Leeds United boss Daniel Farke says frustration trap 'shouldn't be a danger' for key star
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke is not worried about one of his key players falling prey to frustration.
This week Leeds players who haven't joined up with international sides were given some time off and as is now tradition there are clues on social media as to the various travels and choices made. Pascal Struijk posted an Instagram story from hallowed golfing ground at Gleneagles. Jack Harrison is training hard in Marbella, Spain. Winger Noah Okafor appears to have gone to Dubai. Others have not made their whereabouts known, at least not on their public social media accounts. But wherever in the world Dominic Calvert-Lewin decided to spend his hard-earned break, there's a good chance the striker is thinking about Elland Road and the moments that could and should have brought his first home goal in a Leeds shirt.
Against Bournemouth the number 9 could have had a hat-trick. Three times inside the first 20 minutes Calvert-Lewin was presented with a good opportunity to open his LS11 account. Against Tottenham Hotspur another two chances followed. Data experts Sofascore have him down for five big chances missed already this season. That's the third highest tally in the Premier League. He's in good company though with Erling Haaland [6] and Jean-Philippe Mateta [7]. Haaland of course has hit the net nine times, while Mateta and Calvert-Lewin have two and one goals to their names respectively. What all three have in common is that they're getting on the end of chances and putting themselves in the right positions.
There is plenty that can be said about the rest of Calvert-Lewin's game because against the Cherries he was just a goal or two away from the compete centre forward performance. He was effective in all areas other than goalscoring against Spurs too and contributed to the move that brought Leeds their goal. But he's Leeds United's Premier League number 9 and scoring goals come as part of the expectation. Leeds will need him to hit the net as many times as possible if they are to stay up. Given the opportunities that have fallen for him and not been converted, it has to be a talking point. But his manager doesn't want it to become an obsession.
"No shouldn't be a danger [that Calvert-Lewin gets frustrated]," said Farke. "Good performance [against Spurs], he played a major part in the first goal, great hold up of the ball and assisted Brenden [Aaronson] to strike. Good workload again for the team. First half he probably should hit the target, but the goalkeeper is there with a top save. He's maybe two inches missing when the ball went through the box. It's frustrating but that's the fate of a striker. Sometimes you have periods when you find it a bit more difficult. I'm happy with his performance. If he right now thinks too much about goals and tries to force it, it will never work. He has to do exactly what he's doing, work for the team, relentless workload, bring yourself into good positions and then sometimes you need a bit of luck, a deflected strike or lucky goal and you find it a bit easier. He perhaps should have scored today but we're all happy to have him. It was another good performance."