Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has turned a few heads in the last week. He was on the brink of getting sacked, but two solid results at home have made the German more secure than ever at Elland Road.
Farke has turned things around at Leeds over the last week. A tweak in formation and playing two strikers up front has done the trick to get the best out of his team.
The second half at Manchester City was a sign of things to come as Leeds beat Chelsea at home and played out a pulsating 3-3 draw against Liverpool at Elland Road on Saturday.
Leeds have moved up to 16th in the table, and Farke is earning praise for recognising the need for change. However, Tony Pulis and Mick McCarthy have disagreed on what exactly has shifted at Elland Road.
The two managers disagree on what Daniel Farke changed at Leeds United
There is a clear understanding that Farke’s decision to change the formation has contributed to Leeds looking better and scoring more goals in the last three games.
| Stat | 4-3-3 | 3-5-2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minutes played | 1,035 | 135 | 1,170 |
| Goals scored | 11 | 5 | 16 |
| Minutes per goal | 94.09 | 27.00 | 73.13 |
Mick McCarthy pointed out that Leeds benefited from having a go at some of the best teams in the league in the last three games and not allowing them to dictate terms.
However, former Stoke boss Tony Pulis insisted that Farke’s formational tweak has led to Leeds being a far more solid and organised team in the middle of the park.
It has formed opposition teams to try and play out wide as they are not finding any space to play through down the middle.
“The three games they played – Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool – when you are having a go at them, not sitting back, not taking it and let the opposition play against you”, McCarthy said on The Managers podcast.
“The goals they scored were brilliant.”
Tony Pulis disagreed and said, “Just one thing on that, they have dropped off a little bit.
“They have gone 5-3-2; they have really condensed the space in their own half, and they are a lot tighter as a team.
“There is a lot of talk about playing open expansive football and the other. But what Leeds have done, they have been a lot tighter in the middle of the pitch, and they have allowed teams to go outside of them.”
Farke’s new formation serves multiple needs
Leeds have definitely looked more of an attacking threat in the final third in the new formation. They have scored eight goals since the new system was introduced in the second half against Manchester City.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has enjoyed playing with more bodies around him and has scored in three consecutive Premier League games for the first time in five years.
Ao Tanaka is one more player who is enjoying a more advanced role in the three-man midfield and has scored two big goals in the last two games.
However, the 5-3-3/3-5-2 also provides Leeds with a solid defensive base to work with. The two full-backs can either be deployed as attacking wing-backs or tuck in to make it five across the defence when the team need to defend.
Playing three centre-backs has also allowed Jaka Bijol to look more settled than in the previous games when he only had one centre-back partner.
Leeds will lose more games and put in disappointing performances. However, Farke has found a system that gets the best out of some of his key players in the squad.
