Leeds United’s style of play under Daniel Farke has come under scrutiny this season and Jayden Bogle has now issued his thoughts on it from a player’s point of view.
The Whites have conceded the third fewest number of goals in the Championship so far, while only Sunderland have scored more.
However, Daniel Farke‘s clear tactic of demanding complete control has left some supporters a little frustrated at the tempo which Leeds play at.
With 62.4 per cent, Leeds average the most possession per match this season, but in matches like the recent defeat at Millwall, there are times when they don’t do much with it.
Even during the win at Cardiff City in September, Leeds’ away end were even heard booing a backwards pass from Ilia Gruev with the score at 1-0.
Bogle responds to criticism on Leeds style of play
After losing both Ethan Ampadu and Gruev to long-term injury, Farke openly admitted Leeds would have to adjust their style of play slightly.
Despite being signed to play as more of an advanced number eight, Ao Tanaka has been forced to slot in as a makeshift holding midfielder, all be it at a top standard.
But the thought process behind Farke’s slight adjustment is for Leeds to play less riskier passes in order to avoid as many transitions as possible without someone like Ampadu in there.
Speaking in a recent interview with BBC Radio Leeds, Bogle was asked to share his thoughts on Farke’s style of play and believes it is always going to be difficult when the majority of sides they come up against sit in a low block.
He said: “Yeah a little bit. But for us players when we are in the game and controlling the game against a team sat in a low block, it is difficult to break down. It just takes patience and we just need to stick to what the game plan is.
“It is going to be difficult especially when teams have got 10 or 11 players sat behind the ball, it’s always going to be difficult to break them down. It is just about us creating good chances and taking them when they come.”
What Ethan Ampadu said about Leeds’ style of play
Injured captain Ampadu was also asked a similar question last week by BBC Radio Leeds and his response wasn’t a whole lot different from Bogle’s.
He again alluded to how difficult opposition sides make it by sitting so deep, but insists Leeds do try and make it as ‘entertaining’ as possible for the fans.
He said: “We try and make it entertaining. Obviously, we come up against a lot of teams who maybe have a low block, try to slow the games down.
“Maybe, sometimes, that’s just how the game goes. For us players, we want to play in an entertaining way, but at the end of the day we want to do what we’ve got to do to get the result.
“Thankfully, more often than not, we’ve had that this season. But don’t worry, we’re trying to give entertaining football. Sometimes, the game can be broken up into a slower pace but that’s not always just our fault.”
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