On Thursday afternoon, Daniel Farke held his pre match press conference at Thorp Arch to answer questions from the media regarding his squad as well as Monday night’s opponents Everton.
In this article I will be unpacking Farke’s comments and analysing what they mean for the tie at the Hill Dickinson stadium as well as Leeds’ transfer activity.
The key piece of information from the press conference was that Swedish left back Gabi Gudmundsson missed Thursday’s training with an adductor issue. Gudmundsson has been influential throughout Leeds’ recent run of form and will be a big miss on Monday night.
In his absence, it is expected that fellow summer signing James Justin will deputise at left back whilst Seb Bornauw will start at centre back alongside Pacal Struijk and Joe Rodon.
Following the departure of Jack Harrison to Fiorentina earlier this month, Leeds currently don’t have a left footed player to cover at left wingback. With less than a week left of the winter window, there could be space for Daniel Farke to address this issue with a late signing.
Farke said that he is keen to “keep the group tight” unless they are presented with a good opportunity whilst also saying “We’ll be awake to give ourselves the best possible squad for the run-in, but we will only do something if we are 100% convinced that it is the right player.”
Farke shed some positivity on his side’s defensive injuries by saying that Slovenian centre back Jaka Bijol is ‘improving’ and could be back in team training in two to three weeks.
Further up the pitch, Anton Stach could be available, while Dan James is “pretty pretty close” with both being “part integrated” into first team training but the expectation for Dan James to take longer due to his lengthy period on the sidelines.
Individual performances were also a key topic of conversation, most notably of Noah Okafor who joined in the summer from AC Milan and Lucas Perri who was a summer signing from Lyon.
Regarding Okafor, “There is space for improvement. He has to deliver otherwise there are others in the squad.”
On the goalkeeping situation and Karl Darlow retaining his spot in the side: “There is always room for improvement, but the major stuff was spot on and for that, there is no need to question him at all.”
These comments indicate that Karl Darlow will start in goal for Leeds, with Okafor now under pressure from Willy Gnonto and the returning Dan James for a position in the starting lineup, and even the squad as Farke has recently left names such as Sean Longstaff out of the matchday squad.
With West Ham and Nottingham Forest both picking up three points this weekend, it is imperative that Leeds pick up points on Merseyside and maintain their lead on the bottom three.