Leeds United and Farke do the necessary and so must 49ers — Graham Smyth's Newcastle Utd Verdict — YEP 31/8/25

By Graham Smyth

Leeds United go into the international break with four points thanks to a gutsy display in a draw with Newcastle United but what happens in the next two days will set the tone for months to come.

Daniel Farke and his players did their bit to send Leeds United into the international break in a better mood. Now it's over to the recruitment department to improve more than just the mood.

Leeds fans exasperated

At Arsenal the team and their manager were humbled and at Hillsborough they were humiliated. A top-class side and a youth team combined to take the wind out of Leeds' sails entirely following that excellent 1-0 win over Everton. Failing to drag an almost-done deal for Facundo Buonanotte over the line tanked any lingering positivity. Being led down the garden path by a Brazilian winger destined for the top is one thing, but a 20-year-old loanee? Regardless of the price tag Brighton would attach to Buonanotte, his about-turn was just about all exasperated Leeds fans could take this week.

So with no incoming business ahead of the game against Newcastle United, what Elland Road simply could not witness was a drubbing like the one the Gunners gave Leeds. They had to be competitive, even if it was in defeat, to arrest the slide into total despondency. They had to restore some pride.

Even that was a big ask for a team missing captain Ethan Ampadu and one of their more classy operators in Ao Tanaka, both out with MCL injuries. That left Farke with little or no option but to partner Sean Longstaff and Anton Stach a little ahead of Ilia Gruev in the centre of the pitch.

New £18m winger Noah Okafor made the bench but a groin issue made him an unlikely participant. His presence in the squad was more in case of emergency. He was joined by Joel Piroe who dropped out so that Lukas Nmecha could bring more muscle to the attack.

Another case of the haves versus the have-nots was far from an ideal scenario for Farke so hot on the heels of the Arsenal defeat but Newcastle also had injury and availability issues to contend with so this was not the strongest Magpies outfit they might have faced. It was still good enough to get the win, though, and most would have expected that outcome.

Instead, they were matched from start to finish and held to a 0-0 draw. At times the first half was incredibly open, both sides breaking from the other's mistake or winning the ball in good positions. For Leeds Sean Longstaff was the chief disrupter, reading the play of his old colleagues and smashing into them to put his new club on the front foot.

As the opening period went on it became more evident that Leeds were going to be competitive in this game. They had moments and spells of possession. There was a storming run from Gabriel Gudmundsson and one from Jayden Bogle on the other flank. Neither translated to a clear-cut chance but Gudmundsson later supplied a ball to the back post that was arguably the highest-quality delivery of the first half. Willy Gnonto probed for shooting opportunities and at the other end Lucas Perri was well protected. Beyond a couple of scrambles and a Jacob Murphy shot that the big keeper parried, Newcastle created little more than the hosts.

After the break Leeds again arguably shaded it in spells. Whenever there was danger Joe Rodon mopped most of it up and Murphy's second attempt at beating Perri met with a similar fate to the first. Longstaff continued to shine in midfield, Stach and Gruev tiring as their mammoth shifts went into the later stages but still giving little up to their direct opponents.

Elland Road was right into it. And just as well. Newcastle tried to turn the screw with 15 minutes left, attempting to put the ball beyond weary legs and the game beyond Leeds. They just couldn't manage it however. Instead Bogle and Farke's substitutes roared back and looked the likelier to find a winner.

Calvert-Lewin chance

Losing Gudmundsson to injury brought a debut for James Justin and his getting a foot in broke a sustained spell of pressure and allowed fellow replacement Dominic Calvert-Lewin to run the ball upfield. Little moments like that were precious. Bogle winning a foul was another. Gruev took the opportunity to stretch his weary legs. On they went. Jack Harrison caused problems on the left, Bogle caused them on the right. It was his pass that put Calvert-Lewin in a prime position to bury the ball, only for Pope to stick out a boot and keep the roof on the stadium.

The 0-0 scoreline was fair enough. It was enough, too. Four points from this particular trio of opening games is more than any pessimist would have predicted and many optimists would have struggled to see it. Two clean sheets, one of which came against a Champions League side, have provided very early vindication of the club's plan to become a more physical and harder to play against outfit.

However, it is just as clear now as it was in the middle of the summer that Leeds need more in attacking areas. All too often against Newcastle the final third was where promise went to die and more quality is what is needed to turn those positions into chances and chances into goals. That in turn will turn 0-0s into 1-0s and maybe bring survival. Farke made it clear, again, after the game that he hopes for more in the transfer window to strengthen his offence.

On the right he started with Dan James and the Welshman struggled as badly as he has since pre-season began. Replacing him with Brenden Aaronson did little to trouble Newcastle's defenders. On the left Gnonto performed well but could not make a difference, the same could be said for Harrison and Okafor was protected because he could be. Between them there is plenty of hard work, distance covered and some potential. There are also too many question marks.

What Farke and his team did against Newcastle was admirable. It was a scrappy game and nothing like the thrillers that lit up the Championship last season, but it was good. They will need to play like this, fight like this and pick up points wherever they can like this. But they will need more. Points will need rescuing. Goals will need scoring. Defences will need carving open. Chairman Paraag Marathe's vow to spend every permissible penny is still hanging in the air. If it takes another exit or two to allow them to plough more finance into Farke's attack then so be it but however they manage it, it must happen.

With the game out of the way, Farke and his squad have done their bit for now. You're up, 49ers.