Daniel Farke’s Leeds future has come under scrutiny in recent days as his team struggle to inspire confidence that they can survive the drop in the Premier League this season. He is facing a few tough questions, but it could boil down to a big decision he made in the summer.
It is still too early in the season to speculate about a manager’s future, even though a Premier League club have already sacked one when Nottingham Forest wielded the axe on Nuno Espirito Santo during the international break.
Graham Potter is also being forced to answer some serious questions about his future after his West Ham side lost three of their opening four Premier League games.
The 49ers do not want to sack Farke even though he is on a shorter leash in the Premier League. However, a big decision from the Whites boss could eventually make or break his time at Elland Road this season.
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Daniel Farke’s Leeds future could boil down to his Largie Ramazani call
Leeds’ struggles in the final third and the lack of spark and unpredictability in their forward line have brought the focus back on Farke’s decision to loan out Largie Ramazani.
The Belgian struggled to get into the starting eleven last season in the Championship, and Farke decided to move him on under the impression that Leeds would sign two more forwards towards the end of the window.
Leeds’ failure to add to their forward line made that decision look hasty, given the lack of options in the final third.
Ramazani joined one of the big names of Spanish football in Valencia, and Farke revealed that the winger wanted to return to Spanish football.
However, Leeds are severely lacking players who could be unpredictable and make a difference in the final third, and Ramazani would have been a great option in the squad.
Had they kept the Belgian at Elland Road, it wouldn’t have been the first time Leeds blocked a player’s exit against his wishes.
Leeds do not even have a recall option in the loan agreement with Valencia.
The decision looks naive
Loaning out Ramazani does not look like a bad decision in isolation, but given what happened towards the end of the window, it now looks a lot worse.
Leeds held on to Isaac Schmidt until a replacement was signed, and there was no reason to change that tactic with Ramazani.
Letting him go out on loan without even signing a replacement is naive squad planning, and Farke has a lot to answer for.
The winger may not have made much of a difference if he had stayed, but Farke has given his critics a stick to beat him with amid the goalscoring crisis in his squad.
This is one decision that the manager could end up regretting if Leeds do not start scoring goals and getting results on the pitch in the coming weeks.
