Daniel Farke praises Leeds United commitment in 'meaningless' game — Yorkshire Post 11/5/26
By Stuart Rayner
Daniel Farke said he would not allow anything else after
Leeds United fought hard for a point they did not need, but really wanted.
The Whites' 1-1 draw was of more use to West Ham United than
themselves, with the Hammers involved in a straight fight with Tottenham
Hotspur to avoid following Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers into next
season's Championship.
And whilst Leeds were not at their best after being hit by
freak gym injuries to Jayden Bogle and Facundo Buonanotte, they fought hard to
come back from a Mathys Tel goal and equalise with a Dominic Calvert-Lewin
penalty.
"I wouldn't allow it in a different way, so if you put
the white shirt on and represent this passionate and amazing club, you have all
to play for, because we represent Leeds United, we want to make our supporters
proud, and for that, if you're then not highly motivated in a Premier League
game, you have chosen the wrong club," said Farke.
"I would never allow anything less than just 100 per
cent, and I think this is also what we've shown today.
"For many reasons it was a difficult game.
"The big pressure after yesterday's results was a bit
away, Tottenham back in good shape, back-to-back wins, I expected them also to
play with confidence, also the stadium was on it, they liked also to have a bit
more positive right now.
"It was a difficult week because we had to play today
without many key players, had to play some players out of their normal
position, also during the game, then for example Pascal Struijk, who was a rock
for us during the season, to get an injury.
"If you then go 1-0 down so early in the second half
you can crumble sometimes, but my players showed unbelievable mentality, and
also quality, and togetherness, and fighting spirit to fight back.
"I think we fully deserved also to equalise this game,
and then I also like that we went for it.
"Of course the point is a better result for us in
comparison to Tottenham in these circumstances, but we were on it, and we
wanted to win this game. We were greedy, and this is what we've shown.
"We were very close at the time, with two big chances
for Sean Longstaff, one great save from the goalkeeper, to win it, and for
that, definitely a good night for us, definitely a good point, but says a lot
also like what we did today about the character and the mentality of my
team."
With Gabriel Gudmundsson and Jayden Bogle injured, Farke
went into the game with only one fit wing-back.
"Yesterday Jaydon Bogle was ready to travel with us but
he injured himself somehow," said Farke.
"It was the first experience that I have during the
activation session in the gym, I've never experienced someone who has a
hamstring strain by doing activation.
"It was more or less a similar situation also with
Facundo Buonanotte.
"James Justin, a right-footed full-back, had to play as
a left wing-back because simply I didn't have any other left wing-back
available.
"Daniel James had to play, for the first time in his
career at club level, as a wing-back, especially keeping in mind that he hasn't
played many minutes, simply due to the fact that I didn't have any other
wing-back options available.
"I wanted to attack this game and to go offensive
instead of putting a centre-back into this position.
"I'm happy with DJ and he got this chance today to
shine for 60 minutes."
