Daniel Farke explains Leeds United squad decision amid ‘fill big footsteps’ verdict
Daniel Farke has explained his reasoning behind promoting Ethan Ampadu to the role of club captain to head up a young leadership group at Leeds United.
The German details that Ampadu – who has been handed the baton of the armband from the long-serving Liam Cooper – along with deputies Illan Meslier and Pascal Struijk possess the “right character and mindset” to lead the dressing room at Elland Road.
In quotes reported by Beren Cross in Leeds Live [6 August], Leeds boss Farke acknowledged Ampadu has a big task to replace Cooper but is confident he can do so.
“[It’s a] pretty young leadership group, but this is what we’re all about. We are trying to build something new for the future and these lads have to step up right now. Although they are young at age, they have the right mindset and the right character to lead,” he said.
“We ask them to lead a bit more and to act with even more maturity, with even more responsibility for the whole group. This was the reason we decided then to give such a young leadership group, with Ethan as the captain and Illan and Pascal as vice-captains.
“We have a pretty young side. Ethan had the best mentor with Liam Cooper. Ethan, as the new club captain, has to fill big footsteps because Liam has done unbelievable for this club.”
Leeds United march on with young squad
As pointed out by Cross, Leeds head into the new Championship campaign with just two outfield players in their squad over the age of 30.
The decision to avert to a youthful leadership group is a commendable gamble to an extent, but also somewhat forced on Farke due to the expiry of Cooper’s contract and the overall youth of the players at his disposal.
New skipper Ampadu is just 23, whilst vice-captains Meslier and Struijk are both 24 – and the glass-half-full approach to looking at the new dressing room dynamic is that it is an exciting foundation for the future.
It also makes young players at a huge club feel valued, and puts positive pressure in the form of faith from the boss on them to deliver.
And to deliver this season would be to improve on the 90 points which somehow wasn’t enough last time out, win promotion in style and take the league title at the second time of asking.
In other Leeds news, the Whites’ loan target must be replaced by his Premier League parent club before a move can be sanctioned.
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