Daniel Farke’s lack of squad rotation was again on show in Leeds United’s 1-0 defeat at Millwall.
Farke opted to make just the one change from Saturday’s 3-0 win over Plymouth Argyle as Jayden Bogle returned to the starting line-up in place of Sam Byram after serving a one-match ban.
Though that was always likely to be the case after such a comprehensive victory, it highlighted Farke’s inability to change things based on the opposition.
Leeds were always going to be in for a physical affair at the Den and so fans voiced their frustration post-match at Farke’s persistence with Joel Piroe, who always tends to struggle in these type of away matches.
Jon Newsome was also left baffled at Farke’s substitutions, which saw him throw on all of Leeds’ attacking players from the bench and completely lose the shape.
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Jon Newsome says Farke comments on Isaac Schmidt are ‘telling’
Aside from the two central midfielders at a push, it is hard to say anyone in a Leeds shirt played particularly well at the Den.
Despite not being tested massively defensively, Bogle and Junior Firpo were among those who struggled, as they simply couldn’t find any joy going forward due to Millwall’s packing of the penalty area.
It is clear, and rightly so, that Bogle and Firpo is Farke’s first-choice full-back pairing, but that didn’t stop a Leeds fan asking Jon Newsome on BBC Radio Leeds post-match whether Isaac Schmidt should get a chance.
Schmidt has played just nine minutes of football since joining Leeds in the summer and was an unused sub for the fifth game in a row at Millwall.
However, Newsome does not believe Schmidt will get an opportunity anytime soon based on what Farke said about him in his pre-Millwall press conference.
He said: “Well I think it is quite telling when someone asked Daniel Farke this week about Schmidt and he said he has to do more in training. He has to up his game in training, that tells me he isn’t happy with the levels he’s putting in on a day-to-day basis.
“He works with him on a day-to-day basis and if he’s not seeing enough, then he’s never going to put him in the side. Regarding Bogle, first game back, don’t think he did too bad. But I think he fitted into that category of the majority tonight, where he could’ve done better. Junior Firpo the same.”
What Farke said about Schmidt’s situation at Leeds
With Byram being preferred to Schmidt on both occasions Firpo and Bogle were serving suspensions in recent weeks, the question was put to Farke earlier this week about his lack of game time.
As Newsome alluded to, Farke gave a pretty comprehensive response by suggesting he needs to improve on the training pitch if he wants to play more minutes.
He said: “Lots of competition. If three other full-backs are chipping in with these performances it’s difficult to be involved. Recently he was struggling with a few illnesses and little injuries so broke his rhythm.
“It has impacted him a little bit in training. Needs to step up a bit to find the consistency in performance level. Then he has more chance to be more involved.”
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