Ao Tanaka

[1964white]

Some want him to fail so they can give themselves credit for saying " i told you so "

Well Daniel hasn't failed, has he.

After our magnificent 100 points haul winning the championship I never dream't I would be going to Wembley for an FA Cup Semi-Final next Sunday & that we would tear Manure apart at the Theatre of in the same week.

I have enjoyed three of the best seasons supporting Leeds in my life since the 90's. We have evolved & improved each season with Farke in charge.

In that time, Farke has significantly improved our players skills in his tenure at Leeds.

Summerville, Rutter & Gray all became Premier League stars under Farke's care, and the gradual improvement of this season's squad is there for all to see!

[Sean_Nile]

Farke on Ao "no confidence" Tanaka and Noah "broken biscuits" Okafor. Setting the record straight. Why does Farke speak so positively about his players, he needs to get rid of those rose tinted glasses. Doesn't he know we are in a relegation battle?


Skip to about 11 minutes before it begins

[weasel]

I posted all the above comments earlier, and I sense what Farke has not achieved enough for a section of our fan base. I'm baffled with it all.

Watching 3.000 Leeds fans singing Daniel Farke's name after the game was so emotional & telling for me.

I suspect our players love him too.

Certainly seems to be that vibe when you hear players talking about him - not just the usual stuff that you would say so as to keep being picked.

You then see players like Joe Rodon saying it is the best dressing room he has been in, and I may be wrong but I'm guessing he isn't talking about the patterns on the wallpaper.

You then see how many players celebrate with the scorer of a goal, and not just the players on the pitch but the subs, no moping going on ther, players genuinely happy for their teammates and putting aside their own disappointment.

Some fans, or perhaps wums, have not liked him from the start and have seemingly been desperate for him to fail.

The players and the manager are a happy bunch. Contrast that to how the players were under Jesse Marsch where you could see the players had little confidence in his tactics and were probably embarassed by his interviews and how he almost made it out like he was teaching them how to play football.

Usual sh*te of late -

Doesn't like young players - oh so didn't trust in Archie Gray when he could have easily stuck with Ayling who is still performing at the top end of the championship. Didn't trust in Rutter, Summerville, Aaronsen etc. Our squad is fairly young - it isn't like he has gone out and bought 30+ year old journeymen.

Tanaka should have played more - yeah okay he has had a couple of decent games but was struggling earlier. Hardly like Stach was playing badly and should have been dropped or Aaronsen.

Oh didn't change his tactics soon enough, Yeah 2 seasons of success playing one way so let's not play that way.

Stumbled on it by accident. Yeah went 2 up top v City by accident, wasn't like he didn't have options to go more defensively and try for a Jesse Marsch style 0-3 defeat triumph against City.

People should just be honest and say they have never liked him and no matter what he does you'll find fault. Why bother enjoying a win against MU when you can try to find fault instead. Leeds ain't perfect, Farke ain't perfect but hey he's doing alright y'know.

Just enjoy the win, a defeat is sure to come soon enough.

[weasel]

I agree, it's disgraceful that people haven't instantly forgotten his faults. After thrashing all those world beaters in the cup, he then single handedly beat scum at OT, and people still only gave him 9/10 in the ratings. Surely he deserved at least an 11; when will they give him the credit he deserves?
Anyway, I'm off to crack one off over my picture of the messiah. I'll hopefully be back soon to praise our glorious leader a bit more.

He has his faults but enjoy the good times, we don't get that many of them as Leeds fans.

I'm guessing you have no faults, have never done anything wrong, have never overachieved because you were perfect.

[weasel]

Sounds like self doubt to me Give Weasel a hard time it was him that wrote it, I only put a couple of emojis to it

AO has openly said stuff about doubting himself. And you only have to look at him at times to see how he is beating himself up (not literally) after making a mistake.

[Cjay]

Daniel Farke has told Ao Tanaka not to be so harsh on himself after being quite self-critical after his last display

Following the win vs West Ham, Tanaka said he feels "not good enough at the moment"

Sounds more like self doubt than modesty to me but it’s a fine line.

Elite footballers are self critical though.

It's how they strive to improve.

If Tanaka feels he can do better it's probably just the competitor in him rather than a "I'm not good enough"

Tanaka always wants the ball, doesn't seem like a player having doubts.

[The Subhuman]

Tanaka reminds me of Rhodri...

[weasel]

Elite footballers are self critical though.

It's how they strive to improve.

If Tanaka feels he can do better it's probably just the competitor in him rather than a "I'm not good enough"

Tanaka always wants the ball, doesn't seem like a player having doubts.

All footballers are the same.
Oh good to see you can completely assess the state of everybody's mind from your couch.

Go back to playing footy manager

[weasel]

Tanaka reminds me of Rhodri...

And Rhodri was nothing special in his first season in the prem....

[Cjay]

All footballers are the same.
Oh good to see you can completely assess the state of everybody's mind from your couch.

Go back to playing footy manager

If Tanaka doesn't believe he's good enough for the Premier League then nobody told his agent

Been talking him up for 12 months as a Premier League player.

But yeah I'm sure his agent doesn't know how his client feels and telling the media he's open to leaving whilst prioritising a Premier League move shows a total lack of confidence.

[weasel]

If Tanaka doesn't believe he's good enough for the Premier League then nobody told his agent

Been talking him up for 12 months as a Premier League player.

But yeah I'm sure his agent doesn't know how his client feels and telling the media he's open to leaving whilst prioritising a Premier League move shows a total lack of confidence.

Hhm let me see. Would I, as an agent, go round telling everyone my player was a bit frgaile mentally? Yeah might not quite push his price up and definitely wouldn't put any clubs off!

Jeez Cjay I thought you had a brain but I'm worried if I got that so wrong what else have I got wrong?

[Cjay]

Hhm let me see. Would I, as an agent, go round telling everyone my player was a bit frgaile mentally? Yeah might not quite push his price up and definitely wouldn't put any clubs off!

Jeez Cjay I thought you had a brain but I'm worried if I got that so wrong what else have I got wrong?

Agents don't have to publicly say anything, many don't.

Ao's agent gave an interview to German media in 2024 telling everyone how Ao would be a Premier League player next season.

He's telling the main Sky journalist for Sky Sports Germany that Ao would be open to leaving and would want a Premier League move as recently as last week.

If Ao having his game time restricted was down to his own confidence and some master managerial plan his agent would be keeping his mouth shut

Their isn't a master plan here, DF has preferred other players.

Whether you agree with it is opinion.

[weasel]

Agents don't have to publicly say anything, many don't.

Ao's agent gave an interview to German media in 2024 telling everyone how Ao would be a Premier League player next season.

He's telling the main Sky journalist for Sky Sports Germany that Ao would be open to leaving and would want a Premier League move as recently as last week.

If Ao having his game time restricted was down to his own confidence and some master managerial plan his agent would be keeping his mouth shut

Their isn't a master plan here, DF has preferred other players.

Whether you agree with it is opinion.

Let's say the agent is on 10%, most are on at least that, and Tanaka moves for £12m, the agent gets £1.2m.

Yes you're right. I can't see any reason why the agent wouldn't be touting his player.

Baffling!

[weasel]

So so far Cjay you have

suggested every player has exactly the same mental state.

suggested his agent would tell the world if he thought AO had any mental or confidence issues

suggested agents don't act in their own interest and try to engineer moves so as to get a big fat wad of cash for themselves


Farke may be right or wrong to have not played AO more but don't just come up with absolute drivel. You're better than that.

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Amongst all the ( rightful) ecstasy of winning at OT, it has probably been quickly forgotten that prior to the match we had gone through nearly 7 hours of playing PL football without scoring, and this happened without the injection of flair and creativity which starting Tanaka provides.

Also DF has called on Okafor to " be more effective " and to stay humble and not think that he has suddenly made it. So he clearly believes he has not performed as well as he could have done this season. And Okafor was seen hobbling after the OT game, so the concerns about him being fragile have certainly not suddenly gone away.

[Irish Ian]

Worried about Leeds?

Rumour has it that the 49ers are providing Leeds Worry beads ahead of the run in.

24 little pieces of crystal held together by a lovely yellow and blue chain of gold capped at each end by a lovely piece of quartz.

Each stone has a theme:

Farke.
Okafors biscuit body
DCL score a bloody goal.
Aarronsson.
The FA Cup
That hapless recruitment team.


There are even blank ones, in this way you can log in here, read some posts and then hey presto! New grist for your mills.

Each fan can then just focus all their anxieties, concerns, prejudice on what really worries them and then allow it all to drift away.


Let the worry beads take the strain.


Available soon at all good outlets.

[PhoenixUnited]

Amongst all the ( rightful) ecstasy of winning at OT, it has probably been quickly forgotten that prior to the match we had gone through nearly 7 hours of playing PL football without scoring, and this happened without the injection of flair and creativity which starting Tanaka provides.

Also DF has called on Okafor to " be more effective " and to stay humble and not think that he has suddenly made it. So he clearly believes he has not performed as well as he could have done this season. And Okafor was seen hobbling after the OT game, so the concerns about him being fragile have certainly not suddenly gone away.

I might be mistaken but this is the way he comes off the pitch EVERY time he is substituted!

I've not been a fan of Noah Okafor TBH - he's been too much of a luxury passenger in too many matches. He does not have the stamina to sustain him in a whole match and even then he goes "missing" for long periods. From all that he has not quite "arrived" as yet. Jury remains out for me.

However, he seems to have the happy knack of being in the right place at the right time and being able to get the ball into the back of the net. He has scored 6 goals and had 2 assists in 29 appearances which, on the face of it, is not fantastic but in the context of a Leeds side that is not creative enough and struggles for goals is not too dusty either. Hopefully. more improvement to come but at this point of the season you would think that he should be playing at his best?

[weasel]

Amongst all the ( rightful) ecstasy of winning at OT, it has probably been quickly forgotten that prior to the match we had gone through nearly 7 hours of playing PL football without scoring, and this happened without the injection of flair and creativity which starting Tanaka provides.

Also DF has called on Okafor to " be more effective " and to stay humble and not think that he has suddenly made it. So he clearly believes he has not performed as well as he could have done this season. And Okafor was seen hobbling after the OT game, so the concerns about him being fragile have certainly not suddenly gone away.

56 shots in the 4 league games where we didn't score. A combined xg of over 4. Sometimes, in a reasonably short span of matches, players miss chances. Doesn't mean there is something drastically wrong. Next match you might create less chances but they go in. Noah Okafor's second goal as an example - without the deflection no goal. Was it a better chance than all of the 56 created in those 4 matches?

[The Subhuman]

Worried about Leeds?

Rumour has it that the 49ers are providing Leeds Worry beads ahead of the run in.

24 little pieces of crystal held together by a lovely yellow and blue chain of gold capped at each end by a lovely piece of quartz.

Each stone has a theme:

Farke.
Okafors biscuit body
DCL score a bloody goal.
Aarronsson.
The FA Cup
That hapless recruitment team.


There are even blank ones, in this way you can log in here, read some posts and then hey presto! New grist for your mills.

Each fan can then just focus all their anxieties, concerns, prejudice on what really worries them and then allow it all to drift away.


Let the worry beads take the strain.


Available soon at all good outlets.

No thanks, I never worry about Leeds...

[Sean_Nile]

Worried about Leeds?

Rumour has it that the 49ers are providing Leeds Worry beads ahead of the run in.

24 little pieces of crystal held together by a lovely yellow and blue chain of gold capped at each end by a lovely piece of quartz.

Each stone has a theme:

Farke.
Okafors biscuit body
DCL score a bloody goal.
Aarronsson.
The FA Cup
That hapless recruitment team.


There are even blank ones, in this way you can log in here, read some posts and then hey presto! New grist for your mills.

Each fan can then just focus all their anxieties, concerns, prejudice on what really worries them and then allow it all to drift away.


Let the worry beads take the strain.


Available soon at all good outlets.

In ancient times, a grumpy philosopher ( guess his name) invented worry beads to survive tough days.

Centuries later, his overly cheerful great-great-grandniece got annoyed by all the doom-scrolling and created the Giggle Beads as revenge.

They work in such a way that every worry you try to feed them gets instantly converted into absurd optimism and contagious giggles.

Legend says if you use them during a full moon while eating chocolate, or having tea and cake on the sofa after watching a very satisfying football match, then you'll manifest at least one ridiculously good thing within 6 days... like witnessing another victorious football match (results may vary, but the giggles are guaranteed).