Ex-Leeds United man shares what sent Daniel Farke 'crazy' during 'strange' Cardiff City win
Leeds United took all three points from the Cardiff City Stadium but it was not a perfect performance from Daniel Farke’s men.
Former Leeds United defender Tony Dorigo saw a side to Daniel Farke he’d never seen during Saturday’s ‘strange’ 2-0 win at Cardiff City.
Leeds enjoyed a third 2-0 win of the season in south Wales with goals either side of half-time from Largie Ramazani and Joel Piroe ensuring all three points returned to Elland Road. Farke’s side were comfortable throughout, helped by Cardiff being reduced to 10 men inside 23 minutes, but struggled to turn their dominance into a more convincing scoreline.
A strange afternoon at the Cardiff City Stadium saw Leeds fans express their frustration as what they perceived to be a pedestrian approach, with breathing space not applied until Piroe’s 87th-minute winner. But it was a moment shortly after that sent Farke ‘crazy’ on the touchline.
Cardiff had their best chance in the immediate aftermath of Piroe’s goal, with Chris Willock finding space before playing Anwar El Ghazi through on goal. Illan Meslier stood firm to keep his clean sheet intact but Farke was far from happy with what looked to be a brief lapse in concentration.
“The second-half was extremely strange, because Cardiff were never going to win the game,” Dorigo told The Square Ball. “We should have scored three, four or five, we missed a penalty and then weren’t as attacking as we probably should have been.
“It’s difficult, because players get very good at crossing the line and getting into their own zone, but the fans make a difference, there’s no two ways about it, whether that’s good or bad. So you have to be really strong mentally and try to ignore that. At the end of the day, the idea is to win the game, but you don’t want to throw things away either.
“Looking at Daniel Farke certainly at the weekend, he was going crazy on the touchline. I had never seen him go like that, as animated when we were 2-0 up and they went straight through and almost had an opportunity to get one back. Those lapses in concentration is what he guards against and maybe that’s quite important to him, and rightly so.”
Leeds eventually managed to avoid late drama to keep fourth clean sheet of the campaign, with last season’s defensive strength quickly returning after a shaky start. Three points pulled the Whites up to sixth at this early point of the campaign, albeit with a potentially tricky run of fixtures to come.