Leeds United boss Daniel Farke highlights key error and 'only answer' after Millwall defeat
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Farke addressed Millwall’s set-piece threat in his pre-game press conference and will have been pleased that the hosts’ first three chances to put the ball in the box did not test Illan Meslier. But the fourth, five minutes before the break, saw Jake Cooper win his header and Japhet Tanganga react first to volley home the winner.
Leeds had plenty of possession throughout but lacked creativity and composure in the final third and were met by a compact, organised defence that repelled almost everything that came their way. Willy Gnonto’s header in the first few minutes of the second half was arguably the best chance for Leeds, while Joel Piroe was flagged offside when he tucked home just after the hour mark.
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Hide AdFarke threw on more attacking players and went to three at the back but the presence of yellow shirts in and around the box did not lead to a breakthrough and instead it was Millwall coming closest to scoring when Mateo Joseph headed against his own post when defending another set-piece.
“First of all you have to congratulate Millwall for excellent defending and efficiency,” said Farke. “They were more effective than us in using their chances and you have to accept a loss sometimes. In terms of efficiency to use your chances or not being there with mistakes, they were better than us. Yes of course, there's always something you can speak about that you can do better. Football is sometimes like this. It can be the most unfair sport in the world. I'm not annoyed at all with the performance. I thought we were excellent in the first half. We were all over them. The cutting edge in the first half was missing, so many dangerous crosses and corners. The quality out of one of these situations to bring the ball over the line was not there. It felt like it was coming but you have to play further on without mistakes.
“You have to stay disciplined in each and every situation. We avoided all their set-pieces by playing in their half. There is always one and you have to defend very disciplined. We have to accept you can't win all the headers against Cooper but you have to make sure he can't score and you're there for second balls. The problem was, we spoke about this, showed the scenes, two players for Tanganga who should have dropped with him, they were just standing and not dropping and he said thank you and puts the ball away to decide the game. Not to be disciplined in this moment was decisive. They were effective and concentrated.”
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Hide AdFarke believed that awareness and tidiness at the other end of the pitch was an issue too. He said: “Awareness level and tidiness. We had a chance to play the finishing pass tidy, we didn't do this, played it two or three yards too long. It was too central our shots. There was a situation with a great shooting position and we opted for another pass instead. Awareness, the quickness in the heads, we were lacking a bit to be on the first post. We had one cut back to the edge, but Junior anticipated it a bit too late. In the final third we were not quick enough in the head in order to score a goal.”
But as disappointed as his players were after the game, Farke was adamant that this was not a result that should introduce doubt to the dressing room. “No, I want them to be disappointed,” he said. “This is what I like. It's game day 14 in the Championship, more or less just another day in the office but I still see a tear in the eye of some of my players, especially the younger guys. I like to see how emotional they were. I want them to feel the pain because next time it will lead to a situation, a ball to the second post and these players will drop to be there I can guarantee. It makes no sense if I'm over emotional and in tears. There is no major thing we have to change. It's more like effectiveness in the final third and to play without a mistake.”
The solution to the problems Leeds had at Millwall is to simply win the next game, said the German. This was a first defeat in nine outings and Leeds’ second of the season. He highlighted the matches lost by champions Leicester City last season as he insisted he had no serious concerns about his side. He said: “We spoke about this, it's football. It's not like we start to doubt ourselves. We were here with a convincing performance for 70, 75 minutes but then it became a bit scruffy. Everyone celebrated Leicester, unbelievable points total but they lost 11 games. This happens. When you don't put the chance away it's not to doubt yourself too much. We have created so many chances and scored many goals. Today we did not. We've had clean sheet after clean sheet, today in one situation we had one mistake and sadly it was decisive. It's no major concern for me. The only answer is to want to win three points in the next game.”
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