‘Many things I liked’: Daniel Farke delivers verdict after first friendly as Leeds manager

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Daniel Farke was pleased with what he saw from his team in his first match as manager of Leeds United.

Farke was speaking to LUTV after Leeds’ 2-0 defeat to Manchester United in Oslo, in what was their opening match of this summer’s pre-season campaign.

Following an intense first half affair in which the likes of Darko Gyabi, Georginio Rutter and Leo Hjelde shone, Leeds went into the break all square.

However, after a raft of changes at the interval the tempo of the match struggled to reach the same height and Leeds went onto be defeated 2-0.

The Whites were also without a number of key players due to various reasons against Man United, though there were already clear signs of what had been worked on the training field.

Farke pleased with early Leeds signs against Manchester United

Leeds have had just a week under new boss Farke, with the 46-year-old having only taken charge of his first training session this time seven days ago following his appointment on Tuesday.

Despite that, Farke was impressed with what he saw from his team, particularly how determined they were to defend their first half clean sheet.

He said: “I am always struggling to accept a loss if I am honest but overall I have to say it was a solid start because let’s be honest, this game came a bit too early in our situation. We wanted to play this game and there were many things I liked.

“First half we had to accept an unbelievable amount of possession, Man United with lots of pressure but I liked that we had this attitude that we wanted to return with a clean sheet to the dressing room.

“We looked compact and solid and good in defending, though there were two or three individual mistakes where we allowed them to have a big chance but apart from this we dug in and showed this attitude we want to defend our own goal, while also looking sharp on the counter attack. Many things I liked in the first half.”

Particularly with a makeshift team, Leeds have plenty to be pleased about following that friendly, which can be taken into the rest of the pre-season calendar.

There were clear signs of what Farke is trying to implement and that will only get better once key players return, and more time is spent on the training pitch.