The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Wednesday 15th April) - Has Farke Finally Done Enough to Silence the Doubters?
Good Morning. It's Wednesday 15th April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Has Farke Finally Done Enough to Silence the Doubters?
With Leeds United's top-flight status all but secured, the most pressing question lingering in the air is whether Daniel Farke has done enough to prove his doubters wrong?
It's a question that's followed him since promotion was confirmed last spring, when the national press were already running stories suggesting the 49ers were weighing up a change and that scepticism didn't come from nowhere. In 49 Premier League games with Norwich, Farke won just six, a win percentage of 12.2%, the worst of any manager to take charge of more than 43 games in the competition's history. When Leeds slipped into the bottom three earlier this season, the vultures circled fast. It felt horribly familiar.
But Farke didn't fold, he adapted, changed his style and his system. The definitive proof came on Monday night at Old Trafford, where instead of parking the bus, he pushed a high line, pressed aggressively, and showed a level of tactical bravery that was frankly brilliant to watch. He was handed a clear mandate at the start of the season, bank a point a game, and he is on course to surpass that. Throw in an FA Cup Semi Final and surely he is on track to exceed anyone’s expectations this season.
There will be speculation again this summer, that's just Leeds United, the noise never stops. But after pulling off an act of defiance that few thought possible, with every player clearly running through walls for him, why on earth would they gamble on change? The Norwich record has defined him for too long, has he now proved his doubters wrong?
Carrick rips into officials following loss
Michael Carrick was left seething after Manchester Utd's home loss to the mighty Leeds on Monday evening. The interim head coach looked like a man who’d seen enough of Paul Tierney and the VAR crew, letting rip at the officiating after a string of calls went south for Manchester United. The big talking point was Lisandro Martinez getting his marching orders for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair, a decision Carrick labelled "shocking." To him, it was a soft graze, a mere "touch of the hair" that somehow turned into a red card once the VAR cameras slowed it down.
But the frustration started long before the red card. Carrick was still reeling over Noah Okafor’s opening goal, where he felt Leny Yoro was "smashed" in the back of the head by Calvert-Lewin in the build-up. "I don’t know how that doesn’t get overturned," Carrick vented, gesturing wildly to show how Yoro was shoved. For a club like Manchester Utd, who, let’s be honest, have enjoyed the lion's share of favourable decisions since the 90s, having the whistle go against them felt like a personal insult. While the PGMOL might argue they were just following the letter of the law, for Carrick, it felt like his side was fighting both the opposition and the rulebook at the same time.