Could Daniel Farke be the next Premier League manager in line to face the sack?
While Leeds United have picked up a promising three wins so far in the Premier League, fans of the Elland Road giants will also feel that there’s been a lot of other games this season where their side have been outplayed, with their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday falling into this category.
The Seagulls tallied up 14 shots on Lucas Perri’s goal compared to Leeds’ weak five on Bart Verbruggen’s largely untested net, as Fabian Hurzeler’s confident hosts never looked in danger of slipping up throughout their comfortable 90 minutes.
Farke will surely have to ring the changes for Leeds’ next Premier League clash away at Nottingham Forest to try and lift his side to bounce back, and to also save his skin, with Brenden Aaronson at risk of dropping out despite scoring a week prior.
Aaronson's poor performance vs Brighton
Aaronson wanted to kick on in the Whites’ first team picture away at the Amex, having been an exhilarating watch throughout Leeds’ 2-1 home win against West Ham United, with his bundled-in opener after three minutes nearly upstaged by an insane solo strike sailing in.
Yet, the Jekyll and Hyde American was way off it on the South Coast to add to Leeds fans’ frustrations surrounding his inconsistent performances.
Come the close of the match on Saturday, Aaronson failed to complete one single successful dribble from two attempts, failed to hit a single meaningful shot at the home side’s goal, and also only won a weak three duels from the ten he attempted.
It’s night and day from his high-octane showing against Nuno Espirito Santo’s men, where he was 100% successful with all his dribbles, on top of winning a hefty eight duels.
Patience must be extremely thin; therefore, when it comes to Farke choosing to pick Aaronson week in week out, knowing that an unbelievable display is often followed up by the number 11 putting in a disastrous no-show.
But, Aaronson is not the only underperformer in the German’s bad books.
Farke must drop 4/10 Leeds star
Brighton ran the Leeds defence ragged all afternoon long, as Jayden Bogle continually failed to lay a glove on the rampaging Diego Gomez, who would finish the one-sided match with two Premier League goals next to his name.
Joe Rodon also looked way below his usual standards, but the Welshman definitely has enough credit in his bank this season alone to demand he’s still in the first team frame, having popped up with two goals from the back.
Minutes played
90
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
81
Accurate passes
73/78 (94%)
Tackles won
0
Interceptions
0
Clearances
3
Blocked shots
0
Ball recoveries
6
Total duels won
1/3
On the contrary, his centre-back partner on the South Coast in Jaka Bijol, is yet to establish himself as a fan’s favourite, and he certainly won’t have endeared himself to the hardened West Yorkshire masses with his ropey showing against Hurzeler’s runaway hosts.
Indeed, away from spraying the ball about with some assurance, the brand-new Leeds’ number 15 struggled to contain the likes of Danny Welbeck throughout, leading to just one duel being won.
On top of that, Bijol would also fail to go in for a single tackle, leading Brighton to find it easy when carving open the away side’s frail defence at will.
Moreover, the former Udinese man very much lacked the pace and determination to track back when Yankuba Minteh and the aforementioned Gomez ran riot, with Pascal Struijk perhaps the better-suited centre-back option for this showdown.
Leeds fans had been crying out for their £15m summer recruit to start more games, but after his 4/10 afternoon against Brighton – which is the low score that was handed to him post-match by Leeds Live’s Isaac Johnson – he will surely be dropped back down to the bench, for the Dutchman to return to the XI.
Farke will pray that the changes that are made spur his team on to a rare away win against Nottingham Forest next, with a loss at the City Ground only pulling Leeds even closer to the relegation zone.