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Terminally Yellow

A critique of Daniel Farke

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Just to start - this is not a cry for Farke to leave the club. I do not believe he should be sacked and this post is not intended to suggest that.

We have had nearly two and a half seasons under Daniel Farke's coaching. We can say without a shadow of a doubt that he is good at quite a lot. Young players definitely get chances under him. Players definitely improve under him too. There does appear to be a strong camaraderie within the squad and I think his attachment to his philosophy and beliefs is absolutely admirable. 

But I do think there are aspects of his coaching and tactics which have never worked, but he seems either unable or unwilling to learn. As a young coach, I do worry this may limit his - and ultimately our - potential.

Most significant of those is an inability to change a match. I'm not sure I can think of too many matches that a Farke decision led to us getting back into the game. I think back to Forest at home last Christmas - his bringing Hernandez on as probably my last stand out moment of him being able to do that. It feels to me too often that when the tide of the match is against us, Farke is rarely able to inspire a turn in that tide like we saw from Wilder yesterday.

Our continued use of zonal marking also baffles me. I'm absolutely convinced that our vulnerability at set pieces is largely down to zonal marking. For me, it's never really worked and it baffles me why it's still a part of our match plans.

I do think he could be more timely with substitutions. Now I know that against Southampton he made a double substitution at half time. That's the exception rather than the rule, however

Finally, I also wonder about his professional relationships with certain players. Moritz Leitner is the most recent player to seemingly disappear down the packing order. You have to wonder why, as bad as we've been, Patrick Roberts can't get a look in too. I don't have a clue what goes on in training and if I did this might be shown to be unfair criticism.

Farke is a young coach leading a young side - but in an age where we have been asked to show patience and time, I do wonder why we haven't seen perhaps the same levels of progress and development from Farke as we have seen from those players he has very effectively helped in their own development?

Or am I being harsh in holding these views?

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No coach is perfect and they all have some flaws. Farke is obviously no different. I think I agree with everything in that post except maybe zonal marking, as I'm led to believe that statistically it does concede fewer goals than man marking. The reasons zonal gets so much bad press is because it just looks awful when a goal is conceded by it as everyone is standing still and nobody challenged the goalscorer properly, and because we're just not used to it in Britain.

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Farke merits very little criticism. He is a fine manager who has been given a very poor hand to play. The risible investment in the squad this summer means he cannot change games much because swapping one lightweight midfielder for another when facing huge bullying units won’t achieve much. The biggest problem we have is being outmuscled in the middle and that is because you can’t spend as little as we did and be competitive. Poor bloke 

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If I may level one criticism of him (aside from the done to death set piece marking) it’s that I don’t feel he has the players coming out after half time fired up/focussed enough. It happens every week and in the last two home games has cost us. I also don’t feel we were up for it as we should have been at Southampton. Calmness is one of his attributes but perhaps from time to time a bit more tub thumping is required. 

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I tend to agree.

set pieces need to change, we cant defend them and we dont score from them ,dont think we one the first ball from any of the multiple corners yesterday.

It does look like he has fallen out with Mo , I heard that Mo has refused to play because of his tactics,

 

 

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2 hours ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Farke merits very little criticism. He is a fine manager who has been given a very poor hand to play. The risible investment in the squad this summer means he cannot change games much because swapping one lightweight midfielder for another when facing huge bullying units won’t achieve much. The biggest problem we have is being outmuscled in the middle and that is because you can’t spend as little as we did and be competitive. Poor bloke 

I tend to agree with you DCB , he can only go with what he's got , but the "criticism" he gets here about the lack of change in tactics is merited imo. Substitutions are not made in time...etc. 
I don't think we should be throwing the money at signings in january as the inflation is too high and you are even paying too much for mediocre players. 
The biggest problem for Farke now imo is that the confidence is completely gone and along with the fact that he doesn't have a big pool to fish in ... this is his biggest challenge. Can he get the guys clicking again?

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41 minutes ago, city4eva said:

I tend to agree.

set pieces need to change, we cant defend them and we dont score from them ,dont think we one the first ball from any of the multiple corners yesterday.

It does look like he has fallen out with Mo , I heard that Mo has refused to play because of his tactics,

 

Where did you hear that? How reliable do you believe this information to be?

Also, Sheffield United only had one corner yesterday, so I'm not sure what you're talking about in the previous sentence.

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"I heard that Mo has refused to play because of his tactics"

 

I very much doubt that, they are all big boys and get well paid whatever.

These street corner rumours always seem to come out of nowhere when things are not going well.

 

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Imo it's pretty hard to put too much blame on Farke. He is not playing on a level playing field with managers like Wilder who was given the opportunity to strengthen his championship side with 40 odd million.

The options on the bench are limited to say the least. I imagine he would be more willing to make earlier changes if he had McBurnie and Mousset on the bench. 

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37 minutes ago, HertsCanary93 said:

Imo it's pretty hard to put too much blame on Farke. He is not playing on a level playing field with managers like Wilder who was given the opportunity to strengthen his championship side with 40 odd million.

The options on the bench are limited to say the least. I imagine he would be more willing to make earlier changes if he had McBurnie and Mousset on the bench. 

I agree, Farke is not to blame. It flows from the top. That said there are areas where I think he could have do/could do a bit better this season. I think he was outdone by Wilder yesterday and on Wednesday by the Saints manager, both of whom appeared to have their players more fired up for the key spells which determined the games. I am really unsure as to why the hunger appears to be lacking in the side at present, its strange. That Shef U side is man for man no better than us and I would argue probably worse in terms of technical ability (and there was little in it for most of that match) but they look like they may stay up comfortably because they have a steel, determination and a belief about them that we currently seem to lack. 

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1 hour ago, BroadstairsR said:

"I heard that Mo has refused to play because of his tactics"

 

I very much doubt that, they are all big boys and get well paid whatever.

These street corner rumours always seem to come out of nowhere when things are not going well.

 

I've never heard of a player refusing to play because he doesn't like the way the teams set-up 😂🙂😂

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2 hours ago, city4eva said:

I tend to agree.

set pieces need to change, we cant defend them and we dont score from them ,dont think we one the first ball from any of the multiple corners yesterday.

It does look like he has fallen out with Mo , I heard that Mo has refused to play because of his tactics,

 

 

@Feedthewolf Think he meant our corners, mate! But, admittedly it was worded pretty weirdly.

Our stats were way better (again) against Sheff Utd. More corners, more shots on, more possession. We were undone by Sheff Utd playing well for about 15 mins. They scored twice in 3 mins of those 15. It is hugely frustrating and at this point I can't see what Farke is going to be able to do to change games.

The other thing that's annoying is to see all of these transfer rumours for Jan. I mean, there's probably not a lot of truth in a few of them but why oh why weren't we pushing the boat out in the summer?! It seems clear that there was money. When we look back on this season I think we'll be saying 'too little, too late'.

What a shame.

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6 hours ago, hogesar said:

I've never heard of a player refusing to play because he doesn't like the way the teams set-up 😂🙂😂

He won’t  be the first, or last, unhappy with a team set up, particularly if he isn’t playing. The player himself admits he was in a bad place footballing wise and then Webber and Farke came calling, a manager he respected and wanted to play for! But he isn’t!

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6 hours ago, BobLoz3 said:

@Feedthewolf Think he meant our corners, mate! But, admittedly it was worded pretty weirdly.

Our stats were way better (again) against Sheff Utd. More corners, more shots on, more possession. We were undone by Sheff Utd playing well for about 15 mins. They scored twice in 3 mins of those 15. It is hugely frustrating and at this point I can't see what Farke is going to be able to do to change games.

The other thing that's annoying is to see all of these transfer rumours for Jan. I mean, there's probably not a lot of truth in a few of them but why oh why weren't we pushing the boat out in the summer?! It seems clear that there was money. When we look back on this season I think we'll be saying 'too little, too late'.

What a shame.

Made sense when I wrote it

all of our corners ( bar one ) were cleared by sheffield. the one corner they had was won by  them, thats a pattern that needs to change

 

 

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8 hours ago, BroadstairsR said:

"I heard that Mo has refused to play because of his tactics"

 

I very much doubt that, they are all big boys and get well paid whatever.

These street corner rumours always seem to come out of nowhere when things are not going well.

 

Quoted this one as feedthewolfs post wont quote.

I have no idea if its true or not but it came from a source close to the club

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There were moments in the game yesterday and v Watford where I thought the game was crying out for Leitner in the pockets of space between their defence and midfield.  Though Vrancic did play well in the first half, he faded badly in the second - possibly due to a tactical change from Wilder - or maybe just an increase in intensity from Sheff U.  I also thought Buendia did well, but we were totally undone twice by poor defending, and it was very nearly 3 goals in 10 minutes but for a VAR decision that went in our favour.

If, and its a big if, we can cut out the poor defensive mistakes, we might be able to stabilise ourselves and have a better second half of the season. I agree with many others, we need some physical strength defensively and in our midfield.  Personally, I think that's why Sheffield have adapted better to this league than we have.

 

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9 hours ago, Jim Smith said:

I am really unsure as to why the hunger appears to be lacking in the side at present, its strange. That Shef U side is man for man no better than us and I would argue probably worse in terms of technical ability (and there was little in it for most of that match) but they look like they may stay up comfortably because they have a steel, determination and a belief about them that we currently seem to lack. 

Maybe it has something to do with the ambition of those at the top of Sheff Utd wanted to become an established Premier League club and backing the manager accordingly?

Where’s the hunger, the competitive edge, the ambition at City? The only please I see that at board level is Webber and there’s a reason he’s pretty much publicly stated he’ll be off on 3 years!

I’m not blaming Farke but the messages and the actions from the top level at the club are that relegation is totally acceptable. I would suggest that attitude is filtering down to the players and that some of them are simply going through the motions until an established PL side can come in and whisk them away to bigger and better things. 

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42 minutes ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

Maybe it has something to do with the ambition of those at the top of Sheff Utd wanted to become an established Premier League club and backing the manager accordingly?

The money spent by Sheffield United is a bit of a red herring as I think only one new signing started the game yesterday (Mousset) and I expect they'd have done as well with Billy Sharp up front. Their side (and ours for that matter) was largely unchanged from last season's game at Carrow Road.

They are technically more limited than us but they are bigger, stronger and better organised. They may well have spent more than us in the Summer but that wasn't the difference between the two sides yesterday.

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13 hours ago, Peanuts said:

The money spent by Sheffield United is a bit of a red herring as I think only one new signing started the game yesterday (Mousset) and I expect they'd have done as well with Billy Sharp up front. Their side (and ours for that matter) was largely unchanged from last season's game at Carrow Road.

They are technically more limited than us but they are bigger, stronger and better organised. They may well have spent more than us in the Summer but that wasn't the difference between the two sides yesterday.

But three other new signings came off the bench. Plus what we don't know is how those new signings may have increased competition and pushed others to up their game to retain places. 

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15 hours ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

Maybe it has something to do with the ambition of those at the top of Sheff Utd wanted to become an established Premier League club and backing the manager accordingly?

Where’s the hunger, the competitive edge, the ambition at City? The only please I see that at board level is Webber and there’s a reason he’s pretty much publicly stated he’ll be off on 3 years!

I’m not blaming Farke but the messages and the actions from the top level at the club are that relegation is totally acceptable. I would suggest that attitude is filtering down to the players and that some of them are simply going through the motions until an established PL side can come in and whisk them away to bigger and better things. 

You really are committed to your story about this season aren’t you? The reason you only see hunger, competitive edge or ambition at board level is that’s all you want to see as it agrees with what you think. Look up confirmation bias and try and be a bit more open minded. 
 

I don’t get this sudden focus on the 3 year thing with Webber. He’s signed a three year contract, he didn’t say I’m leaving in three years time. I believe he said that’s as long these type of roles tend to last and if the club want me, I am committed to three years here. That’s way more than most of his contemporaries would be prepared to do, and for me is a sign that he’s a man of intelligence and principle. But for you, it’s evidence of Delia holding the club back!

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53 minutes ago, Nuff Said said:

don’t get this sudden focus on the 3 year thing with Webber. He’s signed a three year contract, he didn’t say I’m leaving in three years time. I believe he said that’s as long these type of roles tend to last and if the club want me, I am committed to three years here. That’s way more than most of his contemporaries would be prepared to do, and for me is a sign that he’s a man of intelligence and principle. But for you, it’s evidence of Delia holding the club back!

Me neither, He stated that he will honour his three year Contract, ie his head will not be turned by outside offers during this timespan, The Club is free to sack him at any time, it may cost a few quid but thats footy nowadays. Take Brendan Rogers rather ambivalent statement when asked about Arsenal interest, it was full of ' at this moment in time' and 'for now' etc. No one will convince me that if BR was really  offered a top top job at a top top club, that he wouldnt be off as fast as he was from Celtic. Leicester are great, i like them but say , with Peps wobbles atm if Man City came in....would BR show loyalty to the Foxes. I'm not so sure.

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On 09/12/2019 at 10:02, BobLoz3 said:

When we look back on this season I think we'll be saying 'too little, too late'.

What a shame.

Maybe so Boblozzo, the converse of your last statement is of course that it was 'too much , too soon' .....for the Club getting promoted last season, and if the Players we targeted to strengthen us were unwilling or unable to join us for whatever reasons( i suspect financial) then thats the hand we play with. I am not in favour of the 'we have money lets spend it'....unless what we spend it on is really what improves us. This, of course is difficult to Judge as no Club really divulges what its targets were, or indeed why they were unable to secure them. Transfer rumours are just that remember, and we keep our cards close to our chest it seems, until a deal is done. i'm fairly laid back about it all, not through lack of caring but through not letting the success or otherwise ,of the Club i chose to support 46 years ago affect my life too much.

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30 minutes ago, wcorkcanary said:

Maybe so Boblozzo, the converse of your last statement is of course that it was 'too much , too soon' .....for the Club getting promoted last season, and if the Players we targeted to strengthen us were unwilling or unable to join us for whatever reasons( i suspect financial) then thats the hand we play with. I am not in favour of the 'we have money lets spend it'....unless what we spend it on is really what improves us. This, of course is difficult to Judge as no Club really divulges what its targets were, or indeed why they were unable to secure them. Transfer rumours are just that remember, and we keep our cards close to our chest it seems, until a deal is done. i'm fairly laid back about it all, not through lack of caring but through not letting the success or otherwise ,of the Club i chose to support 46 years ago affect my life too much.

Amen, dude.

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Going back to the Mo part of this thread, there’s a story from within the club that a senior player turned up drunk for a Sunday training session, which was after a poor performance/result away from home the day before.
 

This could be Mo or it could be Roberts. My guess would be the former given how he has completely dropped off the radar. It goes without saying the whilst the story is true, there’s no evidence to say which player it actually is, just those two seem the most likely candidates given the lack of game time for no apparent reason. 

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Clint said:

Going back to the Mo part of this thread, there’s a story from within the club that a senior player turned up drunk for a Sunday training session, which was after a poor performance/result away from home the day before.
 

This could be Mo or it could be Roberts. My guess would be the former given how he has completely dropped off the radar. It goes without saying the whilst the story is true, there’s no evidence to say which player it actually is, just those two seem the most likely candidates given the lack of game time for no apparent reason. 

 

 

 

Not heard that.

The rumour with Leitner was that he was very openly critical of Farke post Brighton. The rumour came out not long after the game and he has been absent ever since.

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On 09/12/2019 at 00:24, Terminally Yellow said:

Just to start - this is not a cry for Farke to leave the club. I do not believe he should be sacked and this post is not intended to suggest that.

We have had nearly two and a half seasons under Daniel Farke's coaching. We can say without a shadow of a doubt that he is good at quite a lot. Young players definitely get chances under him. Players definitely improve under him too. There does appear to be a strong camaraderie within the squad and I think his attachment to his philosophy and beliefs is absolutely admirable. 

But I do think there are aspects of his coaching and tactics which have never worked, but he seems either unable or unwilling to learn. As a young coach, I do worry this may limit his - and ultimately our - potential.

Most significant of those is an inability to change a match. I'm not sure I can think of too many matches that a Farke decision led to us getting back into the game. I think back to Forest at home last Christmas - his bringing Hernandez on as probably my last stand out moment of him being able to do that. It feels to me too often that when the tide of the match is against us, Farke is rarely able to inspire a turn in that tide like we saw from Wilder yesterday.

Our continued use of zonal marking also baffles me. I'm absolutely convinced that our vulnerability at set pieces is largely down to zonal marking. For me, it's never really worked and it baffles me why it's still a part of our match plans.

I do think he could be more timely with substitutions. Now I know that against Southampton he made a double substitution at half time. That's the exception rather than the rule, however

Finally, I also wonder about his professional relationships with certain players. Moritz Leitner is the most recent player to seemingly disappear down the packing order. You have to wonder why, as bad as we've been, Patrick Roberts can't get a look in too. I don't have a clue what goes on in training and if I did this might be shown to be unfair criticism.

Farke is a young coach leading a young side - but in an age where we have been asked to show patience and time, I do wonder why we haven't seen perhaps the same levels of progress and development from Farke as we have seen from those players he has very effectively helped in their own development?

Or am I being harsh in holding these views?

The fact we only lost a handful of games last season suggest Farke had little need to change games,  but you can also look at the number of late goals we scored to win points as plenty of examples of positive changes made.

Zonal marking annoys me, but most of our players are just rubbish in the air so regardless of zonal or man marking I think we would struggle

No idea about leitner but hes hardly done anything to warrant a regular start

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He's clearly still learning, but has done a fantastic job given his budget. His lack of earlier substitutions frustrates me at times, but other than that I cant see many other managers doing a better job with the existing group we have.

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40 minutes ago, king canary said:

Not heard that.

The rumour with Leitner was that he was very openly critical of Farke post Brighton. The rumour came out not long after the game and he has been absent ever since.

Maybe be was late, drunk and critical all at the same time. That would  do it for most coaches.

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36 minutes ago, wcorkcanary said:

Maybe be was late, drunk and critical all at the same time. 

Sounds like an average day at work for me...

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