Leeds United: Daniel Farke intervention mooted after what Wilfried Gnonto did v Millwall
Jonny Buchan believes Daniel Farke would have had a word with Wilfried Gnonto urging him to keep his cool after an altercation with Jake Cooper during Leeds United v Millwall.
The BBC Radio Leeds journalist cited the fact the Italy winger kept his cool despite having shown glimpses of frustration when being targeted during a recent draw with Huddersfield Town.
Having been caught up in a scuffle with Millwall defender Cooper just 18 minutes into the match, both players were cautioned, despite Gnonto walking away from the situation in a match that Leeds went on to win 2-0 at Elland Road on Sunday (17 March) with Gnonto scoring the opening goal.
Buchan felt that Farke probably had a word in the ear of his star forward to tell him to keep his cool.
Speaking via the Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet podcast on Monday (18 March), Buchan said: “I think Gnonto deserves a lot of credit. In that Huddersfield game, he lost it a little and got a bit ragged, like he has done recently.
“But with that incident in the corner, he did nothing wrong and didn’t deserve the yellow card. He was dragged down by the player to make it look like he was doing something.
“He just got up and walked away when it all calmed down. Three or four ran over to him, giving him little nudges to provoke him, but he just walked away from it. I thought that maybe Farke has had a word with him.”
Wilfried Gnonto proves vital for Leeds United victory v Millwall
At just 22 years of age, it can become very easy to lose your head on a football pitch and fight back, especially in a situation like the one with Cooper on Sunday.
With the amount of skill and trickery the Italian winger has shown, just like his counterpart on the opposite flank Crysencio Summerville, opposition players have begun to target him, whether they get the ball or not.
Gnonto had the last laugh against the Lions, however, stroking home a brilliant effort to open the scoring for the Whites, just 15 minutes after the altercation by the corner flag.
Millwall certainly had chances of their own, but some heads could not stop from dropping after the delightful effort from Gnonto. On a yellow card, it was always predictable that Farke would replace him with 20 minutes left to play.
Though he would have liked to have played the remaining minutes, and maybe helped seal the win, his replacement Dan James did exactly that, firing home to double Leeds’ lead and put the game out of sight.
In other Leeds United news, Dermot Gallagher has shared a “luck” verdict regarding an incident that happened against Millwall.
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