Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has spoken about his decision to play Whites ace Joel Piroe at No. 10.
The Elland Road boss, speaking at his pre-match press conference, is aware that Piroe’s finishing is “world-class”.
However, Farke also said he has to factor in that his Leeds striker has to “fulfil some other tasks” and Piroe is “not always the perfect solution”.
The Leeds boss stressed that, having been a striker himself and having a good track record with coaching forwards and in the Championship, that he knows what he’s doing.
Piroe joined Leeds in the summer, arriving with a prolific record from his time at Swansea.
So far this season, the 24-year-old has registered six goals from 11 games, including four in 10 Championship outings.
There has been debate over Piroe’s positioning at Leeds, with some wondering why he’s not leading the line instead of playing in the hole.
However, Farke has now made it very clear as to why that was the case.
“Some of Joel’s qualities would tempt me to play him as the lone striker,” the Yorkshire Post quotes him as saying.
“His finishing is world-class. I’m struggling to find even in this country players who are better. If he has the ball close to the box you can go to the halfway line because that’s where the next touch is.
“But because we are Leeds United we want the ball every moment so we need players to lead the intensity of the pressing.
“Because we are often dominant against teams parking the bus we need a striker who stretches the opponent with running in behind, with smart movements.
“I wouldn’t label his pressing qualities as the best in this league.
“Patrick Bamford or Georginio Rutter are always pressing with intensity or running in behind. Joel’s not lightning quick and mobile like Speedy Gonzalez.
“Quite often at Swansea he liked to drop, there were quick players on the wing and he arrived late into the box with instinctive finishes.
“If we asked our lone striker always to drop, to link the play, to play the ball out, I would definitely play Joel as a striker but if our striker has to fulfill some other tasks he’s not always the perfect solution.”
Our view
The above is only an excerpt of the answer Farke gave to reporters about Piroe’s positioning.
Farke went on to speak about his credentials having worked with forwards, name-dropping Teemu Pukki and Marcus Thuram as success stories that initially raised eyebrows.
The Leeds boss signed Pukki for Norwich as a free transfer and there was criticism of that decision, but the Finn went on to thrive for the Canaries.
And at Borussia Monchengladbach, Farke converted Thuram into a striker, to great success as well.
Needless to say, Farke knows what he’s doing on the attacking front.