"Don't worry" - Ethan Ampadu reacts to Leeds United criticism | OneFootball

The Welsh international has been speaking on Leeds' style of play and finding the balance between entertainment and results.

Leeds United midfielder Ethan Ampadu has admitted that the team want to play entertaining football amid some criticism over Daniel Farke's style of play, but the Welsh international stresses that a balance must be found between entertainment and getting results.

The Whites have lost just once in their previous 10 league outings, winning six of those and drawing the other three, which has left them sitting third in the table as the league pauses for the November international break.

Even so, criticism over the style of play under Farke has been present among sections of the fanbase, as anything other than winning promotion to the Premier League would be seen as a failure by the vast majority.

Supporters spend a lot of their hard-earned money following their team, and so of course, there is a certain level of demand for entertaining football. But on the flip side, football is a results business, and Leeds have largely been playing winning football so far this season.

It's the importance of finding that balance between playing entertaining football and picking up wins that Ampadu has been discussing recently, as the 24-year-old continues to close in on a return to fitness.

"We want to play in an entertaining way"

As is the nature of the quality present in Leeds United's squad, supporters expect Farke's side to flex their muscles in games with easy on the eye football. Whilst Ampadu recognises that, the Welshman also spoke about the importance of picking up results first and foremost.

Speaking in a recent interview with BBC Radio Leeds, Ampadu said: "We try and make it entertaining. Obviously, we come up against a lot of teams who maybe have a low-block, and try to slow the game down.

"Maybe sometimes, that's just how the game goes, but for us players we want to play in an entertaining way. But at the end of the day, we want to do what we've got to do to get the result.

"Thankfully, more often than not, we've had that this season. But don't worry, we're trying to give entertaining football.

"Sometimes, the game can be broken up into a slower pace, but that's not always just our fault."

Stats suggest criticism over lack of Leeds entertainment may be slightly unfair

As is the size of the club, and indeed the disappointment of the Championship play-off final defeat still fresh in the minds of supporters, the pressure is on Farke to deliver promotion with Leeds United this season.

Because of that, there perhaps is an added level of scrutiny from sections of the fanbase over how the team is playing, and if it's conductive to success this year.

Well, according to the stats, it would suggest that maybe some of the criticism over Farke's style of play and a lack of entertainment might be a tad unfair.

As evidenced in the above table, Leeds lead the Championship in average possession, shots on target per match and accurate passes per match, as well as ranking second in goals per match and expected goals (xG).

In addition to those highly impressive attacking metrics, the Whites also have the third-lowest goals conceded per match, as well as the second most number of clean sheets.

So, Farke's side are potent in attack, and stout in defence, whilst dominating possession better than any other team in the division so far this season. Surely then they can be forgiven for not being as entertaining as some would perhaps like?

There are certainly a fair amount of supporters that are happy with how things are going so far, and with those league-topping metrics at both ends of the pitch, there appears to be no reason why Leeds can't secure an automatic promotion spot this term.

It might just be a case of some supporters being careful what they wish for, as the best teams know how to win ugly just as much as they know how to win in style. It's often those grueling, hard-fought wins that make all the difference too.

It's pretty much impossible to please everyone as a football manager, but there's certainly enough evidence through the opening 15 games that Farke and his players could be the toast of Leeds come May.