Leeds United have not enjoyed a smooth summer. Relegation from the Premier League has caused upheaval at Elland Road with manager Sam Allardyce leaving the club, Director of Football Victor Orta departing and a whole host of uncertainty surrounding the playing squad.
Without a manager in place for the last month, and with Nick Hammond brought in as a short-term recruitment specialist before a new Director of Football is appointed, it feels as though Leeds have been put on pause, while their rivals continue to make progress ahead of the new campaign.
But that could all be set to change as Daniel Farke has taken the first team role at Elland Road. He is likely to be joined by old Norwich colleague Stuart Webber in the DOF role over the next year, but for now Farke will go it alone. And Leeds fans can begin to get very excited at the prospect.
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The suave German boss has managed three full seasons at this level. He’s won the title in his last two years. And it’s even better than that. Norwich were by far and away the best team at this level over two seasons, and Farke just had a knack of getting his side to play dominant, attacking and winning football.
He’s earnt a staggering 191 points over his last two Championship seasons, losing just 13 games out of 92. Norwich won 29 and 27 games respectively on their way to two league titles, finishing on 97 and 94 points. It was a remarkable showing from a team that was relatively unfancied when they won the league in 2019.
They’d just sold James Maddison for £24m and finished 14th in Farke’s first season, but they kept faith with the German boss. His possession based style of play is incredibly pleasant to watch and he made the Norwich fans fall in love with the team he had created, and the brand of football he played.
But they also fell in love with him. After every match, which was usually a handsome win in the second tier, Farke would go over to the fans and pat the badge on his chest. The club meant a lot to him and he would love to create the same bond with those fans. It’s been too long for Leeds.
The bond they had with Marcelo Bielsa was special, and nobody could ever replicate what the iconic man did, but since then they have lost their way. Jesse Marsch was never the right fit and you could sense that all along, while Allardyce didn’t have enough time to build any sort of relationship with those in the stands.
Farke will, and that will be his first point of order. His second will be to shed any players that don’t want to be at the club, and get the ones that do onside. We saw at Norwich how he can inspire a goalscorer, and there’s no reason why somebody like Patrick Bamford can’t repeat the mighty goalscoring feats of Teemu Pukki. But Farke relied on ingenuity and creativity behind the striker in his preferred 4-2-3-1 system.
Emi Buendia was the jewel in the crown, supported by Todd Cantwell and Onel Hernandez, but they were free to cause havoc in the Championship. You can expect Farke to want the same thing from the creative players he retains at Leeds. Crysencio Summerville may feature more prominently, while Leeds should have a fair chunk of cash to spend if they make the sales we expect them too over the next month.
Leeds have just plucked out the best manager the Championship has seen in recent times. He may not have proven himself in the Premier League (Norwich’s unwillingness to spend is a major reason for that), but in the second tier, there is nobody better. Farke is on the hunt for three consecutive Championship titles. If he can deliver another 90+ point season, Leeds will be a Premier League outfit once again. Perhaps even more importantly, he can make them fall in love with their team again.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
