Daniel Farke reacts to what he heard about Leeds United rising star Charlie Crew and Archie Gray – ‘Unfair’
Daniel Farke described it as “unfair” to make comparisons between Leeds United rising star Charlie Crew and the now-departed Archie Gray.
It was a breakout season for Gray in the Championship last season but the 18-year-old was sold to Tottenham in a £30million deal after Leeds failed to gain promotion.
That potentially opened up an opportunity for 18-year-old Crew, who has yet to make his senior bow for Leeds despite being involved on the bench on multiple occasions.
However, Leeds boss Farke thinks it will happen when Crew is ready and that undue pressure should not be put on his shoulders with comparisons to Gray.
Speaking at a news conference in quotes reported by LeedsLive (2 October), Farke said: “Charlie Crew has some comparrisons to Archie Gray, but this is unfair. It’s not normal a 17-year-old is in the starting XI (like Archie), it is unfair to expect Chrlie to do what Archie has.
“He always wants to learn though and we are working lots with him to take that next step. He is down to earth, well educated, humble and a very good football player, but there is a big step to first-team football. He is on a good path already training with the first team.”
Patience is a virtue for Leeds United and Charlie Crew
We all absolutely love it when a home-grown player breaks through the ranks to become a first-team star.
The pain can also be pretty heavy too, though, as witnessed with Gray, who was sold largely to alleviate long-term PSR concerns when he was sold to Tottenham.
Gray was an outstanding member of a side that went desperately close to automatic promotion last season but ultimately fell short.
And Farke is right that it would be unwise to expect Crew to have an almost identical impact to the one that Gray made, it is uncommonly rare to be as good as Gray was at the age he broke into the team.
Even with Ethan Ampadu out and Ilia Gruev potentially struggling too, Crew must only come into the team if Farke is absolutely convinced that it is the right thing to do.
What must not happen is that he gets thrown in the deep end too soon and it is to his detriment as a player.
In other Leeds United news, Farke has made a free agent admission after what happened to Gruev.
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