Daniel Farke: We had to be patient — Leedsunited.com 19/2/25
Boss spoke with the media following victory over Sunderland.
Leeds United fought back in dramatic fashion to beat
Sunderland under the Elland Road lights on Monday evening.
A last-gasp winner from substitute Pascal Struijk, the
defender’s second of the night after coming off the bench, secured the three
points for the Whites to take them back to the summit of the Sky Bet
Championship.
Reflecting on the victory, United manager Daniel Farke was
delighted with the spirit his side had shown to edge past the Black Cats.
“You have to fight and have to grind and have to dig in, and
then in the end, a well-deserved win,” the boss told the media after the
full-time whistle.
“But the tight win, more or less, like with the last second
of the game, these types of wins are the best wins that you can have in
football – the best wins for the supporters, for the whole group, together with
the staff and with the players.
“It was just another three points, that is for sure. When
you have a look at the statistics, we are there with nearly 70 per cent
possession, we had 21 shots and we had 11 corner kicks.
“It was a well-deserved win, but you face one of the best
counter-attacking sides in this league and we could have, of course, defended
the one-on-one situation a bit better.
“Then it is so complicated and difficult also to turn this
game against such a good side because they are well-structured in their
defending. We had to be patient also to create and sometimes also to score with
a set piece and turn the game.
“Once the team is sitting that deep, you can’t expect that
you create 10 one-on-one situations on the goalkeeper or create one perfect
team goal after another like we did in the last week, so you have to fight in
order to earn the right to score a goal, and this is what we did today.
“Fitness is always a big, big topic for me. But it is not
like you always score in the 96th minute just because you are unbelievably fit
inside. It is also like the way you approach a game once you are dominant.
“Then sometimes you can also tire the opponent. I think it
has also to do with approach, but even also more with the belief, the spirit
and the togetherness, and also winning mentality.
“It is not like that the body is ready to score in the 96th
minute. The head and the soul and the heart also have to be ready. This is what
my group of lads are doing at the moment.