Three decisions Daniel Farke got wrong in Leeds draw vs Liverpool amid incredible twist
Daniel Farke clearly learned from his mistakes as Leeds United came from 2-0 down to a dominant Liverpool to draw 3-3 amid wild scenes at Elland Road on Saturday.
Leeds claimed all three points against Chelsea, with the team adopting a new tactic, which has paid dividends against major opposition, but it didn’t quite work without Lukas Nmecha available.
Despite a deadlocked opening 45 minutes at Elland Road on 6 December, Hugo Ekitike scored twice in short succession to put the game out of sight for the Whites, or so everyone thought.
After a moment of madness from Ibrahima Konate, Dominic Calvert-Lewin was able to fire home from the penalty spot before Anton Stach netted an all-important equaliser.
Dominik Szoboszlai and Ao Tanaka shared late goals, with the latter’s coming in the sixth minute of added time, but Farke will certainly need to learn from the negatives if his side are to survive the relegation battle.
Noah Okafor selection backfires as Lukas Nmecha absent
Calvert-Lewin and Nmecha have worked in tandem since Farke’s decision to switch the formation, which worked wonders against Chelsea and in the second half against Man City.
However, with the former of the pair sidelined for the clash against Liverpool, the manager was forced to make a decision, and it clearly wasn’t what he was going for at Elland Road.
While Okafor has been dangerous in recent games, the main tactic was to go long to Calvert-Lewin, and once he brought the ball down, he was extremely isolated by the Reds.
Ao Tanaka benched after his goalscoring heroics vs Chelsea
After Tanaka impressed against Chelsea, there was concern that the midfielder might not have been fit enough to face the Reds at Elland Road.
However, with the Japanese international making the bench, before then netting the late equaliser, only Farke will understand why he was not in the starting lineup from kick-off.
Both Stach and Ethan Ampadu are key figures in the team, but Ilia Gruev clearly struggled to keep up with the tempo, and Tanaka should have been on the pitch in his place.
Daniel Farke snubs Brenden Aaronson for the third consecutive game
Brenden Aaronson has been the subject of mass debate amongst Leeds fans, with some not sure the American international is good enough for the Premier League. That should be put to bed.
He came on in the 65th minute, and just 10 minutes later, he had grabbed another goal contribution, presenting the ball for Stach to fire home.
With Brentford up next, he will be pushing for a spot in the starting lineup once again.