Leeds United have identified a few managerial targets to kickstart the 49ers’ reign, with one man boasting particular experience in the Championship…
What’s the latest on Daniel Farke to Leeds United?
That’s according to The Athletic’s Phil Hay, who penned an article regarding their pursuit of a new head coach following the exit of Sam Allardyce.
The experienced relegation specialist failed in his task of retaining the Whites’ Premier League status, therefore leaving a huge decision to be made for the new-look hierarchy as they seek to bounce straight back to the top flight.
With top target Brendan Rodgers having seemingly been taken off the market by Celtic, it seems that attention has been diverted to the out-of-work Daniel Farke. It is expected that the German will be interviewed early next week.
Whilst it is easy to look at his two promotions with Norwich City as a big factor in this potential appointment, when delving deeper it is clear that it is far from just his pedigree that secured this feat with frequency.
His style is seemingly tailored towards the second division, and as such his 4-2-3-1 system relies on balance as well as a few other key factors.
Such a formation is conducive to a classic gegenpressing system, which is akin to what Marcelo Bielsa and later Jesse Marsch tried to uphold during their stints. Such aggressive play, which seeks to win back possession high up the field, would see a return to a style that saw them cruise to the Championship title in 2020.
Not only this, but Farke’s record at this level is splendid too, having won 71 of the 138 league games he has overseen, losing only 29 times.
Clearly aligned with the classic German way of playing, with Jurgen Klopp’s early Liverpool as a more appropriate comparison, he prides himself on aesthetics as much as he does on success.
Having been appointed by Borussia Mönchengladbach last year too, in what turned out to be a failed spell, he outlined exactly the kind of things fans can expect his teams to be: “brave, creative and easy on the eye.”
With 294 goals in 208 games in charge of the Canaries, many of which were played in the Premier League, this is a notion supported by these figures.
As something of a promotion specialist, having achieved such success in the 2018/19 and the 2020/21 campaigns, perhaps he can make it a hat-trick by applying his philosophy at Elland Road, under the guidance of the 49ers.
After all, such an all-action philosophy was key to Bielsa’s Championship success and that surely makes Farke the perfect man to steer Leeds back up from the second-tier this time around.
