Why Leeds United midfielder Ao Tanaka was brought to tears after beating Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium
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00:00Outanaka has, well, I mean, there were pictures of him after the game at Luton where he was sort
00:10of being consoled by teammates. He fell to the turf immediately after the final whistle
00:15at the Riverside last night and, you know, was apparently tearful after the game purely
00:22because he was so empty and just so tired, you know, literally giving blood, sweat and tears
00:27to the cause for the shirt. What was Daniel Farka's explanation for Tanaka's emotion?
00:33Because, you know, he's not the most demonstrative of players, is he? But they're all feeling it.
00:41I mean, if Tanaka's feeling it, then that shows you the strength of emotion that there is within
00:47this squad, particularly, you know, this month, given what we've had already.
00:51We've seen a little bit of a different side to Tanaka and we've seen a little bit of the toll that
00:55kind of this run has taken. And that's why I asked Daniel Farka about it last night in the
00:58press conference. The context to it is that Tanaka hasn't really been playing well. You know,
01:03he hasn't been at his level and at the full-time whistle, he was just in bits, you know, just
01:07inconsolable, tried to separate himself off as the team went to celebrate with the away fans.
01:12Melia had to console him, Rodon consoled him, Farka consoled him and I believe he was tearful
01:17in the dressing room as well. But Farka said last week took a big emotional toll on the players.
01:22They changed their schedule to go to the memorial for Chris and Kev. And I think it was very,
01:26very, he said it was very touching for the players and I was very touched. They had that moment with
01:31the fans before the game at Luton where they went and applauded and took over wreaths and they took
01:35over a shirt with 25 on it and Chris and Kev's names. Then that game plays out as it does.
01:41Tanaka goes over with the team at full-time at Luton and they get some stick. You know,
01:45Tanaka's not had this before and he was confused as to why they were angry with him. I think he was
01:50expecting another moment of kind of solidarity. I think he's just running on empty. Emotionally,
01:55he's been through the ringer a little bit, ups and downs.