Daniel Farke must send brutal Leeds United axe warning to Georginio Rutter after what he did v Sunderland
Daniel Farke will have much to ponder at Leeds United ahead of their crucial clash against Coventry City and one key issue will be the recent form of Georginio Rutter.
The Whites will be looking to return to winning ways on home turf when they take on a resurgent Coventry after their disappointing defeat to Sunderland on Tuesday (12 December) damaged their automatic promotion hunt in their first defeat in eight games.
Farke’s men host a Coventry side improving again under Mark Robins after a tepid start to the season in what will be a game where the German won’t accept anything less than 100 per cent from his players after their midweek disaster.
Leeds United lacked their usual fluidity and imagination on Wearside on Tuesday and that was down to the rare abject displays from Rutter, Dan James, Joel Piroe and Crysencio Summerville – displays which cost the Whites at least a solitary point.
It was an odd off-night for the French youth international especially, who had zero success at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland succeeded in defending their goal with every man behind the ball.
Rutter has proven to be the Whites’ most decisive component in the final third and an immediate fan favourite at Elland Road after his stunning performances, registering four goals and eight assists from 20 Championship games, also averaging 2.3 key passes per game, creating 16 big chances and even outperforming his expected assists tally of 5.80 [SofaScore].
However, in his last three games the Frenchman has looked nowhere near those levels which could leave Farke and several Leeds United fans fearing whether he’s taken his foot off the gas pedal, especially at such a crucial stage of the season.
Against Sunderland on Tuesday (12 December), the former Hoffenheim forward was rather woeful, failing to register a single key pass, touched the ball just 38 times in his 82 minutes on the pitch, won just 46 per cent of his ground duels, missed one big chance and completing just 46 per cent of his passes [SofaScore].
There was an instance during the game which highlighted how uncharacteristically poor Rutter was when manager Farke was raging at Georginio Rutter for failing to control a pass from Joel Piroe on the break spotted by journalist Graham Smyth (Yorkshire Evening Post, 13 December).
His display against Blackburn (9 December) was of a similar mould despite the win, winning just one of his 12 dribbles at a dreadful 8 per cent, winning just seven of his 23 ground duels, registering just one key pass and losing possession 20 times.
With the Whites set to face a testing last few weeks of 2023, Farke will certainly have no room for slouches and its why he will be sending a brutal warning shot to Rutter to improve his performances over the coming games.
Players like Patrick Bamford and Wilfried Gnonto are lying in wait for an opportunity in the first eleven and Rutter is edging closer to losing his spot if he isn’t careful.
In other Leeds United news, Sky Sports host drops his prediction for Saturday’s crucial clash against Coventry with a “disastrous” verdict shared.