Serious Leeds United message for Whites young guns amid choreographed dances and skill school

Football at Leeds United this season is a young man's game. Try telling that to Sam Byram as the full-back pulls his boots off after a 90-plus minute game, or 28-year-old Glen Kamara with his 58 international caps and Europa League final experience, but even including those 'old timers' the Leeds starting line-up in midweek had an average age of just 24. Byram, at 30, was the most mature in age, lining up as he does on the opposite side of the Whites' defence to 17-year-old Archie Gray. Leeds, as Daniel Farke keeps saying, are a pretty young team. The replacement of veterans Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper and Patrick Bamford with much younger men Gray, Pascal Struijk and Georginio Rutter has played into that, but most of the players in what you would call Farke's current strongest XI fall into the Under 24 category.

It's somewhat of a generalisation because some players retain their pace into their 30s, but the youthful nature of Farke's team can be seen when they break at speed or in some of the carefree dribbling skills produced when Rutter, Summerville or Gray get on the ball. Rutter's exuberance in particular has been a joy to watch, as he rediscovers his boyish love for making defenders look silly, after a tough initial period at Leeds. When he's trying things, tricky things and pulling them off with such ease, it's easy to hope he never grows up. Gray's prodigious ability to hold off fully grown men in their 30s and leave them in his wake can be almost comical. He and Rutter are comical characters, jokers in the pack. Then there's the choreographed Summerville, Gnonto and Rutter goal celebration dances. A young team acting their age.

Where Farke does not want to see his team's youthfulness reflected, however, is in how they manage games. That is where he is keen to see them grow up quickly and take on the behaviour of their older team-mates. The game against Middlesbrough, for example, is expected to be a tighter one than some of the Elland Road fixtures so far this season. There may well be periods in the game that call for nous, or at the very least cool heads and grown up decisions.

"I wouldn't label it perhaps the key thing or the main thing but it's definitely one of the things - to be not over excited when you are in the lead and also to don't rush it when we need to score goals - to do it in a smart and calm way and also situations when you have perhaps a difficult time in the game," he said on Friday ahead of a difficult game against Middlesbrough.

"You have to make sure that you have different parts, so that you control the rhythm and it also comes a bit with experience and sometimes you have the topic that young players rush it sometimes even a bit too much and sometimes they are overdoing things. So game management is key but also sometimes there are periods or moments when you are in lead and everything goes in the right direction, then also it is to make sure that you don't fall asleep and you keep going so it's also the other way round. So the sense of the flowing of the game, like you mentioned, game management, especially for young players is quite an important topic and this is also how they learn from experienced players but this is also key topic where you have to work with with them as a coaching staff, as a manager, to talk about the things. This is quite crucial."

As much as the likes of Rutter have left their manager purring over various performances this season, he has been quick to caution against going too far with the fancy stuff. He was straight onto the pitch after the win over Watford to tell his young centre forward that there's a time and a place for flicks and backheels and a danger of straying into disrespect.

What he doesn't want to do, of course, is to stunt or stifle the creativity that flows from his young attackers, not while the end product is flowing just as freely. Between the regular starting front four a grand total of 41 goal contributions have already been racked up. Summerville is in the form of his young life, with six goals and five assists in his last nine outings. But in trying to keep Summerville in this form and in this moment, Farke is not going to be passive in his management.

"I think the most important thing is what you do on the training pitch, obviously you need to be smart in the loads in training for example, but that doesn't mean that we wrap them in cotton wool," said the manager. "It also means, okay, if you get the feeling sometimes they are there with two per cent less in training then no, no, remind them that they keep going. This is quite important.

"Obviously we talk a lot and speak a lot about things like like winning mentality, what you need to be and to do in order to to successful by the end of the season and for example to lift some silverware because there are many many top players out there with lots of potential but just a few who are they who can watch back after 17 years with a big belly on the sofa and a glass of wine and perhaps a cigar and say 'listen, I made the most out of my career'. Quite often it's more like the thought of 'I could have done even a bit more' and to speak about these things and to give the right messages and to bring the winning mentality and habits."

Being a professional footballer in 2023 is the same dream that youngsters of all generations have had, but it now comes with potential pitfalls and baggage that previous generations did not have to avoid. Farke points to social media hype and abuse and the digital distractions, but when he looks at his young team he senses sufficient maturity.

"Although you could argue 'okay, they lead a privileged life and they earn more money compared to the person 20 years ago but it is also quite difficult to stay on your way and to stick to these values," he said. "But I have to say that my gut feeling is we've got such a proper group and so many good lads and they listen and they learn and they go in the right direction, but it's also hard work to make sure that this mentality stays each and every day with them."

There is little doubt that the over 30s in the Leeds squad will still have a vital role to play this season - Farke has made that clear on a number of occasions. He has brought Cooper, Ayling and Bamford on late in games to help manage situations and see results over the line. He has encouraged the injured Stuart Dallas to share his experience with the younger element in the squad. But when Leeds run out to take on Middlesbrough the veterans will, in all likelihood, have a watching brief, at least to begin with. Responsibility when the game kicks off will rest on younger shoulders and this new breed of footballer that is arriving at Elland Road. Farke's message to them is that they haven't arrived just yet.

"Always all the credit goes to the players and many players now in our squad are at the moment on the right path, but just on the path," he added. "We are not over the finishing line. It's not even half-time during during the season and we have to keep going."