Ian Holloway has slammed Daniel Farke for stating his Leeds United players lack mental strength when appearing on talkSPORT.
The Whites manager chastised his team after they suffered four defeats in the final six games of the season, missing out on automatic promotion. They now face the playoffs against Norwich before a possible final at Wembley against Southampton or West Brom.
However, during a conversation with Alan Brazil on the breakfast show (10 May, 6:42am), Holloway described the comment as “strange” and said it could have a negative impact on the players.
“I’m not sure how much you’ve seen of Leeds, Ian, but they’ve had a lot of opportunities. “They’re just not clinical enough, and they don’t take them seriously,” Brazil added, before Holloway responded.
“Yeah I’ve not seen them as much as I would have liked to, but there’s a strange comment I felt that they’re not mentally strong,” stated the former Blackpool manager. “[Daniel Farke] said that himself, and I’m not sure if he was trying to cheer the lads up. Did it work the incorrect way? I honestly don’t know.
“But 90 points, I think they got, it’s one hell of a haul of points they got but it’s not good enough.”
Leeds United must prove Daniel Farke and Ian Holloway wrong.
The Whites have had a wonderful season thus far, and scoring 90 points is not easy to accomplish, therefore they deserve credit.
However, after such a good start to 2024, they squandered an automatic promotion by reacting poorly to adversity.
That generated concerns about the squad’s mental strength, particularly given the ages of the key players, and it’s fair to say that if that’s the case, Farke’s words may have done little to help.
So the players must now take it upon themselves to prove everyone wrong in this situation. Prove Farke wrong when he says they’re not psychologically strong, and Holloway incorrect when he says the manager’s statements could exacerbate the situation.
That begins with the first leg of the playoff semi-final against Norwich, and with some momentum, no one will want to face them at Wembley Stadium if they advance.
