Daniel Farke breaks tradition to explain Leeds United substitution decision to Joel Piroe
Daniel Farke broke his typical tradition of discussing decisions on match days with players to speak to Leeds United striker Joel Piroe during the draw with Hull City.
The Dutchman was withdrawn for Liam Cooper as the Whites’ boss attempted to reorganise his side following Joe Rodon’s second-half sending-off for a heavy tackle on Aaron Connolly at the MKM Stadium.
Piroe was visibly unhappy with being the man chosen to be sacrificed to bolster the defence and the former Norwich City man, who typically doesn’t converse with players as they leave the field, explained his reasoning to the striker.
As quoted by Leeds Live (21 September) he said: “Normally, on the game day or during the game, I don’t explain too much because we have enough time after this. I got the feeling, because we spoke at half-time [and I said to him] ‘Okay your time right now will come in the second half.’
“Then obviously disappointed for him because he was there with good performances and I wanted to give him, straight away, the signs, ‘Come on, we have to change our plan right now.’ It’s at least beneficial he doesn’t play 90 minutes [because] we have the next game also within the pretty short period of time.
“I wanted to give him straight away a good feeling [so] he’s too disappointed he came off.”
Man management
No player should ever be happy with being taken off, especially a striker who hadn’t yet found the net and Piroe was completely within his rights to feel frustrated at the MKM Stadium on Wednesday, but Farke couldn’t have handled this situation much better.
It’s hard to imagine Jesse Marsch taking the time to explain this sort of decision to one of his players, but Farke is truly a master at ensuring all of his players stay in the right frame of mind and focused on the team’s main goal, which is promotion.
Piroe will have plenty of opportunities to make his mark in a Leeds United shirt and he has taken to life at Elland Road like a duck to water, even if some are still questioning whether or not he is in his best position when playing behind Georginio Rutter as a number 10.
When Leeds face Watford on Saturday (23 September) you can almost guarantee the Dutchman will be one of the first names on the teamsheet and assuming he’s got the bit between his teeth, you wouldn’t rule out the chances of him scoring in front of the home crowd.
In other Leeds United news, Gnonto’s injury could see Bamford called into emergency action against Watford