Leeds United boss Daniel Farke is not the type of manager who likes to rotate too much.
Pretty much the entirety of his changes between matches this season have come as a result of either injuries or suspensions.
In fact, the only position he has chosen to alter in the opening three months of the campaign is striker. Mateo Joseph started the first eight league matches, with Joel Piroe the last five.
Elsewhere, Junior Firpo and Jayden Bogle had been ever-presents until their suspensions, while Joe Rothwell and Ao Tanaka only got their chance after injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev.
And aside from Wilfried Gnonto, Leeds‘ other wing spot has chopped and changed due to Dan James, Manor Solomon and Largie Ramazani all picking up medium-term injuries.
Farke sends warning to Isaac Schmidt at Leeds
Due to Farke‘s minimal rotation policy, it unfortunately means some players do not get as much game time as they would like.
Since joining from FC St. Gallen in the summer, Isaac Schmidt is a clear example of that. He has played just nine minutes of league football for Leeds, and has been an unused sub in each of the last four.
Schmidt’s opportunity had looked like it would arrive following Firpo and Bogle’s suspensions, but Farke opted for Sam Byram on both occasions.
In his pre-Millwall press conference, Farke was asked about Schmidt’s situation, with the Leeds boss claiming he needs to show more consistency in training to get his chance.
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.”
Schmidt may be regretting Leeds decision
Schmidt had played 12 matches for St. Gallen this season prior to joining Leeds and so has seen a drastic decrease in his minutes.
With Bogle and Firpo now back and in no immediate danger of a fresh suspension, it is hard to see where Schmidt can possibly get an opportunity.
Schmidt is clearly third choice on both sides of the pitch and it will take a serious injury crisis for him to be needed anytime soon.
With that in mind, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he is slightly regretting his decision to join Leeds in this backup role.
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