Daniel Farke ploy to deliberately increase Leeds United injury doubts mooted after Coventry win
Daniel Farke may be deliberately playing up Leeds United injury concerns ahead of matches in order to provide a match-day boost to atmosphere, it has been suggested to Jonny Buchan.
The BBC Leeds journalist said on Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet on 30 September that the ploy had been mooted to him after the manager had said in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Coventry City game that Pascal Struijk, Junior Firpo and Patrick Bamford were new injury doubts.
The two defenders were then in the starting XI for the 3-0 win while the striker was named on the bench, raising the prospect that the German might be trying to use his public comments to generate some advantage for kick off.
Buchan said (10m 45s): “It was suggested to me that Daniel Farke likes to give people something to be positive about on match day to try and get the atmosphere going.
“Therefore saying a certain player’s a bit of a doubt but then they’re available makes everyone go, ‘Yes! Struijk’s available!’.
“So I wonder if that might become a theme every week.”
Pascal Struijk and Junior Firpo both started for Leeds United
Whether it is strictly in the spirit of providing injury updates is perhaps open to question but if Farke has worked out a way to generate some extra atmosphere at Elland Road it could be a clever move.
If it is accurate, or even just widely suspected, it may not work for long but when the pressure is on the Whites and their manager to such an extent this term then any marginal gains will be considered.
Leeds United are no strangers to an injury crisis so it is especially believable that extra potential absences may have cropped up each week, not least when it comes to the likes of Bamford.
Struijk himself missed a huge portion of last term due to his infamous adductors so any mention of them will set alarm bells ringing for fans.
However, Farke may have tempted fate if he was inflating the significance of minor knocks during training as he has now been hit by major injury blow with the news that Ethan Ampadu is set to miss 10 weeks with a knee injury [The Athletic, 30 August].
Four wins in five and a defence that has only conceded in two Championship games so far this term suggest the manager may be getting things back on track after a needlessly chaotic start to the season.
But fitness concerns, real or imaged, do seem to be mounting so the next international break can’t come soon enough after the trip to Carrow Road to face Farke’s old club Norwich City on 1 October.
In other Leeds United news, Kieran Maguire predicts short-term “pain” on the cards for Whites fans after 49ers and Red Bull plans were announced.
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