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Are Leeds right to consider sacking Farke?

Leeds United are back in the Premier League next season. Whatever anybody thinks of them, it is hard to deny the English top flight is a better, more interesting place with them in it. Few clubs have embodied the words ‘soap opera’ like Leeds, and that has both been to their betterment and detriment over the years. Few clubs have embodied the words ‘soap opera’ like Leeds, and that has both been to their betterment and detriment over the years.

When the Yorkshire club last gained promotion, it was during the Covid pandemic. As with Liverpool’s title win, confirmation allowed fans to celebrate in a way they hadn’t before due to restrictions. Those people believe they should be at the very top, and their history would back that up as the last winners of the first division before it broke off to become the Premier League in 1992, as well as the dominant force in the early 1970s under Don Revie. But their standing as a one club city helps create a sense of status about them, and fuels their fans’ belief in themselves and their club.

Daniel Farke has done what he was hired to do in securing promotion. The German took over in 2023 with Leeds desperate for an instant return after relegation from the Premier League; last
season ended in what Leeds fans might call typical heartbreak. They were beaten in the play-off final by Southampton, who had come down with them, having kept the nucleus of their squad together. Defeat saw the likes of Crysensio Summerville, Georginio Rutter and Archie Gray depart and there was plenty of uncertainty about the future, and Farke was at the centre of it all. But he’d succeeded in getting Norwich City promoted twice and he was backed to go again. He has calmly and expertly navigated their rise without much call to attention for himself.

To succeed at Leeds, you first need to understand Leeds. Do both, and you’re a God. The man who ended their 16-year Premier League exile, Marcelo Bielsa, is possibly the greatest modern example. Bielsa was a risky choice when he was chosen as manager in 2018 because of his fervent love of chaos; he is known in Argentina as El Loco, the madman for that reason. He is a football obsessive and has high demands in style and intensity from his players. Bielsa is not for everyone, but he was for Leeds; the working class Yorkshire folk loved watching their team run and run, and there are few clubs where the drama that so often follows him fitted so well. His humble demeanour only helped the city embrace him further; he’d often mingle with locals, walking to training or shopping in the local supermarket.

But a key point in Bielsa’s philosophy was the unrelenting desire to attack; it worked brilliantly in their first season back as they finished ninth. But as time went on, they were found out; Bielsa was
sacked in February 2022 and Leeds were crestfallen, sitting two points above the relegation zone. Jesse Marsch arrived and kept them up by the skin of their teeth but their luck ran out a year later.

Farke, Marsch and Bielsa share some core principles in terms of dominating the ball and looking to attack with energy, but to varying degrees with contrasting styles. Leeds fans struggled to warm to Marsch and although Farke has faired slightly better in his relationship, their bond doesn’t seem unbreakable.

Perhaps it is because while Farke has a strong reputation in getting out of the Championship, he was relegated once with Norwich and sacked before a second was confirmed. That record creates a harsh reality that he perhaps cannot be trusted in the Premier League, and there is growing speculation he will be replaced at the end of the season with the chairman said to be flying in for talks.

As harsh as that may be, the Premier League is a tougher beast to tame than ever. The last six promoted sides have all come back down without a hope of staying up, and Leeds need to break that
pattern.

Leeds need a big personality to drive them onto the next level. Unlike with players, managers seem to seen as deserving of loyalty and opportunity to work at a higher level, but Leeds don’t have time to wait and see if Farke will succeed where he previously failed.

Farke has done his job for Leeds, but the next appointment will give them the best chance of separating themselves from the rest of the clubs who are falling through the chasm between the Championship and Premier League.