the first time in 25 years following last season’s promotion as League One play-off winners but the Us sacked promotion-winning boss Des Buckingham following last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday. The loss left the Yellows fifth-bottom and just one point clear of the dropzone following a run of just one win from their last 15 games, six of which have produced draws.

Leeds, meanwhile, have won their last eight at Elland Road but Farke’s second-placed side lost ground on leaders Sheffield United through last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Preston North End which also allowed the chasing pack to close as Burnley, Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers all bagged victories.

The Whites are now three points behind the table-topping Blades and just one point ahead of third-placed Burnley with a further point back to fourth-placed Sunderland. Farke’s side will be looking to return to winning ways in Saturday’s 3pm kick-off at fortress Elland Road, ahead of which the Whites boss held his pre-match press conference at Thorp Arch on Thursday.

Farke spoke to the media at 1.30pm and below is every word he said on team news, January transfer speculation, managerless Oxford and away-day issues.

Farke on Bamford and subs

It’s beneficial for him, for several weeks, back in team training. A fit Patrick Bamford is always a good option. All the bench players have had a great impact. Mateo was sharp with 10 or 15 minutes on the pitch, forcing the own-goal with a good move. Manor Solomon, probably his best 20 or 25 minutes last week. He was sharp, played a major role in the equaliser carrying the ball. Patrick looked lively, had a great chance and was unlucky. All the players who came off the bench looked sharp. We need them to chip in with goals.

Another letter of apology this week?

I had a short chat with John [Busby] after the game. I rate him and think each referee wants to make the best decisions, I think he misjudged the situation. We have to accept this. The club would normally ask the question and receive a letter. We haven't yet but it's not important. It doesn’t change the decision or result. We have to get on with it.

Farke on Gruev

He won’t return in December. Back to team training but hopefully at some point in January.

More on conceding first

They are perhaps not natural players who win the ball back. We could take more risks in the first moments but now we have to be a bit more careful carrying the ball forward. We have four offensive thinking players, offensive full-backs and two holding midfielders who are made for attacking and maybe don’t have the defensive steel. If we are not 100 per cent in terms of awareness, you can lose decisive duels. This is one of the reasons we conceded too many goals in the first-half, thank God we could turn many games.

Farke on conceding first away

At the beginning of the season, we had the best away record. In the last games we have conceded too often in the first-half. There are reasons and we highlight this. I think there is not one reason, otherwise it would be easy to change. We are also a young side, we spoke about the aggressiveness and excitement that has to be on the top level in away games. We are not good enough to go into a game at 98 per cent. A tricky away game, decisions are sometimes not easy to accept when there should be a red card or something - our last away games it was a bit the case. The sharpness of how we start could have been more on it.

Farke on home vs away form

I'm not a big fan of differing between home and away games. For me, the approach is the same, rules are the same. We go into every game to win, but it's also a bit harsh to expect we win every home game and also every away game. You can’t win them all otherwise you’d finish the season with 138 points. If we keep going with our average, win at home and pick up points away, then happy days, the two point average puts you in the top two. We are in the top two and happy with our point average.

More on January outlook

I don’t think we need to earn any more money. We earned more money than any club in Western Europe. It’s important for us to be sustainable after some difficult years in terms of spending. You have to stick to the rules and there is a moment when you have to sell some players after perhaps over-spending. It was beneficial for the long-term picture. We had to rebuild but overall, I think it was beneficial. We are a healthy club right now and so no pressure to do anything. We can’t spend a fortune but there is no need to do anything in terms of earning more money.

Farke on transfer speculation

Even when there is interest, we have calmed everything down. We are in such a crucial period, and we want all our players to focus on us right now. We want the whole squad to be focused on these next five games. After January 4, there will be FA Cup weekend and then we can speak about everything else if we do something in January. Until then, there won’t be any decisions and we just want to focus on winning as many games as possible.

More team news

There are also concerns about Pascal Struijk. He is struggling with tightness in his hamstrings. Wasn't training yesterday or today. To be available, he needs to train tomorrow. At the moment, our medical team gives him a 50/50 chance. Scan is not too bad but he’s a major doubt.

Farke on Wober injury

It was the first game in the starting line-up for Max [vs Middlesbrough]. A lot of load because he played 75 minutes in the other game [vs Derby]. His knee was swollen and we didn’t want to take any risk. Sadly there was a little setback in training. He had to sit out with knee problems and was not able to train today. A tight race for him. He’s probably not available for this game. Disappointed for him, a tough first part of the season for him. We hope it's not too bad, there is a small chance he’s available but at the moment it's more likely he’s not involved.

More on Ampadu

The first game is always complicated because even a player of his experience and calibre, after being out for so long and coming into a crucial period, you are a bit nervous and look a bit rusty. The second appearance was already on a much better level. Every appearance and every day of training is important for him. You can see him making steps forward on a daily basis. We will still be patient and give him the time to be back at his best. The players in his position have been good so there’s is no need to rush it.

Farke on Ampadu's return

Ethan was out for a pretty long time, so every day on the pitch is good for him. We spoke last week about this old rule: You need more or less the same amount of training as you were out to return to your best. I hope he’ll be back to his best a bit earlier but of course, he was there with two short appearances. Every day on the training pitch increases his chance of minutes. All decisions we take are in the sense of what is beneficial for the team’s success. Ethan is also experienced enough to know he can’t come straight back after being out for three months. He’s definitely not far away.

Farke on rotation

We have done this in the last weeks with three games in six days. It's more in the offensive positions where you have to be sharp, creative and recover for high intensity runs. We don't rotate too much at centre-back. There will be rotation in the coming days, especially in the next five games. Lots of load in a short period. Especially in the wide positions, there is lots of quality and competition.

Farke on Oxford uncertainty

Definitely [it’s more complicated]. You try to prepare, but as it stands the caretaker will be in charge. We are not sure what is going to happen over the next 48 hours, you have to prepare for a potentially new manager who comes in and takes over. For that, of course it makes it more complicated to prepare the lads. You try to base it on what they have delivered in the last weeks, because I don’t think a change in manager will change everything totally.

Farke on the festive period

The festive period has many games, eight overall in 29 days which are crucial. You can't pick up each and every point but we want to pick up as many points as possible. Our next and last home game of the calendar year, we have been pretty good in the last home games. We want to finish the year in style, and to win valuable points.