Leeds United will play a second friendly in Germany before their pre-season training camp finishes, and Daniel Farke’s comments following Wednesday’s Hannvoer 96 win made it clear what he hopes to see.
If Leeds United concede three fewer goals or perform at their usual level at Loftus Road, they will finish the season with the Championship’s strongest defence. That is one of Daniel Farke’s main goals for next season: to build a promotion bid around an unassailable fortress at the back.
It’s difficult to pinpoint apparent areas for development in a season with 90 points and only 43 goals conceded. Farke has identified a modest improvement in defense as the cornerstone for what they desire from August 10.
Goals from a midfield that has exchanged Glen Kamara for Joe Rothwell are also an improvement the boss wants to see. Ilia Gruev’s goal in Wednesday’s friendly against Hannover 96 was a step forward that the manager appreciated.
“We’ve spoken about a few areas [we want to improve],” he told me. “We had the best defense in the league up until game 40, but we gave it away in the last six games.” This is one of our claims: we want to be the league’s top defence next season.
“Working on this topic again is critical. I also want to add a few more goals from midfield. Ilia Gruev contributed today, therefore I was pleased with the outcome.”
Farke will oversee a second friendly in Germany before the completion of United’s pre-season training camp. The manager will be hoping that their opponents will put Leeds through the same testing that Hannover did, particularly by presenting them with a changing base formation.
“It’s also important to integrate the new lads or the lads like Pascal [Struijk], who are coming back after long-term injuries,” he claimed following Wednesday’s victory. “I’m pleased that Jayden [Bogle] and Brenden [Aaronson], for example, have completed their first 30 minutes, as has Max [Wober].
“Brenden and Jayden both assisted and had an impact, which is great for their confidence and rhythm. It’s still about fitness in the basement, but it’s also about being versatile in terms of what we want to do in possession, as well as pressing different base formations.
“It was a wonderful example of this today since they changed their setup twice or three times during the game, and we responded very effectively. This test was significant and thrilled me in many ways today.
“anything’s pre-season, so don’t overinterpret anything. The big stuff will begin in a few weeks, but so far, so good.”
