Daniel Farke explains Leeds United 'leadership' decision after Ethan Ampadu named club captain
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Daniel Farke saw enough in his first year at Leeds United to be confident his ‘leadership group’ - including new captain Ethan Ampadu - can handle the responsibility of representing a club with such history.
Ampadu was announced as club captain on Tuesday evening, taking the armband from Liam Cooper on a permanent basis following the latter’s exit as a free agent. The Welshman only arrived at Elland Road himself last summer as Farke’s first signing, but quickly became a central part of the squad and led his teammates out for virtually every fixture since the turn of the year.
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Hide AdThat was down to the absence of vice captain Pascal Struijk, who did not feature after Boxing Day due to a complex groin injury, but the ease with which Ampadu took on the responsibility has encouraged Farke to hand him the role full-time. Struijk has kept his place as second-in-command alongside Illan Meslier, two relative stalwarts in this young Whites squad.
“Ethan, Pascal and Illan have all played such a big role in the team since I arrived last summer,” Farke said. “I believe with all three players we have a really strong leadership group, who are respected by everybody. Both Ethan and Pascal proved last season they can handle the responsibility of leading the team and I look forward to them continuing to do so in the upcoming campaign.”
Ampadu admitted it was an ‘honour’ to follow in the footsteps of some iconic players at the club in taking the armband on a permanent basis, and it is a testament to his attitude that despite still being only 23, he is viewed as an experienced head at Leeds. A large portion of last season’s core squad had either never played in England before or barely played much senior football altogether.
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Hide AdCrysencio Summerville, the Championship’s Player of the Season, enjoyed a first campaign of regular football while his teammate in the league’s Team of the Season, Archie Gray, hadn’t played a single minute at senior-level until the opening game against Cardiff last summer. Georginio Rutter, Wilfried Gnonto and Ilia Gruev were all experiencing their first taste of English second-tier football.
"We've got quite a young team," Ampadu exclusively told the Yorkshire Evening Post while out in Germany for pre-season. "Obviously we've still got a few experienced pros who help out, who try and give the younger guys all their experience and for me, it's the same. I don't really want to call myself an experienced player. Of course, I've played in a few leagues and I've played a few games but I'm still only 23 as well. So I'm still learning as it goes.
“But obviously whenever a younger player comes in you see how much they're excited to be involved with the first team and you just want to try and make it easy for them to settle in so they can play their best and train their best. Let's be honest, we were all at that stage at one point. The easier you find it to try and play your own game, obviously the better you can look. It's just really trying to make the younger guys feel comfortable but also know that there's a lot of hard work that we need to do, not just me but us as players every week every day."