Good Morning. It's Wednesday 25th October, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Farke heaps cautious praise on Struijk Daniel Farke heaped cautious praise on Pascal Struijk during his Stoke pre-match presser yesterday, insisting that he has adapted well to his demands, and is generally 'very pleased with him.' Having watched re-runs of last season's car crash of a season, Farke identified times that Struijk had 'switched off', and has been working hard with the him to improve both, his concentration and consistency. Without getting too carried away, his turnaround in form is noticeable. Six months ago, he was probably playing some of the worst football in his career, and along with Illan Meslier and Crysencio Summerville, were short listed for moves away from Elland Road, during the Summer. Strangely enough, these same three, are amongst the players with the most amounts of minutes played this season. It has been strongly rumoured that Belgium heavyweights Club Brugge have now made Struijk a priority signing in January, in their bid for European football next season. They see the 24yo as a direct replacement for Ivory Coast International Abakar Sylla, who joined Strasbourg in a €22m deal during the Summer. According to Farke: “When I followed his recent season he was always there. Have been some minor moments when he was not switched on. Cannot afford not to be switched on. I spoke to him about consistency and 90 + minutes switched on. “As a centre back you do not gamble. Adapted quite well to my demands. We were there with clean sheets. Skills with the ball, his passing, threat on set-pieces. Very pleased with him. Armband helps to give him responsibility for the whole group.” please log in to view this image Does Gruev regret Leeds switch Since joining Leeds Utd eight weeks ago, Bulgaria International Ilia Gruev must be wondering what he has to do to get some game time. With three cameo appearances under his belt, totalling less than four minutes, the 23yo must be frustrated with the current situation. We know that the Championship season is long and arduous, and sooner or later he'll get his opportunity, but with a quarter of the season already spent, has he already fallen out of favour with Daniel Farke? He may not be a conventional player, and is rarely seen crossing the half way line, but as far as tackles, blocks and interceptions go, ranks amongst the best in Europe. His previous Manager at Werder Bremen Ole Werner described him as a 'clever' player but someone that has to be used in the right way. please log in to view this image Leeds, I'll have a bit of that Speaking on the 'We are Liverpool' podcast, Liverpool football legend John Aldridge admitted that he was keen to join the Whites in the early 1990's, and would have '100 per cent' have joined them had they made a bid. Howard Wilkinson was a big fan of Aldridge, and even flew out to Real Sociedad to watch him in action (we must remember that back then, jumping on a flight to watch a match was not as simple as it is now). Wilko's interest coincided with Aldridge asking for a transfer request, but to Aldridge's disappointment, Leeds never came forward with an offer. The former Republic of Ireland hotshot is the sixth highest goalscorer in English football league history with 330 goals. Leeds went on to sign two other Liverpool legends (Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler), over the next decade or so, but for whatever reasons, they were never able to replicate the form they showed on Merseyside. “I had just scored my eighth goal against Barcelona in six games at the Camp Nou and Howard Wilkinson was watching that game when he was at Leeds. I actually thought, Leeds, big club, I will have a bit of that. As soon as we beat Barcelona 3-1 in my last away game, I scored two, I thought it’s got to be on. “The club wanted £400,000 for me but he didn’t come in for me for some reason. I don’t know what that was all about. Would I have gone to Leeds? 100 per cent.” please log in to view this image
So Farke thinks Struijk suffers from a lack of concentration and often gambles on getting the ball leaving him out of position? I wonder who has pointed that out for the last few years? As he also said, he has improved as the season has progressed until last week when him and Rodon parted like the red sea too often. Fair play to Struijk, from the Hull game onwards he has been decent.
On the other two bits.... Gruev is unfortunate to have the leagues best midfielder in front of him. Ampadu has been class. Aldridge ended up at Tranmere so I bet he would have jumped at the chance to sign for us.
Struijk just needed a decent coach who reminds him of what makes a good defender. Should also be noted how much Farke praised Archie Gray for sticking to the task and finishing the game strongly against Norwich, which is something many failed to notice or mention. As Farke said, you can't always have easy games where we are on top and that's why digging in away from home against a difficult opponent shows true character.
Morning everyone Struijk is not for me i would rather have Cooper. Given a choice i would not have either of them. First job of a defender is simply to defend. Passing out and being a threat at corners is secondary.
Cant wait for FARKE to say that Firpo is by far the best defender in the country, Emu’s head explodes
I remember watching himself and Ray Houghton playing for Oxford at ER and Ian Baird getting the winner 1.0.
I saw him score a hat trick for Oxford v Leeds Got to the game very late as it was after kickoff time and we’d only just got to Oxford train station. Got in a cab and the cabbie told us Leeds were already two goals up By the time we reached the ground it was 1-2. Got in the ground and saw four further goals for Oxford Apparently there was loads of trouble but I just can’t remember any of it - and I was in the away end ffs
I wonder if @Whitejock will tell Farke to **** off over the pennines to scumchester. I'm guessing Farke will get a pass for some reason. In next week's presser Farke will inspire Meslier to stop the ball going in the net.
One person not scoring a hat trick for Oxford is Sonny Perkins who hasn’t played yet. WTF and why isn’t our brilliant gobshytes Hay and Smyth asking questions instead of making shyt up for a living
