Anthony Onifade

Thu 28 December 2023 18:10, UK

Daniel Farke will have had plenty to ponder at Leeds United after their Boxing Day loss and it may be time he changes his approach at full-back which could see Archie Gray axed against West Brom.

The Whites’ hopes of further narrowing the gap to second-placed Ipswich suffered a blow as they were beaten 2-1 by Preston North End at Deepdale on Tuesday 26 December.

After a cagey and tight first half, the game exploded into life when the Whites were reduced to 10 men after goalkeeper Meslier was shown a straight red card for a needless shove in the face of Milutin Osmajic.

Liam Millar struck a magnificent winning goal in the 89th minute just six minutes after Leeds centre-back Pascal Struijk levelled a tight-knit affair at Deepdale which sealed their unfortunate fate but also left Farke staring at some potential issues that seemed to have been masked over after recent wins, especially against Ipswich Town (23 December).

While the awarding of the red card may have looked soft, Meslier certainly did not help himself and it’s fair to say that the goalkeeper potentially cost the club three huge points in the push for promotion.

However, the Frenchman’s lack of maturity at a crucial stage for Leeds United wasn’t the only burning issue but the Whites’ problems at full-back that reared its ugly head at Preston, a problem which was exposed by Millar.

As a result of several injuries issues to the likes of Junior Firpo and Sam Byram, Farke has been forced to deploy a lopsided approach at Elland Road for a number of weeks now with midfielder Gray playing at right-back and Djed Spence returning from his own long injury layoff to play at left-back.

The Whites have done incredibly well to mask those issues in recent weeks, keeping up a strong assault on the playoff places where they now sit nine points from seventh place but the full-back issue could well be one that has left them languishing considerably behind Ipswich and Leicester City, despite crucial wins over them two.

Leeds United face a crucial challenge on Friday (29 December) against a playoff contender and rival in West Brom and it may be time for Farke to revert back to type which may come at a cost for Gray who endured a torrid evening facing up against Millar.

Gray scored a lowly 5.8 rating out of 10 as per Sofascore – the worst of any player on the pitch, even than Meslier who was sent off. The Thorp Arch academy star, was dribbled past twice and won only three of his 13 duels.

The Elland Road fan favourite also lost possession of the ball on 15 occasions and had an accurate pass success rate of only 76 per cent.

The 17-year-old has been ever-present in the team all campaign long and his position has indeed been bolstered by some impressive and mature displays but the Preston game certainly showed that he may need a break.

Spence should return to his usual right-back spot at The Hawthorns on Friday with Junior Firpo returning at left-back, a decision which could provide Leeds United more balance both in attack and defence.

This certainly isn’t to say that Gray needs a long spell out of Farke’s thinking, but more a note to the fact a teenager is at some point going to feel the effects of his heavy involvement at senior level. It will be sensible to sit this one out.

West Brom are certainly no pushovers and Farke can ill-afford to waste another crucial promotion opportunity against a fellow rival by sticking to his lopsided and imbalanced approach. It’s time to change tact.

In other Leeds United news, one Sky Sports pundit was blown away by footage on a Whites ace out on loan.