Leeds tour win over Liverpool offers reminder of just how dangerous Farke’s system can be

Speaking in a press conference back in May, Leeds United manager Daniel Farke said: “I love attractive football, perhaps for sides in the top half of the table, but I love to be a manager who plays for something rather than to avoid something.”

Since he made those comments, just after Leeds had secured their safety from relegation, it has been fair to wonder what they mean for 2026-27. How expansive does he want his team to be?

Does it mean he will pivot entirely away from the three-centre-back system which served the team so well in 2025-26? Harry Wilson then offered further insight after speaking to the media on July 8, when his arrival was announced.

Wilson said Farke, in their conversations before his arrival, reiterated his natural desire to see his teams dominate the ball and regain possession high up the pitch. The German also mentioned his preference for a four-man defence.

While speculation about Farke’s plan will rage until he takes the team to Nottingham Forest on August 22, there were reminders in Chicago on Sunday of just how effective the team was last season. The hallmarks of the system, which has seen Leeds lose only five of their last 25 Premier League games, were there to see in the friendly victory over Liverpool at Soldier Field.

The match was markedly different in each half, but the common thread which ran through the full 90 minutes was Ethan Ampadu’s long throws. From as early as the second minute, the captain’s touchline launches into the Liverpool box caused chaos.

Much in the same way they became one of Leeds’s big weapons in 2025-26, the opposition never managed to get a handle on them in Illinois. Leeds have recruited to maximise this route to goal.

Time and time again, centre-backs Joe Rodon, Tarik Muharemovic and Sebastiaan Bornauw, all between 6ft3in and 6ft4in, were getting first contact on the throw-ins. The summer loss of Pascal Struijk, an aerial powerhouse for Leeds, posed concerns about the team’s set-piece threat, but Muharemovic, his replacement, was dangerous on Sunday.

The flick-ons just needed Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the field to convert them. The team’s second and fourth goals were virtually identical: throw, flick-on and the No 9 finishing at the back post. He was one of the half-time changes which unlocked Leeds.

Liverpool had been in control of the first half. Rodon and Muharemovic caught the eye with their defensive work, but in attack, Lukas Nmecha was feeding off scraps and when he was thrown a bone, the link-up play was disjointed.

It just did not quite click between him, Daniel James, Anton Stach and the wing-backs. At half-time, Liverpool withdrew Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Rio Ngumoha, their chief attacking threats, while Leeds introduced Calvert-Lewin, Harry Wilson, Brenden Aaronson and Sean Longstaff.

Leeds remained in the same 3-4-2-1 shape, but with that new front three and Longstaff, who has been hugely promising during this U.S. camp, in the engine room. The tide did not turn immediately, but the team played their way into a rhythm in the second period and their confidence visibly grew.

In open play, they seemed to slip into the roles and patterns we saw when the team was at its best through last year’s run to 14th in the top flight. Rodon, playing on the right of the back three, was unleashed.

The structure was solid enough around the Wales international for him to bomb forward, whether that be down the touchline or inside, as an auxiliary central midfielder. In some of United’s better, more developed attacks, Rodon was crashing into the box alongside wing-back Jayden Bogle.

Indeed, Bogle and James Justin, playing as the wing-back on the left, were taking up those wide No 10 positions we saw last term. If Wilson or Aaronson were keeping the team’s width, the wing-backs were free to drive inside, attacking the channels and the far post at crosses.

It was the confidence and bravery Rodon, Bogle and Justin had to make these advanced runs which stood out. Yes, it is easy to be brave in a pre-season friendly, but as a comparison with Sunday’s first half, it was a noteworthy step forward.

Ampadu was crucial in releasing that trio. His command of the middle of the park, particularly once Dominik Szoboszlai was taken off, provided security. He mopped up loose balls and dictated play.

Longstaff’s scuffed goal will not be among his finest strikes, but it’s irrelevant. The key factor is the movement he showed to get into that position, but, more broadly, how it caps off a great fortnight for him.

He was unfortunate to pick up an injury shortly before the team’s form turned around last season and from there he, understandably, was not able to get back into such a high-performing line-up. He could not have done much more through these three friendlies to put his hat back into the ring for the new season.

We got to see what we expect to be one of the key relationships of next season for the first time on Sunday, too. Wilson and Calvert-Lewin are likely to be pivotal in the final third if Leeds are to prosper in 2026-27.

The latter’s pre-season programme was pushed back by an injury issue, but he returned to team training last Tuesday and got his first batch of game time yesterday. He immediately made such a difference to the attack.

There were a couple of link-ups with Wilson which got the team upfield, but his presence in the box, movement to help others and aerial threat were so influential. His finishes were unerring and his anticipation deadly, in both cases.

Leeds want to take steps forward next season. Farke will have to oversee an evolution of sorts. Lasting opinions cannot be taken from friendlies like this, against underpowered opponents, but this was a reminder, as they draw a line under the U.S. trip, of what the tactical foundation needs to be for the new campaign.