The goalkeeper was at fault for the equaliser against Manchester United, Daniel Farke believes
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
17:02, 05 Jan 2026
Lucas Perri is Leeds United’s No.1 goalkeeper(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Daniel Farke has underlined that Lucas Perri must continue to perform to keep his place amid questions about his performances since arriving at Leeds United.
Farke directed blame onto Perri for the equaliser against Manchester United, stating it was a “mistake” for him to come off his line and allow Matheus Cunha to slide home three minutes after Brenden Aaronson found the opener.
Some fans have expressed worry about other elements of his game, including distribution with his feet and his ability to hold onto shots.
Asked how secure the number one spot currently is, Farke said: “Like for all the other players, it’s the same. You have to deliver performances, and then you keep your spot. So there’s no-one who has this name for granted on the team sheet.
“But on the other side, in general, it doesn’t make sense to rotate more or less after each better or poorer performance or training performance. You do this naturally, of course, more in an outfield player position.
“Otherwise you would end up, end up in chaos. But it’s not even a topic we have to speak about right now.”
Farke added: “Yes, we’ve spoken quite open and honest about that. Lucas was not, definitely not with the best decision for the goal against Man United. And I think it’s important to be open and transparent about and not like to hide the fact.
“But on the other hand, we are right now seven, seven games unbeaten. We had a great, great clean sheet at Liverpool, and Lucas also played this part in this unbeaten run, also in this clean sheet.
“And he was, for example, also there and against Man United was really good, really good, save in the first half. But I think especially during this period, it’s also even more than possible also to speak self critical about what you can improve.
“I like when a player then holds his hand up and says: ‘OK, I was there with the wrong decision, because there is a space for improvement. And that’s that’s more or less the case for that. It’s not a topic we even have to speak about today.”
