Daniel Farke on 'spot-on' Leeds United, Noah Okafor admission, Gabriel Gudmundsson update + on Spurs controversy
DANIEL Farke praised the ‘unity’ and ‘commitment’ of his Leeds United side after they secured their first win in six Premier League games since September 14 - and avoided a long international break in the process following a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Elland Road.
An outstanding second half culminated in a deserved winner in the 77th minute from substitute Noah Okafor, with fellow replacements Harry Wilson and Melvin Bard also contributing to the goal. Okafor scored with his second touch.
It was a merited three points for Leeds, who mustered 13 goal attempts on the restart.
Farke said: "There's no replacement for this winning feeling after such a game in the dressing room. It's great to have this winning feeling back.
"All the credit and all my compliments go to the boys' terrific performance against a really in-form Tottenham side.
"You could see in the first half that they would go with confidence also into this game. For us, of course, a difficult period because we're missing - since a few weeks more or less - in training and also in the starting line-ups, some key players like Anton Stach, Noah Okafor and for Dominic (Calvert-Lewin). It’s not the easiest spell with several injury problems.
"It was important today to show this unity and commitment. We were technically spot on in order to avoid all their processes and all their individual quality in order to score goals and reduce them to very, very little already in the first half.
"We were missing a bit in our game (in the first half) in our final third was again the quality of the crosses and the finishing pass was perhaps not there, but I think in the second half there was no doubt just one team was pushing."
On the impact of Okafor, who had been struggling with an abductor issue, he continued: "Credit to our medical department and also to Noah, he has worked in a very, very disciplined fashion, 24 hours a day more or less to be available.
"Yesterday with a few concerns of the medical department, they said: 'Boss, Listen, if you want to use him, you have to make sure that you stay unbelievably disciplined and you can't bring him on longer than 15 or 20 minutes, this is what the muscle can't handle (more minutes). But if you want to do this and Noah feels also right, then yeah, perhaps you can do this.' He took part yesterday in parts of our team training."
Farke confirmed that Swedish international Gabriel Gudmundsson came off with a hamstring injury at the break, with Bard coming on and performing excellently in his place.
He said: "Gaby had problems with his hamstring, so it was not possible for him to keep going. I always prefer to have Gabby available but don't get me wrong, but I had a good feeling straight away because Melvin had his best week in training since he was together with us.
"He could feel that he has momentum and I was not for one moment concerned when I had to throw him in. I hope that it's not too bad with Gaby and I hope to have him back on the other side of the international break, but also credit for Melvin.
The win was not without controversy, that said.
It took a big moment on 37 minutes to set pulses truly racing among home punters in an otherwise pretty uneventful first half.
A lengthy VAR check saw the Stockley Park overlords scrutinise Jayden Bogle’s challenge on Mathys Tel for a considerable length of time before it was deemed not to be serious foul play.
Tel was left writhing in agony after being caught on the back of his Achilles by Bogle’s left foot. It looked accidental as opposed to intentional and the video decision-makers concurred, although it could easily have gone the other way and resulted in a red card.
Tel managed to carry on for a few minutes before eventually making way. He left the stadium on crutches after the game.
Farke said: "I haven't watched the scenes back and didn't have the chance, so for that I can't give a clear opinion on it. I would need to watch it back. The scene with Jayden was not too far away from my bench, I think it looked a bit like a very unlucky coming together.
"Of course sadly for Mathys that he was injured, and of course fingers crossed that he's back pretty soon. But it felt a bit like there was not too much speed in this action, and what I can guarantee is Jayden Bogle is one of the most fair players in the whole country.
"He's too much sometimes for me like a butterfly and not like an eagle anyhow, so soft in a positive way. What I can guarantee is that he would never ever injure a player on purpose, or not even foul a player on purpose, because he's a great character."
Spurs chief Roberto De Zerbi had no complaints about the result and felt his side's second-half performance lacked 'personality'.
He said: "It was two games in the same game. In the first half, we had clear chances to score and didn't suffer.
"In the second half, I don't know why, we suffered too much and deserved to lose game. We didn't win any duels and one-on-one's. There was space to play, but we didn't take the right positions and didn't show personality and who we are.
"It's the part of the journey.
"I don't want excuses. We have to be honest, if we are not honest today, the future is not good. I was surprised as my players worked very well this week. We spoke all week about the intensity and type of game we would find in this stadium. It was not a surprise for us."
On the incident regarding Tel, he added: "I can't say something more because I didn't clearly see the situation.
"I was surprised, because in the same position in the second half, there were two different fouls and two yellow cards (offences) on Pedro Porro.
"I don't know if it was a red card or not on Mathys Tel, but for sure Pedro Porro, it was a yellow card. Why I'm telling it like this, because the parameter of the referee was not good enough, I think, for these both situations."