Ian Holloway slams ‘strange’ Daniel Farke after what Leeds United manager said
Ian Holloway has blasted Daniel Farke for saying his Leeds United players don’t have any mental strength while live on talkSPORT.
The Whites boss criticised his team after they suffered four defeats in the final six games of the season as they missed out on automatic promotion, and now face going through the playoffs against Norwich before a potential final at Wembley against Southampton or West Brom.
But during a discussion with Alan Brazil on the breakfast show (10 May, 6:42am), Holloway called the comment “strange” and suggested it may have an adverse effect on the players.
“Leeds, I don’t know how much you’ve seen of Leeds Ian, but they’ve had so many chances. They’re just not clinical enough, they don’t take them enough,” Brazil said before Holloway replied.
“Yeah I’ve not seen them as much as I would have liked to, but there’s a strange comment I felt that they’re not mentally strong,” said the ex-Blackpool boss. “[Daniel Farke] actually said that himself and whether that was to try and gee the lads up or not I don’t know. Did it work the wrong way? I really don’t know.
“But 90 points, I think they got, it’s one hell of a haul of points they got but it’s not good enough.”
Leeds United must prove Daniel Farke and Ian Holloway wrong
The Whites have had a fantastic season so far, and hitting 90 points is not something that is easily achievable so they deserve credit.
But they had automatic promotion in the palm of their hands and threw it away after reacting badly to adversity after such an amazing start to 2024.
That raised a question about the mental strength of the squad, considering the age of the key players especially, and it’s fair, but it’s also fair to suggest that if it is true then Farke’s comments may not have helped anything.
So the players now need to take it upon themselves to prove everyone wrong in this situation. Prove Farke wrong for saying they’re not mentally strong, and prove Holloway wrong that the manager’s comments could make things worse.
That starts with the first-leg of the playoffs semi-final against Norwich, and with a bit of momentum nobody will want to face them at Wembley if they get there.
In other Leeds news, Farke is set to axe one “embarrassing” star in a predicted XI to face Norwich.
For more Leeds news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.