Farke must make some significant selection decisions at St. Mary’s.
When Leeds United plays Southampton on Saturday, manager Daniel Farke should not undo the adjustments he made to his team for their 3-0 victory over Watford last time out.
Ross McCormack, a former striker for the team, claims that remaining with the same team will preserve competitiveness among the Whites’ players.
What adjustments did Farke make to Leeds’ lineup for the Watford match?
After Saturday’s win over the Hornets ended in a scoreless draw with Hull City, Farke made many adjustments to his team.
Joe Rodon, a loanee from Tottenham who was dismissed against the Tigers, was replaced in the center of defense by Liam Cooper due to a suspension.
While Archie Gray was replaced in the center of midfield by Glen Kamara, Luke Ayling was moved to the bench. Sam Byram, who entered the game and scored, took one of the full-back positions.
Prior to that victory over the Hornets, both Ayling and Gray had started every league game for Leeds this season.
Prior to being ruled out of that match against Watford while serving his one-match suspension, Rodon had started each of the team’s previous five league games.
But even if all three of them might make a comeback when Leeds resumes its promotion campaign on Saturday against Southampton, McCormack thinks they shouldn’t just come back into the lineup there.
What has McCormack stated on Farke’s selection dilemma for Leeds’ matchup with Southampton?
Given that Ayling, Rodon, and Gray have all been regulars in Leeds’ starting lineup thus far this season, there may be an anticipation that they will return to the lineup against the Saints right away.
For the journey to the south coast, McCormack thinks Farke shouldn’t immediately put the trio back in because of the signal it might provide to other players on the Leeds team.
McCormack, who scored 58 goals in 158 games for the club between 2010 and 2014, spoke on the problem the Leeds manager is facing with prospective recalls for those three players on BBC Radio Leeds. He said, “If you ask me what I’d do if I was the manager, personally I won’t change a thing.
“It sends out the incorrect kind of message that these players would still be re-added to the team, even if they played their best game of the season.
To the guys who have joined the team, keeping some of your better players on the bench gives a message that if you join the team, perform well, and then you keep your place.
“That will encourage them. Rodon and Ayling, for example, won’t likely be training the following week with the expectation of joining the team after that performance.
But these are men with enough experience to realize that performance won’t happen every week.
Leeds presently sits sixth in the Championship table after beating Watford, earning 13 points from their eight Championship games thus far this year.
Should Farke use the same Leeds lineup against Southampton that defeated Watford?
It appears that McCormack is on to something when he criticizes Farke for choosing to travel to Southampton.
It will demonstrate to those who are less frequent starts that they can win a spot in the side if they perform well when given the opportunity if Leeds manager does choose to remain with the team he chose against Watford for this game.
When they eventually make the team, that ought to serve as inspiration for them to step up their game, giving the Whites the best chance to have successful outcomes in those games.
It may be argued that Farke has little cause to make any changes following that victory, regardless of who started and who did not, considering that the victory over Watford was possibly Leeds’ best performance thus far this season.
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