Daniel Farke has had eight days since Leeds United’s defeat to Southampton to prepare for tomorrow’s play-off semi-final at Norwich City.
The Whites will play the first of two legs at Carrow Road with the return fixture set to take place in West Yorkshire on Thursday for a chance to play either Southampton or West Bromwich Albion at Wembley.
Having lost four of their last six league matches, Leeds will have to make Championship history to win the play-offs. That form should have Farke thinking about some potential tactical changes.
He admitted in his press conference yesterday that Leeds have been working on a couple of things this week, including their work against the ball amid a poor recent defensive record. They have shipped nine goals in their last three.
There are also some decisions which should be made in terms of team selection, with some a few members of the squad clearly struggling for form.
Why Farke should swap Georginio Rutter and Joel Piroe around vs Norwich
Connor Roberts is certainly one player who should return to the starting XI after coming off the bench last weekend, and a full weekend of training under his belt.
The other major selection call comes in attack, as Farke looks to find a way to replace Patrick Bamford, who will miss both legs of the semi-final.
Farke has opted against handing Mateo Joseph his opportunity in recent weeks and that isn’t likely to change for such a big game, meaning Joel Piroe will almost certainly start.
Piroe was on the scoresheet last weekend but has proven on countless occasions he is not overly confident in leading the line on his own, particularly at QPR.
Bamford is the type of striker who can hold the ball up and stretch defenders by making runs in behind, but that is just not Piroe’s style of play.
And up against an ageing Norwich defensive partnership in Shane Duffy and Ben Gibson, those sort of qualities could be key in exploiting a side who shipped 62 goals in the league.
With that said, Farke must consider switching Piroe and Georginio Rutter around, with the latter moving into the number nine role, where he spent the first half of the season.
As proven with his goal against Swansea City and missed chance against Sheffield Wednesday earlier in the season, Rutter is far more comfortable at making those runs than Piroe.
He is also considerably quicker than the Dutchman and so with the lack of pace in Norwich’s centre-back pairing, Rutter would have a real chance of latching onto any through balls.
- READ MORE: David Wagner shares the ‘truth’ about Leeds United ahead of play-off semi-final against Norwich City
Piroe needs to prove Leeds worth in play-offs
Regardless of the position Farke opts to select Piroe in, this is a huge point in his career at Leeds.
49ers splashed out a lot of money to sign him last summer and so far, it would be fair to say he has not justified his price tag.
He was really disappointing in key games against Blackburn Rovers and QPR last month, and Leeds can’t afford a repeat of those performances from him in the play-offs.
If he was to score the goals that contribute to Leeds’ promotion, no one would argue against the money that was spent on him.
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