A lot more needs to be said about how well Leeds United did in the transfer market last year. The signings this past summer have been great, but they just built upon the core players from last season.
The 49ers landed quality starters like Anton Stach, Jaka Bijol and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Even the players signed as backups provided huge benefit on the pitch. James Justin has now become a key cog under Farke, while Lukas Nmecha has been a solid option as backup striker.
This summer window has seen the addition of more quality with the arrival of James Trafford, Tarik Muharemovic and Harry Wilson.
Noah Okafor was one of the big success stories of last season.When the winger arrived, he struggled in his first few months at the club and Daniel Farke criticized his game.
Okafor was one of the players who benefited from the change in system. That and his hard work in training saw him end the season on a great note.
Daniel Farke has explained Noah Okafor decision in games this season
Noah Okafor and Ao Tanaka
Credit: Imago
This campaign, Noah Okafor has failed to play a full 90 minutes for Leeds United in the Premier League. In Friday’s press conference ahead of the Man United game Daniel Farke explained the reason for that.
He said Okafor was subbed off often because his style takes a physical toll on him during games.
”Game is way more intense, physical, high speed and sprints. We have to take care of the positions.”
”Centre-back or midfielder can handle it better than a winger who is often high speed actions. At other clubs it’s usually wingers who are substituted.”
”Have to invest a lot, so quite natural you change a bit more.”
”Noah’s strengths are also an affect, he’s a tall and robust player, bit heavier than a light winger.”
”To be always there with sprints is more exhausting. We want him to play 100% on the pitch, not to rest sometimes, then we have to react.”
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49ers adding attacking options was very important
Last season, outside Noah Okafor, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha, the backup options were almost non-existent.
Joel Piroe, Wilfried Gnonto and Dan James did not get up to five goal contributions combined all season. And for a team hoping to establish themselves in the top flight, that is poor.
So it was important that this summer, the club loaded up on attacking options.
Adding Harry Wilson added a huge boost to the attack; last season, he had 11 goals and eight assists. Replacing Gnonto with Jean-Mateo Bahoya was a smart decision.
But with the French winger, fans will have to wait for him to adapt to English football first. Having Wilson and Bahoya as new attacking options means that Okafor can be taken off during games without a steep drop off in quality.
