Daniel Farke may split opinion with some of his tactics at Leeds United but if there is one thing he cannot be criticised for it is his temperament.
Even in the most hostile of moments, Farke always seems to have that calming presence, which is perfect for a club like Leeds, where the pressure is always on.
That has been especially important over the last couple of weeks following Leeds‘ 2-2 draw away at Sunderland, in which an incredible 97th minute error from Illan Meslier cost three points.
Meslier somehow let a bouncing ball skid past him and into the net with practically the last kick of the game, though Pascal Struijk did suggest it hit a ‘massive dent’ in the pitch.
Such was the nature of the mistake, Meslier was receiving criticism from all corners of the football world. Unfortunately, it will have been a long two weeks for him since the incident.
Bamford impressed by Farke reaction to Illan Meslier
Meslier’s teammates reacted in numerous different ways at the full-time whistle after his mistake, with Junior Firpo spotted storming down the tunnel.
Others including Patrick Bamford and Ao Tanaka, meanwhile, went up to Meslier to console him, but it was always going to be the reaction of Farke that was most important.
Of course, Farke refused to be drawn into discussing Meslier publicly and according to Bamford on the latest episode of the ‘My Mate’s a Footballer Podcast‘, he did not even mention the Frenchman in his post-match dressing room speech.
Bamford says the way Farke has handled the situation is very impressive and so hopefully, it is one Meslier can quickly forget.
He said: “You see some players like fuming and walk off the pitch, like can’t believe it, have no time for that mistake because in the heat of the moment, they’re so mad. They can’t comprehend what’s just happened and they’ve just gone off the pitch.
“My first thought, and I think there was probably five of us, was to go up to Illan and just say like, look, forget, don’t worry about it because at the end of the day, it was a big mistake. He knew that, but he hadn’t done it on purpose.
“It’s one of the things that can happen and it will happen, probably not to that, not the exact same circumstance, but mistakes like that will happen to him at another time in his career as well.
“Sometimes, the manager can go off the handle at you, and absolutely go nuts and give you a dressing down. Then sometimes, it’s just like, what’s that going to achieve?
“He just said through his career in football, he’s won and lost so many points in the last minute through luckiness and unluckiness. Obviously, he said he’d never had anything like that happen.
“But he said that he couldn’t be prouder of the way that we were through the game. And look, it just happens. And it was kind of, he didn’t even mention Illan’s name and kind of, which I liked.”
- READ MORE: Daniel Farke on what he will now tell referees about Joe Rodon before every Leeds United game
Farke shares how Meslier has reacted since mistake
As mentioned, Meslier has had a couple of weeks since the mistake to dwell on it, which could go one of two ways.
Either it has given him the necessary time to forget about it, or it has just been eating him up inside, so much so it has impacted his confidence.
However, Farke says Meslier has been his usual self in and around the training ground and is backing him to produce a good performance against Sheffield United.
He said: “He’s alright, we had a chat last week. He’s experienced at this level, we didn’t analyse it much. It happens once in a life time. You are suffering for two or three days. He is such an important and key player.”
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