Daniel Farke believes Leeds United currently have a player guilty of forcing the play too much.
Farke was speaking after Leeds‘ 0-0 draw at Bristol City in which none of his attackers ever really managed to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Wilfried Gnonto and Dan James came close to linking up a couple of times in the first half, but after the break, Bristol City seemed fairly comfortable with what Leeds had to offer.
Junior Firpo’s attacking threat down the left was a big miss throughout, while Leeds also struggled to replace the absence of Largie Ramazani.
Farke tried to use his bench in the second half with the introductions of Manor Solomon and Mateo Joseph. Other than a good headed chance for the latter, neither really got into the game.
Farke tells Manor Solomon to stop forcing it so much
Despite enjoying an electric debut against Hull City, Solomon has had a tough start to life at Leeds, particularly since returning from a hamstring injury.
Solomon admitted himself he wasn’t at his best against Watford and that performance is why James was preferred ahead of him at Ashton Gate.
Having been brought on with around 20 minutes to play, Farke had hoped Solomon could provide some inspiration in attack for Leeds.
Unfortunately, Solomon struggled again and speaking in his post-match press conference, Farke believes the on-loan Tottenham winger is currently ‘forcing it too much’ in a bid to try get himself going.
He said: “Sometimes like a bottle of ketchup, you shake it and you want it too much and all of a sudden it happens. When he first came he played with so much confidence, rhythm and so much confidence then the injury stopped him from going on international duty and he has to do his rehab.
“Such a proud player to play for his national team, it was a sucker punch for him. He worked so hard to come back and the feeling is of course he can’t be there with 100 per cent, he needs a bit of time.
“He works so hard in training and he always adds some additional stuff in training and in the game. He wants it so much. So sometimes you want him to relax a bit. Play a bit less complicated and it will come. We’re fully convinced of his quality.
“Out of good intention he forces it a bit too much, you don’t have to prove what a good player you are, do what you’ve done your whole career and your quality will shine. I’m pretty sure it will happen soon. Keep in mind a bottle of ketchup.”
Jon Newsome says Solomon looked clueless for Leeds
One of Farke’s biggest criticisms since he has been at Leeds is how long it takes for him to look to his bench when it clearly isn’t working.
The game was in a real nothing state when Solomon entered the field of play and pundit Jon Newsome believes he looked ‘clueless’ after coming on.
He said: “What I was a little bit disappointed about today was when he put the subs on. They didn’t have a positive effect. Solomon down this left-hand-side, he looked a little bit clueless and couldn’t get into the game.
“Mateo Joseph’s header, he should have done better. A lot of the time Daniel Farke puts a substitution on they have a real positive effect, but I don’t think that happened today.”
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
