Leeds United star Joe Rodon shown perfect example for 'special occasion' against Tottenham Hotspur

Saturday's lunchtime kick-off pits Leeds centre-back Rodon against the club from whom he was signed in July 2024. Leeds first loaned the defender and then made him a permanent addition to Daniel Farke's squad. At Elland Road on Saturday he faces a reunion with his old club and if deep down there's a little more riding on this game then it could go one of two ways. His manager has seen the downsides of players with something to prove.

"Sometimes you sense it," said the German. "I'm not sure if it's always a good sign, sometimes you can be a bit over-motivated or want to do something extraordinary on the pitch. This is sometimes an explanation for when a substitute comes in and is over-motivated to show in the last minutes his quality and is sometimes there with a mistake."

If Farke has seen anything in Rodon's demeanour this week to suggest he's especially up for this game then there's already been a precedent this season to highlight as a perfect example of how to balance motivation levels and performance. Gudmundsson admitted earlier this week that after his stoppage time own goal at Fulham he was hyper-focused for the trip to Wolves and over the moon to get the three points at Molineux.

"Sometimes you have to calm players down a bit and after incidents [like the one] with Gabi, to put an arm around his shoulder and give him the message 'listen you don't have to save the world in the next game and win it all on your own,'" said Farke. "This is what I did before the Wolves game. But you can't take away that a player wants to deliver a really good performance in the next game. Thank God he's such a character that he was highly motivated but not nervous or over motivated and delivered a top class performance and the same against Bournemouth. Credit to what he's done so far this season I think Gabi's excellent.

We all win together and lose together. Sometimes a player is in the spotlight in a positive way and sometimes in an unlucky way, but this is not like we over-interpret it or go into individual judgement. We stick together in these moments. You have to make sure they're not over motivated when it comes to a special occasion."

Regardless of how his time at Spurs went, the bigger point for Rodon to prove this season is that he belongs in the Premier League. He left the Championship behind to move to the North London club and made 15 appearances in the top flight but was eventually deemed surplus to requirements and sought opportunities first at French side Rennes and then at Elland Road where he became a promotion hero. Prior to the season starting he openly expressed a desire to prove himself in the Premier League. Farke has no desire to take that out of the defender's mentality but believes Rodon has already shown he's a better player than the one Spurs farmed out on loan.

"If it's his opinion it should be right, it's not like I can say 'no Joe you don't have anything to prove,'" said Farke. "It's not like he has already 200 Premier League games under his belt or has performed and excelled on this level outstanding over the years. It's a bit more difficult to come into a side, Tottenham when they were more or less playing in the Champions League final or not too long after it. It's a bit more difficult to come as a relatively young centre-back signed from the Championship straight into the starting line-up. He's much more mature, he's grown as a player and as a person. I think he's a way better player than he was perhaps three years ago. For that I think he has proven in the first games even on this level he can perform on a top, top level. But to show this consistency, it's important to show it over the course of a whole season. This is the challenge for Joe. He's played excellent so far."

Where Farke wants to see more from his Welsh international is in the opposition box. On Saturday against Bournemouth he claimed an ultra-rare headed goal from a corner and for a player so adept at winning the first contact in the air that should be a far more regular occurrence in his manager's eyes.

"I like that he adds more to be a goal threat from set-pieces, it's something I've always moaned about and was on his back to score more goals," said Farke. "A player of his strength with the head should score more goals. There's always space for improvement but he's on a good path."