2 clear lessons Daniel Farke will have learned about Leeds United after 1-1 Norwich City draw | OneFootball

2 clear lessons Daniel Farke will have learned about Leeds United after 1-1 Norwich City draw | OneFootball

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Football League World

·2 Oktober 2024

2 clear lessons Daniel Farke will have learned about Leeds United after 1-1 Norwich City draw

Gambar artikel:2 clear lessons Daniel Farke will have learned about Leeds United after 1-1 Norwich City draw

FLW outline two things Daniel Farke will have learnt following a 1-1 draw for Leeds United against Norwich.

Norwich City and Leeds United played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at Carrow Road, with Daniel Farke's side continuing their unbeaten away start to the season.


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His former side took an early lead through Josh Sargent from the penalty spot after the USA international had been brought down clumsily by Joe Rodon following some smart footwork in the box.

However, Farke's side did not lie down on the German manager's return to his former club after an improved second-half performance earnt them a point to them up to fourth place in the table, jumping ahead of Blackburn Rovers in the table.

Largie Ramazani secured a point with a crisp left-footed finish after he was played through by Willy Gnonto on the hour mark, with his goal earning Leeds a result away to Farke’s former side. He has won three and drawn two of his five matches against Norwich.

The gap to top of the table Sunderland is three points, with Farke’s side set to travel to the Stadium of Light on Friday night. Leeds will face the league leaders in an 8pm kick-off in what will be their final fixture before the October international break.

However, with that game now edging ever closer, here we take a look at the TWO things Daniel Farke will have learnt from the draw against Norwich.

Leeds' substitutions killed all momentum

Gambar artikel:2 clear lessons Daniel Farke will have learned about Leeds United after 1-1 Norwich City draw

Leeds spent the majority of the start of the second-half probing around Norwich's box, and the equaliser was always likely to be forthcoming. The likes of Gnonto and Ramazani were providing the X-factor and individual brilliance required to generate chances.

They were at the heart of everything good Leeds did and had both the speed on the break and the match-winning quality to potentially grab a second after they combined well for the earlier. Norwich were totally rocked at that stage in the game and were absolutely there for the taking at 1-1.

Leeds were well on top and only five or ten more minutes of the same team would likely have seen Norwich crumble and given Leeds a second goal. Instead, Farke opted to change things. Leeds fans have been frustrated with the lack of substitutions lately, but also the timing of them.

Here, the changes killed all momentum and any semblance of a team able to maintain possession, with the ball not sticking in attack and lacking an outlet to carry the ball up the pitch in wide areas. None of Joel Piroe, Patrick Bamford, or Joe Gelhardt made a particularly positive impact on the game, and left Leeds looking very much like the likelier of the two to concede a goal than grab a winner.

It was a poor decision and bad profiling of what was needed, even with Leeds' bench perhaps lacking direct like-for-like replacements in their forward line. Some may argue the need to rest key players ahead of a huge game on Friday, but there is nothing smart about seriously risking losing a point in order to protect a hypothetical result on Friday

That is not stating anything revolutionary, but a more damning indictment of the quality of some substitutes and their ability to retain the ball and make it stick in forward areas. Leeds had very few attacks when that trio were introduced, and seldom looked threatening, with Norwich ending the game the stronger of the two sides after positive subs who made an impact at their end.

Three points instead of one would also no doubt have taken the pressure off of the Sunderland fixture in two days' time.

The utilisation of Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell could be key moving forwards

Gambar artikel:2 clear lessons Daniel Farke will have learned about Leeds United after 1-1 Norwich City draw

Leeds suffered another injury blow to their midfield engine room, after captain Ethan Ampadu damaged a knee ligament in their win over Coventry on Saturday, as Bulgarian Ilia Gruev limped off in the 20th minute and was replaced by Bournemouth loanee Joe Rothwell.

It was Ao Tanaka's full debut for the club, and the most league minutes Rothwell has played in a game so far, which was always likely to cause some issues for Leeds in or out of possession. Now, such is the quality of both as technical players, they were largely strong at retaining the ball and moving it quickly in attack.

However, the area where Leeds were caused more issues was in transition defensively. They will no doubt improve as a duo in time, but Leeds may miss the screening influence that Ampadu and/or Gruev provide in the coming games. Sunderland have been an excellent transition team so far under Regis Le Bris, and so the pair of them in tandem will need to understand their roles in the press better than Tuesday's game.

They left plenty of space on a few occasions between themselves and the central defenders, with Norwich unable to exploit those gaps when they were able to counter-attack. With training this week together, they should be able to understand their roles and the structure of who goes and stays much better, but neither are out-and-out defensive midfielders, which is a concern.

Tanaka might have to hold as a defensive midfielder more than he was doing last night so that Leeds are not so obviously open when the ball is turned over. Rothwell often engaged high and is not the most intelligent presser, leaving Tanaka on his own to pick up the pieces and tidy up defensively.

However, it's likely that the balance will look better than being thrown in at the deep end at Carrow Road, when it's worked on more by Farke and his coaching team, and they each understand one another more. On paper, that midfield duo is still better in terms of quality than the majority of other Championship sides.

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