Daniel Farke will take Leeds to the Premier League and become a legend on par with Marcelo Bielsa
DANIEL FARKE will become a Leeds legend on a par with Marcelo Bielsa.
I know that is a bold statement after just 15 games.
Yet everything I’ve seen and know about the German has convinced me he’ll not only take the club back into the Premier League but, if given time and support, will keep them there.
It remains to be seen whether he’ll achieve that this season because Ipswich have thrown a huge spanner into the works with their incredible start after promotion from League One.
But Leicester and Leeds are the two best teams I’ve seen so far by some considerable distance.
Can Ipswich keep up their form? So far, they have overcome every hurdle in a start that has only seen them lose oncer. My concern is the depth of quality in their squad.
Farke had to deal with so much chaos when walking into Elland Road. The club had been relegated, the transfer window was open and players were queueing up to jump ship.
And he was only able to field a rump of the squad he had available because some of the precious little lambs, responsible for the team’s demise, didn’t want to slum it in the Championship.
It wasn’t until the end of the transfer window that Leeds started to recruit properly and once it closed they have a squad that is definitely a promotion-winning one in quality.
He even managed to get Wilfried Gnonto back on side after the Italian handed in a transfer request — later apologising.
FREE BETS – BEST BETTING OFFERS AND BONUSES NEW CUSTOMERS
But Leicester got their act together much quicker and better than their fellow relegated teams Leeds and Southampton.
That first month of the season may end up biting the club come May — but if it does that cannot be attributed to the German.
In fact, he did superbly with the resources available at the time. He managed to create almost a siege mentality and had a team of scrappers that won once, drew three and lost one of their first five games.
Farke tactically outwitted Leicester opposite number Enzo Maresca on Friday night.
Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter are monstering Championship defences. The amount of havoc they are causing is a joy to watch.
Summerville, in particular, has been on fire. At times, he is unplayable in the second tier. I’ve not seen a better winger this season. Not only does he rampage on the flanks, he is deadly in front of goal. The Dutchman has netted six already.
Rutter needs to add goals to his game because, once he does that, he can become a top European player. He is that good.
Bringing in Joel Piroe from Swansea was a nice piece of business. His five goals from 12 games is a promising start to his Leeds career.
When watching Leeds during their two Championship seasons under Bielsa, even as a neutral I’d despair at the amount of chances they would waste. In fact, they had one of the worst shots-to-goals conversion rates in the division and it cost them promotion in the Argentinian’s first season in charge.
They have more goalscoring quality across the park now.
Then you have the class of Ethan Ampadu and Glenn Kamara, who are just getting better and better in midfield.
And what a wonderful young prospect Leeds have in right-back Archie Gray. Just 17, the Durham-born kid is already establishing himself in Farke’s team and started 12 of their 15 games this season.
Watching him play, he looks a seasoned-pro at times.
Farke also has the Championship’s best goalkeeper in Illian Meslier.
The Frenchman made a world-class save to keep out Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at the death on Friday. And at 23 he has already made 130 starts for Leeds since signing three years ago.
They did well to keep him after relegation.
Farke has got Elland Road rocking right and Leeds will not have to worry about being imprisoned in the EFL for 16 years like they did last time they went down.
He will become a Leeds folk hero.