Jamie Carragher's 288-word breakdown of Daniel Farke's Leeds United changes vs Man City, Chelsea & Liverpool
The former Liverpool defender analysed key Leeds United changes that have brought points against Premier League big boys.
Jamie Carragher has praised Daniel Farke for making key tactical changes that fuelled a brilliant week for Leeds United.
Farke was under huge pressure when Leeds went into half-time at Manchester City on November 29 two goals down, but a change of formation and approach saw them give the title contenders a bloody nose before losing 3-2. The Whites carried their second-half performance through to a midweek meeting with Chelsea and were well-deserving of a massive 3-1 home win.
On Saturday evening, reigning champions Liverpool went 2-0 up five minutes into the second-half at Elland Road but a trio of substitutions from Farke breathed life into Leeds. Willy Gnonto won a penalty that Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored, Brenden Aaronson set up Anton Stach to draw level and after Dominik Szoboszlai made it 3-2, Ao Tanaka finished at the back post to earn a huge point.
“We talk about teams getting results and how much it’s down to the manager - I think the upturn in form is a lot down to the manager,” Carragher told Sky Sports on Monday night. “Second half at Manchester City, he changes the system, goes 3-5-2, brings a centre-forward and a centre-back on and takes off his two wingers. That feels like it was a huge difference second half and they took that confidence on.
“As soon as the ball goes to the wing-back, his first look is Calvert-Lewin, two men up against two centre-backs, making it awkward and it’s a little bit more direct. Out of the three who came up from the Championship, Leeds were the team you’d have expected to play a bit more football. That was the style in the Championship but it certainly changed in the second half here [at Man City].
‘Elland Road is bouncing’
“When you go to a three at the back system, what that does give you, it should improve you at set-pieces, Three big centre-backs and especially when one of the front two is Calvert-Lewin. Then early on in the game against Chelsea, the next game, the man who comes on as a substitute at half-time [vs City], Bijol, gets a goal from a set-piece and they're in business straight away. Elland Road is bouncing.”
Carragher then went on to analyse Leeds’ three goals on Saturday, although his main focus was on criticising Liverpool, who twice threw away a commanding position. The former Reds captain did, however, give his verdict on how a more direct style and decisive actions from Farke could improve the Whites’ chances of survival.
“Maybe Leeds fans were calling for this a bit more, to be a bit more direct over these last few weeks when you consider how many 6ft players they brought in over the summer,” Carragher added. “We’re not saying that going to 3-5-2 means all of Leeds’ problems are finished. They’re going to lose games, they’re going to find it difficult, they haven't got the quality of other teams. But as I said, he makes changes again and we see that impact.”