- today
Leeds United hit the ground running in Germany with a 4-1 win over SC Verl in their first pre-season friendly — and the Yorkshire Evening Post was there for exclusive, behind-closed-doors coverage. Graham Smyth chats about Joel Piroe's brace and Daniel Farke on Mateo Joseph's future.
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00:00Hello, welcome back to Germany where my captors are treating me well. A few of you thought that
00:17I was being held hostage due to the sparsity of my surrounds but actually it's just the need to
00:22try and not get so much light in from the windows and what is actually quite a nice Airbnb in a
00:29town that I'm not allowed to mention. Leeds United have this afternoon played the first game of their
00:35German training camp behind closed doors friendly played in front of probably around 50 people club
00:41officials from the opposition a few guests family members from from Leeds United staff and they won
00:484-1. Apologies if you hadn't watched it yet but if you are on the internet spoilers are inevitable.
00:55Leeds United played two 60-minute games against SC Verl. Third tier German side who actually played
01:03some really nice stuff they pressed with intensity for a lot of the game they played out from the back
01:08they took risks they did cause Leeds some problems it was a decent test. Leeds United played two pretty
01:14mixed sides first half and second half they gave appearances to three goalkeepers so we got to see
01:21Alex Cairns in a Leeds United shirt in a game for the first time since he returned to the club.
01:27Melia started the game Darlow finished the game they won 4-1 and they almost kept a 120-minute clean
01:33sheet it was on about 119 minutes when Leeds United conceded that goal back pass from Charlie Crewe was
01:39picked off and poked beyond Carl Darlow but other than that I think Daniel Farker will be pretty happy
01:44there were two goals from Joel Peru first was an unbelievable finish from a really nice assist from
01:50Harry Gray who started up top the second was a penalty now if one of those incredible situations where
01:55a goalkeeper taps the ball to a defender meaning for the defender to take it but the referee interprets
02:00that as the goal kick being taken so when the defender settles the ball with his hand then a penalty is
02:05given both teams stopped and looked fairly bemused with that we also had the the first instance that
02:11I've seen in a game of the new time-wasting rule where if a goalkeeper holds on to the ball for too
02:16long the referee awards a corner to the opposition Alex Cairns the look on his face was fairly priceless
02:21when that happened Leeds other goals came from a really nicely taken Nyonto goal and Lucas Nemecha got
02:27himself a tap-in as well he could have had a second after a lovely bit of play from William Nyonto but
02:324-1 was the final score lots of minutes in the legs particularly if you are the machine Ilya Gruev he
02:37played um 90 91 maybe lots and lots of minutes for him but it was a decent run out Farker was pleased
02:46um and he's quite pleased I think with how pre-season's going Ethan Ampadu similarly it's all
02:51about minutes in the legs it's all about getting that fitness back up and Leeds United certainly
02:56did that in the first of their two friendlies second game will take place on Saturday against
03:01an opposition yet to be revealed it'll work a little bit like it worked today we'll have an embargo and
03:06after probably an hour after full time we'll be able to bring you the player ratings the match report
03:11and then of course what we hear from Farker and any of his players what we heard from Daniel Farker
03:18after the game in terms of what he said on transfers was particularly interesting outgoings
03:24or one situation with regards to an outgoing transfer in particular Matteo Joseph still not
03:31in Germany against the strong recommendation of his manager Daniel Fark as you know so I always like
03:36to be like to be honest it was actually the plan to have him here in Germany and with him the
03:42situation is also quite clear first of all we really value and rate him otherwise we wouldn't
03:49have played him especially in the beginning of the last successful campaign ahead of a golden boot
03:56winner Joel Pirou ahead of an experienced swiker like Patrick Bamford I think overall he had last season
04:01if I'm not completely wrong 39 appearances for us in the championship I think double figures in of
04:08appearances in the starting lineup you just do this with a 20 year old guy or meanwhile 21 year old guy
04:14when you believe in him and trust him and and back him so it's a sign of how much we value him and
04:20and what we see in them yes nevertheless he came to me and to us and I said that he wants a new
04:27challenge and would like to to to have a move he has also hinted that he wants and prefers a move to
04:36Spain due to his Spanish roots and yes obviously that was more or less his call and I said okay
04:46we just want players who are excited about the project to play with Leeds United in the best league
04:52in the world here in the Premier League who want to be here with us and and want to be successful with
04:59us and if this is more or less your your wish I as a manager won't stand in the way and accept this
05:06because I just want players who want to be here and and are buzzing anyhow that we can represent this
05:11club on Premier League level and for that I've said okay Matteo I accept I accept this I won't stand
05:17in the way on the other hand it's also clear that we as a club have invested a lot in him time money
05:25backing whatever and he is on the long-term contract and and we value him one thing is also for sure that
05:31we will just make a move possible once there is a club who meets the expectations of the club but
05:38this is not a topic for me this and the topic topic for for our board and and our key people to decide
05:44okay what is what is the right value because I don't pay the players I don't buy the players
05:49I don't have enough money so it's then definitely up to the club and and up up to the board to make the
05:55decisions I won't stand in the way but of course I think our club has then also expectations and the truth is
06:02uh that no other club has met the expectations yet and for that he's still still our player and for that we expected
06:08him also like to to train and travel with us yes but um yeah he mentioned that he didn't feel ready for the for the trip to
06:17um to Stockholm to play Man United and I accepted this because he trained a bit um or started a bit later with the with the training I think
06:25that was also understandable but uh then the day after he uh we expected him to be with us here more
06:32or less in Germany he said also like he didn't doesn't feel ready um due to the situation to to travel and
06:38to train and uh and um yeah to play the friendlies here in Germany and this is not a situation um I like
06:46I've also spoke open and honest about him um with him about the situation and have strongly recommended uh to
06:53say no no till a situation is sorted and you know I would strongly recommend um to do the job and to be
07:00professional um but he said okay he's not in the mental state uh in order to do this and yeah what
07:06should I do I can't call the police or the front of police to drag me on the training pitch it was his
07:11decision and for that he trains at the moment at the moment uh in England um individually and will then
07:18also train with under 21 um at home at uh top arch and we are here without him thank you
07:24Matteo Joseph doesn't feel mentally up to joining in with the training camp because he has told
07:28Farka that he wants to leave Leeds United he's told Daniel Farka he wants to move to Spain the
07:33Spain under 21 striker played in the European Championships for his country this summer didn't
07:38feel ready to play against Manchester United but the situation has obviously developed because
07:42the plan for Leeds United was to have him come out to Germany and be part of the training camp here
07:48and Joseph didn't want to um Farka's not best pleased with that Farka says he won't stand in
07:53the player's way if he doesn't want to be here at Leeds and doesn't want to be excited about playing in
07:57the Premier League but there is a big but and that is Leeds United's valuation of Joseph not being met by
08:04anyone who's shown an interest so far so he's going nowhere for the time being the club have been pretty
08:09consistent on not wanting to sell but I can definitely see a situation where either someone
08:14finally stumps up the requisite money they maybe had a sell on and Leeds are happy with that or
08:20Joseph maybe has to settle for a loan now Leeds United could still get Joseph uh off the books
08:28in the PSR accounting period if they sold him before 30th of June I mean that could come after the
08:34season you know they wouldn't have to sell him before the season the benefit of that would be that if
08:38Joseph goes somewhere else and scores a few goals his value is going to go up so instead of selling
08:42now for x millions you let him go on loan to Bettis or whoever he scores five to ten goals in a top league
08:49and suddenly you're looking at a much more expensive player to buy next summer um and Leeds United would
08:55certainly benefit from that from PSR perspective but that's where we are with Matteo Joseph it's a
09:01fairly unique situation in terms of him not joining the training camp but Leeds have been here before with
09:07players who didn't want to play we had the Willy Nyonto situation a couple of years ago we had
09:11the players all going out on loan because they didn't want to be at Leeds whether there's a way
09:15back now for Joseph is difficult to see maybe he'll see sense and he'll agree with Farke and he'll come
09:21out to be involved in the training camp but as it stands he's training at Thorparch individually and
09:25will then join in with the under 21s the other situation that we need to talk about is Anton Stack
09:32the giant midfielder has arrived officially he has of course been with Leeds for a little while now
09:37having flown to this part of the world and then had his medical finalized the paperwork Leeds flew out
09:44there secretary Hannah Cox to make sure the paperwork got got done out here so he didn't have to go
09:49Germany England Germany he stayed in Germany the whole time internal flight then a medical then did
09:55all his media stood next to a sign looked suitably giant and then they announced the deal he wasn't
10:01however available for the game against SC Varel because his FIFA clearance his international
10:07clearance hadn't come through yet a bit of an unfortunate situation because I think Farke might
10:11well have used him but as it was he sat in the stands with Sebastian Bornau who's picked up a quad
10:16injury and will miss it be missing for a couple of weeks he picked that up in the very first training
10:20session out here in Germany Brendan Aronson also flew in on Tuesday morning so he wasn't involved in
10:26the friendly and they all sat in the stands along with Isaac Schmidt who has a slight calf problem
10:32that he's working through with a rehabilitation coach so Leeds United have a few little situations
10:37there to deal with but I think it's safe to say that Stack should have his clearance in time for
10:41Saturday's game and that'll be the first we get to see of him Daniel Farke likes him a lot he feels
10:46like everyone involved at Leeds had a really good feeling that he's a top character that he's obviously a
10:50disruptor wins the ball a lot he believes he can deal with the ball handily good in both boxes obviously
10:55standing at six foot four and Farke touched on that kind of tactic of bringing in big lads this
11:01summer says it's no coincidence that they're all big fellas but Stack in particular he feels has a goal
11:06in mind of playing at the World Cup for Germany and he thinks that playing in the Premier League
11:10week in and week out will help him to do that but he's really pleased to get him in and beyond that
11:16Farke wants to strengthen all the other areas of the pitch he says that central midfield is sorted
11:21central defense is sorted but they want a goalkeeper they want a nine they want a left
11:26winger they want additions as well as that that will strengthen the latest we are hearing on Igor
11:31Paxao is that a deal has not yet been struck between Feyenoord and Marseille despite all the
11:38noises that came out of France about them being close to agreeing a deal we spoke to someone in
11:43Holland this morning who said that as far as they were aware a deal had still not been struck
11:47and was still not imminent so Leeds United still evidently believe that there is a player to chase
11:53there and will continue to chase until there isn't one to chase but it is interesting that Marseille
11:58have not got a deal over the line yet of course by the time this video comes out things may have
12:03changed again and Leeds may not have a target there and may need to go to their list but we have
12:09been told by club sources that there are other players on the list that are at the same level as this
12:13player but when you tell Leeds United fans that there is a Brazilian winger who could come in from
12:18Europe who did really really well last season in a top division can score from distance very very
12:24exciting then they want that player and they want that deal to happen so it's really understandable
12:31that Leeds fans are so excited for this one and everyone at Leeds will be hoping that the Marseille
12:36thing stops or goes away and they can actually get a deal done for this fella and bring him in he would
12:41be one of the marquee signings but they need difference makers up top not much has been obvious
12:46in the Man United game obviously they scored four goals against German third tier opposition but you
12:51would definitely expect that when they're coming up against Premier League opposition week in week out
12:55creativity is what they're going to need they need a very very good nine they need a very good left
13:00winger I would also say they need a 10 maybe that's a loan deal that they'll do towards the end of the
13:05window I know that in a 4-3-3 they're not necessarily going to going to have a 10 or play with a 10
13:11but Fargo has been talking about flexibility and wanting to have options because there are going
13:15to be games that they play maybe against teams that came up as well with Leeds where they'll have more
13:20of the ball there will be games that they play where they'll not see a great deal of the ball
13:23and they'll have to be compact and sit in a little bit but it would be good to have that attacking
13:28midfield creativity on the bench if needs be or if they wanted to change things in a game we'll have
13:33all the latest from Germany as and when we're allowed to say it thank you very much for joining really
13:39pleased that everyone enjoyed the first video that we did from Germany we'll try and do a couple more
13:43before flying back to England
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