Leeds United boss Daniel Farke on red card, Crystal Palace draw and why he was booked — YEP 15/3/26
By Graham Smyth
The Leeds United boss reflected on an important Premier
League point despite adversity at Selhurst Park.
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke heaped praise on his side for
taking a point and a clean sheet from Crystal Palace despite losing Gabriel
Gudmundsson to a highly-debateable red card.
The Whites created all the chances of the first half and
missed a penalty before Gudmundsson was harshly handed a second yellow card.
Referee Thomas Bramall clearly forgot he had already booked the Leeds defender
earlier in the game and had to be reminded that he needed to produce the red.
But despite playing the entire second half a man down, Leeds defended their box
with their lives and Palace were unable to muster a single shot on target
throughout the encounter. Karl Darlow was called into action to palm a
deflected ball around his post but was otherwise protected.
"First of all I have to give lots of compliments to my
players," said Farke. "It was another day that has proved why I would
trust my boys with my life. We are perhaps not flawless or we'd be in the lead,
but how we adapted to playing the whole second half in underload and accepting
strange decisions. One of the rare games where a team in underload had more xG
than the opponents. We didn't give chances away, it was the other way around.
I'm just proud of this performance and how united we were."
Farke's pre-game message to his players was that they had
come to Selhurst Park to win and his team selection backed that up - both Lukas
Nmecha and Dominic Calvert Lewin starting. But the referee's intervention just
before the break changed the game completely and Farke unsurprisingly disagreed
strongly with the red card.
Daniel Farke on Gabriel Gudmundsson red card
"I'm not sure there are really words needed, everyone
in the stadium could see," he said. "It was not even close to a
yellow card, there was no pace in the duel, it was not a tactical foul. Why he
has decided to give a yellow, has forgotten this player is on a yellow and was
himself surprised his decision means a sending off. When you compare this when
Brennan Johnson [on a yellow] was there with a tackle with more pace, a clear
tactical foul - it was not a yellow for me, I'm not asking for a yellow/red. But
for Gabi, his second foul of the game, then the game is influenced in a key
matter. Details make the difference, a player less makes 10 per cent difference
more or less. Thank God we found a way to travel with a point."
At half-time Farke said he had to calm his players to ensure
emotions did not cause them further problems with the officials in the second
half, but the way they responded to adversity made him proud. The full-time
ovation they received from the away end was deserved in the manager's eyes.
"This is a club that has won an FA Cup and is playing
in Europe, has added some proper quality in the winter," he said. "We
have our tactical flexibility, our fitness level and even in underload we're
able to travel away with a point and a clean sheet. It will do a lot for the
confidence of our supporters. Rightly so they celebrate our players and
themselves, this club is united. I'm pretty happy we can celebrate an important
point together. If we keep going to show this mentality hopefully we'll have
more to cheer."
