Daniel Farke replies to Ian Poveda question after Leeds United player pleads guilty to driving offence in court
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke says he has seen no adverse reaction from Ian Poveda amid his off-field issues and insists he would intervene if he did.
The Yorkshire Evening Post reported on Tuesday that forward Poveda had pleaded guilty to driving offences. The newspaper said he was accused of driving while disqualified and driving without insurance in April 2022.
Poveda is now scheduled to be sentenced at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on October 6, according to the YEP.
Speaking at a press conference, in quotes reported by LeedsLive, to preview Saturday’s (16 September) clash at Millwall on Friday Farke said of Poveda: “I respect my players as being human beings and also mature and they have a private life.
“Obviously I always prefer when in their private life everything’s okay, but like all human beings is also professional. We all have sometimes our times when it’s also a bit tough for us due to private reasons or whatever. And then we still have to keep going in our job. So again, it’s also like I asked him to be professional and to concentrate on the hard work.
“It always helps to concentrate on your work especially have to concentrate on football to be together there with your teammates and do what you love to because we all love to play and work in football and for that it won’t affect us. it won’t affect us too much.
“I would react if I sensed this in any way on the training pitch or something similar, but I have not sensed anything at all, and all of my players who are present are available.”
Put in the hard yards
Farke is exactly right when he says the players go through things in their personal lives the same as anyone else does.
For Poveda, who is back at Leeds after a loan spell, the best thing he can do at the moment is keep his head down, work hard in training, and try and prove to Farke that he can play a significant role in Leeds’ attempt to make it back to the Premier League.
Poveda was back on the bench against Sheffield Wednesday before the international break having sustained a small injury, and he will hope to end a tough week by involved at the Den.
Clearly Farke sees a spot for him in his squad as he was involved pretty prominently during pre-season. There are a plethora of attacking options at the German’s disposal now but there is no reason for Poveda to think he cannot get involved.
Hopefully, he can put any off-field issues aside when he is called up on to feature for the Whites, as they look to crack on now domestic football is about to return.
