Leeds United manager Daniel Farke recently criticised the quality of the attackers in his squad while pointing out that they are the same set of players who got the Whites relegated from the Premier League in 2023.
Farke wanted to bring in a couple more attackers towards the end of the transfer window. However, the Leeds recruitment team failed to deliver, and the team look really short in the final third this season.
Leeds have not scored from open play this season, and Farke insisted after the 1-0 defeat at Fulham last weekend that the quality forwards in his squad fall short of what he would have wanted in the Premier League.
The German coach didn’t shy away from pointing out that Daniel James, Wilfried Gnonto, Jack Harrison and Brenden Aaronson were part of the Leeds squad who were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2022/23 season.
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‘I still trust them’ – Daniel Farke walks back the comments he made about his Leeds forwards
Farke has insisted that he spoke with the Leeds players following his criticism and conceded that whatever he said at the end of the window, he would have been panned.
He stressed that he cannot pretend that he wanted a couple more forwards in the transfer window and was honest about the state of his squad.
However, the Leeds manager insisted that he still trusts the attackers he has in his squad and is confident that they will have improved from their previous experience in the Premier League.
“I spoke with the lads about this. Whatever you say, you’re always criticised”, Farke said in a press conference.
“After deadline day, I tried to stay calm and back my players. 95 per cent of comments were on not criticising recruitment. If I then say the players we have lack a little quality, the other five per cent criticise.
“The plan was always to add more offensive options. I can’t then say it was never the plan.
“We have good players who are back, but they are still facing challenges they need to improve. It must be possible to say ‘I like this guy, he works hard but has to improve offensive output’.
“They all know how much I trust them; if not, they wouldn’t be in our squad. I back them to improve from two or three years ago.”
