As Leeds United boss Daniel Farke continues to fight for his future at Elland Road, Tony Pulis has suggested that the club’s hierarchy have failed him.
Daniel Farke faces a battle to save his job at Leeds after the wheels came off their Premier League survival bid following a promising start.
The Leeds boss dismissed the “outside noise” which currently surrounds his future at Elland Road, with reports suggesting Farke has a handful of games to save his job.
With Brendan Rodgers reportedly open to discussing a potential switch with the club, Farke needs to coax an immediate improvement out of his players.
As Leeds’ injury-hit squad prepares for a difficult assignment against Manchester City, former Premier League manager Tony Pulis has suggested Farke has been let down in one key area as he fights to save his Leeds career.
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Tony Pulis suggests Daniel Farke has been let down by Leeds United
Speaking to BBC Sport, Pulis delivered his critical verdict on Leeds’ summer transfer business, suggesting that the 49ers may have made a mistake by appointing Adam Underwood as their Sporting Director.
According to Pulis, despite Leeds having invested over £100m in the summer transfer window, Farke’s squad was not necessarily stronger than it was last season.
Pulis said: “But nowadays, managers and coaches rely on so many more different components of the club than I ever dealt with. Recruitment is just one of them, and you need everything to be joined up.
“Leeds appointed [Adam] Underwood as their director of football just months before the season started. I don’t know [Adam], but he has been at the club for more than a decade and has worked his way through from managing the academy to head of football operations and now this.
“It’s his first visit to the Premier League in this role, however, and he has been given a massive job of directing transfers and selecting targets for the first team. It would be interesting to see how the £100m that was spent on new players over the summer has, in effect, bettered the team.”
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Leeds United’s summer transfer business now looks flawed
Farke has made his feelings clear in the past about Leeds’ failure to strengthen their attacking options; however, it is becoming increasingly evident that the 49ers‘ recruitment has been questionable across the board.
The only two players who have been an unqualified success so far are left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson and midfielder Sean Longstaff.
Anton Stach has impressed in flashes, and free transfer Lukas Nmecha has added three goals since his arrival, but beyond that, Leeds’ recruitment has provided more questions than answers.
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“This summer, we spent everything we could. Unequivocally, we are maxing PSR out this season. If we had gone on to other targets [on deadline day], the consequences would have been seen in the current roster. More key players from last season would have had to go.”
Robbie Evans on Leeds United’s PSR position
Lucas Perri has looked shaky in goal, and in Jaka Bijol, James Justin and Sebastiaan Bornauw, Leeds have around £30 million worth of defensive signings who cannot break into the first team.
Robbie Evans has claimed Leeds spent up to the PSR limits, which is why they struggled to add the final piece of the puzzle in attack for Farke.
However, with so much of Leeds’ transfer spend currently not able to force its way into the first team, Pulis is right to question whether Farke really got the signings he needed in the summer transfer window.
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