Jon Newsome noticed that Daniel Farke was screaming at two Leeds United players during the first-leg of their play-off semi-final with Norwich City on Sunday.
Leeds fans may have mixed feelings after the 0-0 draw with the Canaries at Carrow Road, with the Whites producing a poor display but also securing a result which hands them the advantage ahead of the second-leg at Elland Road.
There were a couple of moments of quality, with Junior Firpo rounding off a superb move by tucking the ball into the back of the net before the offside flag went up. And both Georginio Rutter and Sam Byram completely fluffed their lines when in great positions inside the box.
But Leeds largely found it difficult to get anything going when they approached the final third, and it seems that Daniel Farke was particularly frustrated with a couple of players for getting sucked towards the ball too often.
Daniel Farke screaming at Archie Gray and Georginio Rutter during Leeds draw
Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds (broadcast on 12/5; 14:19), Jon Newsome suggested that both Georginio and Archie Gray needed to be reminded to take up better positions.
“There was a few times I looked down and Daniel Farke, you could see him when the ball was in this left-hand side of the pitch and he was screaming at Archie Gray and screaming at Rutter ‘stay away, stay away’, because we do have a tendency where everybody comes towards the ball, and all of a sudden, we’re playing in this really tight, compact area,” he said.
Whites desperately searching for way out of rut
Certainly, it was not a good day for Georginio, with Newsome noting that the Frenchman did not appear to be aware of what he needed to do in his role up front.
Gray definitely had some bright moments, and should have probably got a shot away during the second-half after being set up by Glen Kamara.
The worry is that Leeds looked to be out of ideas quite quickly. Once again, Farke’s men seemed to be relying on the potential individual brilliance of Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto.
Thankfully for Leeds, Norwich hardly looked like finding the winner either. But there is no question that Leeds are struggling to blow teams away with their play like they were in the opening months of 2024.