Daniel Farke has provided an appraisal following Leeds United’s 2-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle today.
The Whites had to work harder for their three points than they did in the midweek destruction of Swansea City, with goals from Willy Gnonto and Georginio Rutter enough to seal the win.
As a result, Farke made a modest tactical change in the middle of the game, swapping Joel Piroe and Rutter, which proved to be inspired as the former set up the 21-year-old to seal the win.
In his post-game press conference, Farke confessed that Rutter appeared ‘weary’ at times, which is why he made the decision and is pleased it worked.
Farke says Rutter looked ‘weary’
“It was one of those game days where we had to work hard against the ball; Georgi had been carrying a heavy burden in recent weeks and appeared exhausted. We wanted him on the pitch because of his pace and confidence; he’s fantastic at set-pieces, but he’s a little undervalued at defensive ones.
“We had a hunch that would be important today. Joel always delivers a large workload. Normally, he and Ilia [Gruev] traverse the greatest distances, and he can withstand the burden.
“We felt Georgi should be a little higher up the pitch and could run in behind with his pace. Thankfully, the second goal payed off. It might possibly be one of the games in which Georgi lost one or two possessions [as a 10].
Today was undoubtedly one of Rutter’s weakest outings of the season, yet he still managed a goal and an assist, demonstrating his degree of skill.
Leeds have had a tremendously busy period of travel and matches over the last two weeks, so it is understandable that they looked exhausted.
Thankfully, Leeds now have a free week before hosting Leicester City in an important match next week, where Rutter will hopefully be feeling recharged once more.
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