49ers Enterprises may not back Daniel Farke after £12m Joel Piroe struggles at Leeds United
With the January transfer window now only a matter of days away, Leeds United will already have plans in place for how to strengthen their side for the second half of the campaign.
The Whites have found themselves in the race for automatic promotion this season but currently remain outsiders for an immediate return to the Premier League as they sit 10 points behind Ipswich Town in second and 13 behind leaders Leicester City.
There’s a feeling that a couple of genuine quality additions at Elland Road in January could be enough for Leeds to close that gap to the top, but it remains to be seen whether or not the 49ers will back Daniel Farke heavily in the new year.
Leeds spent heavily during the summer transfer window as several key players jumped ship following relegation from the Premier League, but no player was a more expensive arrival than Joel Piroe from Swansea City.
The Dutchman cost the Whites a reported £12million this summer [Daily Mail, 24 August], but after a quick start to the campaign, his form has been poor in recent weeks leading to plenty of criticism from supporters and pundits.
Against Coventry City last time out, the 24-year-old was incredibly ineffective, registering only one shot on target and creating a single chance for his teammates in 85 minutes of action, despite having 41 touches of the ball [Fotmob].
Most worryingly of all, the Dutchman repeatedly surrendered possession with ease, being dispossessed on four occasions. Off of the ball, Piroe lost eight of the 10 duels that he entered both on the ground and in the air as he was repeatedly beaten to the ball by the Sky Blues’ backline.
Even with this poor form, the former Swansea man has somehow managed to score eight goals in 19 games for Leeds United so far. But the consensus has been that he has failed to live up to the expectations when deployed by Farke as a number 10.
The Leeds boss has insisted that he feels that Piroe is at his best when deployed just behind the central striker as a number 10, even though his best form has come as a genuine number nine in South Wales. Fans and journalists have been critical of this call and it may come back to bite Farke.
If the 49ers have, like the supporters, been unimpressed by Piroe’s recent form having shelled out £12 million for the forward in the summer, they may well be reluctant to give the German that much money to spend again especially if he uses it to play a star out of position.
Although the blame ultimately lies with the player more than the manager in recent weeks, the buck will always stop with Farke and if the 24-year-old continues to struggle, it could prove incredibly damaging to Farke.
Hopefully, he’ll still receive plenty of backing to make the additions required in January and Piroe will rediscover the form he had at the start of the campaign as both aspects will have to click to catch the top two this season.
In other Leeds United news, Carlton Palmer has shared his verdict on Wilfried Gnonto’s situation at Elland Road ahead of the transfer window