During Leeds United’s 0-0 draw against Sunderland last weekend, a lot was made of our lack of creativity in the final third.
Brenden Aaronson and Harry Wilson were useless at the Stadium of Light. Fair enough, Wilson’s a new signing. But far more often than not, Aaronson’s performances do not justify him being in the team.
If only Daniel Farke had a natural left winger who made 35 appearances combined in the Bundesliga and Champions League last season. Oh wait, he does. Despite this, Jean-Matteo Bahoya remained an unused sub in that game.
Having only played 11 minutes since signing for United on deadline day, supporters are rightly beginning to question when we will see more of the player we could end up signing for around £25.7million if he makes a certain number of appearances for us.
When asked about this in his press conference, Farke gave a heck of a reply.
Daniel Farke urges the hype around Jean-Matteo Bahoya to calm down
The vast majority of Farke’s press conference was spent talking about Bahoya.
In total, the German gave a 13-minute answer regarding why we have not seen much of the winger we signed over the summer.
It gave a fascinating insight into how Farke views Bahoya. It’s safe to say our manager does not view the Frenchman as someone who is ready to contribute for us regularly in the Premier League.
Farke revealed he is often asked by supporters in the supermarket why we don’t see more of Bahoya. Today, Farke laid out his reasons why this is the case.
“I love Jean-Matteo, I don’t want to change it, but the problem we have is the perception of this story. Everyone loves a winger, but I’ve spoken 10 times about the situation when we signed him,” Farke said, as quoted by the YEP.
“If you hype a young lad up too much, it can’t be a success. I’m asked about him in every press conference; as much as I like him, being in the spotlight is not healthy for him.
“We were trying to sign someone who could make an immediate impact. We tried everything, but the club decided we couldn’t spend the money. Jean-Matteo had long-term potential; on the last day, an opportunity arose.
“He was on the bench for Frankfurt at the end of last season. Frankfurt decided maybe he wouldn’t make a big impact for them this season. We don’t expect an immediate impact, but we believe in this guy. We’re willing to give him a spot and work with him. He needs to add physicality, improve decision-making and finishing; if he improves during the season, he can compete for minutes
“He needs to improve and develop, but this would never happen if he thought he was already the new Raphinha.”
Don’t expect to see much of Jean-Matteo Bahoya this season
Firstly, I’d advise any Leeds fan to watch Farke’s presser as it was a great watch!
The main point that stood out for me?
I don’t think we’ll be seeing very much of Bahoya at all this season.
Evidently, Farke does not view him as a player who is capable of playing many minutes for us. By his words, it seems as though Bahoya has a great deal of work to do to convince him otherwise.
Farke made it clear that he is a big fan of the youngster as a player, but it’s also clear he views him as more of a prospect rather than a full-fledged first-team player.
This is weird when considering Bahoya scored three goals and provided four assists in 1335 minutes in the Bundesliga last season. (Sofascore)
Unless Farke’s stance changes at some stage this season, which would seem to be hard work, I don’t think we’ll end up triggering the obligation to buy Bahoya.
Stubborn Daniel Farke have lost it at Leeds United.
The only way for him is out.