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Leeds United 'can play better' says Daniel Farke - but look ready for start of new season

· Tony Harber · 2026-08-16T09:10:24+00:00 · nguồn gốc

Leeds United 'can play better' says Daniel Farke - but look ready for start of new season Whisper it, but Leeds United look ready for the big kick-off and ready to make a real impact in the Premier League. Pre-season friendlies are not always the best guides, but a near unbeaten record and four wins from six matches against decent quality opposition has built confidence that the Whites can improve on their league position last season. A largely settled squad has given Leeds a stability that has not always been evident at the club in the last decade and to this they have added three seemingly high quality recruits – with a few more to come, including Swiss World Cup defender Nico Elvedi, for who a fee has been agreed. Ideally they could do with a back up left-back, back up keeper and maybe another forward and the squad would then look the most complete United have had for a Premiership campaign since David O’Leary was manager. Manager Daniel Farke has already established a pattern of play he wants to see and a consistency of approach following on from a largely successful second half of last season can only help the side kick on. He appears to already know his preferred starting line-up – likely to be the 11 players that started in the final warm-up against Augsburg unless the currently recovering from injury Gabriel Gudmundsson wins his race against time to be fit for the first game. And that line-up certainly impressed against their German opposition in a 4-0 win at Elland Road that indicated United are looking sharp enough already. Augsburg, who finished ninth in the Bundesliga last season, were blown away by an impressive first half attacking display from the Whites, who were ahead from the first minute with all of their forwards involved in a move that finished with Anton Stach netting. New defender Tarik Muharemovic doubled the lead with a spectacular overhead kick from Ethan Ampadu’s long throw and James Justin combined brilliantly with Dominic Calvert-Lewin to make it 3-0 before half-time. Substitute Lukas Nmecha rounded off the scoring late on with a calm chip over the keeper after being put through by fellow substitute Ao Tanaka. Leeds will now hope to take this kind of form into their opening league game at Nottingham Forest next Saturday and although Farke believes they can still improve he declared himself happy with where his team was at. He said: "We can play better. In the first half there were situations when our first touch was not tidy and a bit sloppy would be a bit too negative but not focused in possession and in transition moment could be a bit quicker and a bit more awareness. "But I told the lads after in the dressing room I have to calm myself down a bit because it's the fifth week of pre season this week after having the long trip in the US and this week with lots of travelling and also to Dublin. "I always want us to be perfect and during the games I am sometimes a bit angry with the situation and I feel we can be even better. "But to win this game 4-0 and to create even more chances and to have another clean sheet, it's not too bad overall and definitely a good final game of pre season for us." Farke added: “We have scored four goals and created more chances. We do all this hard work in order to be then hopefully close to flawless, at least when the wheels start in the Premier League. “We have to be outstanding, in our best level. This what the lads also want and it is hard work. Right now, especially the players who were involved during the whole pre-season, they are in really good shape. “We have, of course, a few players who arrived a bit later after the World Cup, so they will need a bit until they reach 100 per cent. But overall, as a group, we are definitely on a good path. And yes, I am happy with this.”