Daniel Farke gets it horribly wrong as he fails to axe Sam Byram for Leeds United clash v Stoke
Daniel Farke has made a mistake by not dropping Sam Byram for the Leeds United clash against Stoke City on Wednesday (25 October).
The 30-year-old failed to impress after starting the game against Norwich City on Saturday (21 October) despite the Whites coming away with all three points following a comeback 3-2 victory at Carrow Road.
But the left-back has managed to keep his place for the visit to the bet365 Stadium after the club have confirmed the starting lineup on their official Twitter account.
He will play in front of keeper Illan Meslier and be partnered in the back four by Archie Gray, Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk.
Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev will play in midfield, while Jaidon Anthony, Willy Gnonto, Joel Piroe and Georginio Rutter will occupy the attacking positions.
It’s by no means a surprise to see Byram included in the lineup, but it certainly wasn’t one of his better afternoons in a Leeds shirt against Norwich since making the move back to Elland Road from Saturday’s opponents following his release at the end of last season.
Although the Whites academy product has been struggling for fitness over the past few years, injuries haven’t proven to be a problem for him so far this season after making 12 appearances in all competitions.
He has largely been a consistent performer for Farke in the opening stages of the campaign, but he just never really got to grips with matters against the Canaries.
The left-back was handed a 6.6 rating by SofaScore for his performance – the joint-lowest of any of the Whites players alongside keeper Illan Meslier and fellow defender Joe Rodon.
In his 70 minutes on the pitch, Byram had 44 touches of the ball but didn’t make any key passes, failed to complete a dribble and neither of his two crosses found one of his teammates.
While the versatile defender made two clearances and blocked one shot, he didn’t make a single tackle throughout the afternoon, committed one foul and was also dribbled past once by an opponent before being substituted by Willy Gnonto.
That is why he should have been replaced in the lineup to face Stoke by Jamie Shackleton, who returned to the bench at the weekend after picking up an injury earlier this month.
The versatile player returned to Elland Road after spending the last campaign out on loan at Millwall, where he was a consistent performer in his 37 games for the club.
Although he was linked with a move away from West Yorkshire over the summer, he made nine appearances before he was struck down through injury and will be hoping to earn his place back in the side before too long.
The decision to play Shackleton would have been largely to save Byram from himself as there are still question marks around whether he can play back-to-back games in midweek.
It feels like an option that Farke didn’t have to make, with the 24-year-old waiting in the wings to step in and do a job on the left-hand side of the defence – something he has done a few times already this season.
But the German clearly feels that he is up to the task and he’ll be hoping to put in a much better performance than his outing at Norwich.
In other Leeds United news, a BBC pundit has shared a “ridiculous” admission amid the club’s promotion hopes this season.