Phil Hay shares ‘pertinent’ Daniel Farke question after Leeds United ‘gamble’ v QPR
Phil Hay has raised concerns over Daniel Farke’s decision to start Joel Piroe as Leeds United lost 4-0 to QPR at Loftus Road last Friday (26 April).
The Leeds manager has also been questioned over his use of substitutes when losing matches, and the disappointing defeat to QPR was no different as he waited until after the hour-mark to make the first change at 2-0 down.
Also, with Patrick Bamford unavailable for the Championship clash through injury, Farke decided not to hook Piroe during the match, despite scoring just one goal since mid-February.
Speaking via The Square Ball podcast on Friday (3 May), Hay said: “Piroe up front against QPR… Not because I didn’t understand it against Blackburn, with Bamford out, there was a need to change.
“I understood why he went for Piroe but I felt, having seen it not work against Blackburn as it clearly didn’t, it felt like a bit of a gamble away at QPR. I know the alternative was [Mateo] Joseph as Bamford wasn’t fit, but it almost seemed like one of those nights to roll the dice.
“I do think over the past month, the questions about how Farke changes games in-game using the bench have become more pertinent. I tweeted at half-time that Joseph should have come on.”
Daniel Farke must take criticism for Leeds United loss v QPR
The Whites were dealt a humungous blow to their automatic promotion hopes as they shipped four goals against QPR, who have improved vastly under Marti Cifuentes.
Despite proving himself at senior level, and scoring two fine goals against Chelsea in the FA Cup, Joseph has yet to start a match in the Championship and Farke must take ownership for that.
Though he is just 20 years of age amid a Championship title race, if he is good enough then he should be old enough. That is certainly the case with the young striker, though Farke continues to leave him on the bench.
Instead, the Leeds boss chose to deploy Piroe in two of the last three matches, a player who has only scored once since netting against his former club Swansea City in February.
Furthermore, the question raised over Farke’s substitutes was exacerbated when Joseph coming on was the first change of the match, and was the only change until the 78th minute once QPR had taken a 3-0 lead.
In other Leeds United news, a teenage sensation is now set to snub Manchester United in order to move to Elland Road.
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