Graham Smyth agrees with Daniel Farke on Leeds United decision — YEP 23/9/25

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By Mark Carruthers

Graham Smyth has been speaking about Leeds United on the Inside Elland Road podcast

Talk of Leeds United’s goalscoring problems dominated the conversations ahead of Saturday’s visit to Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Ahead of the trip to Molineux, the Whites had scored just one goal in the Premier League during the first month of the season and that came in the first game of the campaign as a penalty from Lukas Nmecha netted from 12 yards in a narrow home win against Everton.

Since then, Daniel Farke’s men failed to find the net in away defeats at Arsenal and Fulham and the home draw with Newcastle United. There had been talk of just how the Whites boss could unlock the goalscoring threat at the top end of the pitch and that led to Dominic Calvert-Lewin being handed the lead role in attack once again with fellow summer signing Noah Okafor and United States international Brenden Aaronson handed supporting roles in wide positions.

There had been some suggestions young striker Harry Gray should be handed further game-time after the 16-year-old frontman netted four goals in three Premier League 2 games and bagged a hat-trick in a 3-1 National League Cup win at Scunthorpe United. Farke discussed the youngster’s progress ahead of the trip to Molineux and called for patience over a possible introduction to Premier League level - and the German’s stance has been backed by YEP chief football writer Graham Smyth as he analysed where Gray’s progression towards the top level of the game currently stands.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Inside Elland Road podcast, the YEP’s chief football writer said: “When it comes to Harry Gray, though, I think I agree with Farke - and I think the reason I agree with Farke is it would be very easy for a manager under pressure to get goals to chuck in a 16-year-old as the answer and make that the story. There's a couple of facets to it. You'd be saying to the board, look what you've left me with.

“You've left me trying to get goals out of a 16-year-old, or you'd be making the 16-year-old the story. I don't think I would be comfortable with that. Unless he's absolutely banging them in in training and he's and he's putting Rodon and Struijk on their arses and slotting them past Darlow and Meslier, unless he's doing that with frequency, then he can't really start in the Premier League, because scoring a hat-trick against National League Scunthorpe's second string is just one more step in his development.

“It's not the suggestion that he's now ready for men's football, because the difference in level, the difference in level between championship and Premier League is vast. The difference between National League's second string and Premier League is they're different sports entirely.”

Harry Gray was an unused substitute in the win over Wolves at the weekend.

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