'If I am honest' - Leeds United boss Daniel Farke's candid assessment after friendly loss to Wrexham
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has reflected on his side’s friendly loss to Wrexham
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke had “no complaints” after his side’s 3-2 friendly defeat to Wrexham.
The Whites and the Red Dragons did battle at the weekend, braving the intense Florida heat at the Raymond James Stadium.
Joel Piroe and Sean Longstaff cancelled out Wrexham’s first two goals, but Sam Smith struck late to secure a victory for the Championship outfit.
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke reflects on friendly loss
Pre-season friendly results mean very little and while Farke was not particularly upbeat about the scoreline, he was quick to point out the importance of fitness-building.
“I am always struggling once there is a loss to be in a good mood afterwards, if I am honest,” he told LUTV. “But today, no complaints.
“We played against Wrexham who played a relatively strong side, a few weeks ahead in their preparation.
“If you have a look at the game, normally we should have won this game. We had more possession, we had more chances, should have scored also more goals than them but they were effective.
“You could feel today, lads were tired. We have trained the whole week, more or less two sessions per day. We had even a session this morning and to play without many important players so for that, no complaints.
“Pre-season you build a foundation for the whole season. It is most important that you do lots of physical work. You need this endurance, this fitness level during the whole season.
“We have proven last season how important this is. You have to integrate the new players. And the best way is always like once you are 24/7 together and you have lots of communication.
“We need, of course, to work on our game. We had many, many good pre-seasons in the last years and yeah, it was quite often then also the basement for a really good season. Hopefully we can also keep working hard and for that we also have a successful season ahead.”
Opportunities for Leeds United prospects
Leeds handed opportunities to some of their most promising young talents, including defender Jayden Lienou and midfielder Callum Mills.
The latter was particularly impressive, drawing praise from plenty of supporters after a bright showing.
“For us, we gave many, many debuts away today, also full debuts,” said Farke. “I am just a bit sad and feel a bit especially for our young lads, that they couldn’t celebrate their debut and their full debut with a win.”
Leeds will face Sunderland and Liverpool before their stateside tour comes to an end. Farke’s men will then take on RB Leipzig and FC Augsburg at Elland Road, with a Dublin showdown with Manchester United sandwiched in between.