Daniel Farke did a very good job at Norwich City, that is a fact. Two promotions from the Championship was no accident, and you could see how well organised his Norwich teams were. When Leeds appointed Farke I was pleased, but apprehensive. The only thing I wasn’t sure of was how Farke would cope at a massive club like Leeds where the weight of expectation is a genuine pressure that can quickly become a burden. I remember discussing Farke’s appointment with Elland, and having watched his Moenchengladbach team stumble to another mid-table finish, I had just one doubt. Can Farke cope at a big club with big expectations? BMG are one of the biggest clubs in Germany, and Farke was brought in to push them up into the Bundesliga top six. They had spent quite a bit over the previous two seasons as the invested to improve their squad, and the belief was there that the team was now just in need of a good manager to organise them and unlock the potential for BMG to become a Champions League regular. It didn’t happen. In fact, BMG went absolutely nowhere under Farke. As a consequence, he was relieved of his duties and BMG decided to look elsewhere for a manager who could take them forward. Why did this happen? After all, Farke looked like the perfect fit for BMG, and the club looked set to kick on under him and climb into the top ten where Farke would then establish them as challengers for the European spots. I am going to break this discussion down into three points: BMG failure, Leeds poor start and finally the off-field issues currently sucking the life out of Leeds. BMG Here's the thing about Farke’s success at Norwich. It wasn’t expected and it wasn’t demanded. In fact, if he guided Norwich to seventh place in the Championship every season, it would have been regarded as a success. This lack of expectation and pressure to succeed is very helpful to a progressive manager. All he needs to focus on is preparation, organisation and ensuring his players all understand how his system works. He can then push them to go out and win every game, safe in the knowledge that any blips won’t bring their world crashing down around them. The Norwich players responded, playing with freedom and chucking the kitchen sink at teams as they stormed to two promotions. No pressure, no drama. BMG was a very different experience though. Farke was expected to improve the team and they were expected to win more games and climb into the top ten and challenge for Europe. This was a job where Farke and the players were under no illusions, the club expected them to improve and win. Suddenly losses to teams below them would not be tolerated, and games became more difficult as teams smothered BMG and hit them on the counter. Now being 0-0 at half-time at home caused grumbles, and players became frustrated as results became harder to come by. In this environment of expectation and desire to be a top Bundesliga club again, Farke couldn’t improve the team’s fortunes and lost his job. It was a surprise that Farke failed so miserably because BMG was set up perfectly for him. A club with progressive owners who were willing to invest in the squad and focused on getting BMG back to the sharp end of the Bundesliga. Farke’s failure to convert this environment into improvement gave me cause for concern. A much bigger job than Norwich that he couldn’t crack. LEEDS POOR START No point in trying to gloss over it, Leeds have made a poor start to the season. Behind against both Cardiff and Shrewsbury, and unable to even get a draw at Birmingham is not the way you’d expect Leeds to have started the season. I have a theory why it’s been sluggish. Farke is playing with two holding midfielders (DMs) who sit in front of the back four offering an extra layer of protection. His full-backs are encouraged to get forward to help build attacks down the flanks, and he has an attacking midfielder (10) playing close behind the striker (9). This has created problems for Leeds that I’ve seen in every game. Two DMs: Amapadu and Gray both look to be very comfortable on the ball, a good thing if you want to build attacks playing out from the back. The thing is, Leeds don’t need to be playing with two DMs. It’s a negative tactic, and sets the team up to be more difficult to beat rather than more attacking. With Gray and Ampadu almost always starting with possession deep inside their own half, it creates a big distance from them to the forwards. Leeds have found it difficult to join up play and create proper chances, relying on the wide men to come up with some magic to get an effort on goal. The easy fix would be to leave Ampadu as the only DM in the pivot role occupied so well by Kalvin Phillips. This would release Gray to play further forward in the Klich role and be available to be the link between defence and attack. The other problem with two DMs is it robs Leeds of an extra body getting forward and occupying defenders. Currently Leeds just don’t have late runners getting into the box and running beyond the defensive line, so it becomes easier to defend with all the play in front of the defence meaning they can keep their shape and break up attacks to then counter. Now, on the counter is where Leeds have really struggled. With tow deeper DMs Leeds concede a lot of real estate in midfield that opponents can easily run into and use to play out and relieve any pressure. This allows opponents to get midfield runners to attack our CBs and arrive late in the penalty area. The Leeds flanks are also continuing to be easily exposed as teams drag the FBs inside to allow their FBs to gallop into space down the wings. Take Cardiff’s first goal when Ayling got dragged inside high up the pitch, allowing O’Dowda an ocean of space to run unchallenged all the way to the Leeds box where his pull back was converted by midfielder Bowler, a late runner into the box. Too easy. This happened because Cardiff planned on Ayling being higher up the pitch and the Leeds winger not tracking O’Dowda’s run. A very simple but effect plan. At Birmingham the same happened, with their FBs constantly running beyond their wide men to create overlaps. It was only their lack of quality in attack that spared Leeds. Farke’s set up at Birmingham was baffling. Playing Shackleton wide right and Poveda in the 10 role made no sense. It unbalanced the team and produced very little threat going forward. Shackleton was clearly there to help cover Ayling when the ball got turned over, but even this didn’t really work. Buchanan made a number of dangerous runs from left-back and put Leeds under pressure. I don’t understand why Farke wouldn’t rather stick Poveda out wide and let him run at Buchanan all day, not only helping to create pressure on the Birmingham defence but also to keep Buchanan back deep and limiting his chances to get forward as the out ball. Farke needs to think about dumping the two DMs and letting Gray move up the pitch into the 8 role. It will allow Leeds to be more attacking and also stop opponents from playing out so easily. Let’s go for wins rather than trying not to lose first. It all feels a bit Marsch/Gracia with the two DMs. ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK!! OFF-FIELD ISSUES This is where I think Farke has his biggest problem. Tactics can be tweaked and formations can be changed, but vibes and culture are a different thing altogether. Farke hasn’t solved this conundrum yet. The pressure of managing Leeds, a club EXPECTED to win promotion this season, is a very different beast to the calm of Norwich City. The pressure and expectation at Leeds doesn’t just come from the club, but from the entire footballing world. Leeds are regarded as one of the big clubs, and everyone thinks they should be a top ten Premier League club. Paul Merson weighed in on Farke’s appointment on Sky, claiming that he felt Leeds was too big a club and job for Farke. Now, you don’t hear pundits commenting like this on Huddersfield, Norwich or Blackburn managerial appointments. That’s because they’re not held in the same regard as Leeds United. No doubt Farke would have heard Merson’s rant, and surely that would have driven home how big and sharp the spotlight is that’s following his every move is. Farke doesn’t seem to be coping very well with the pressure right now. He started off trying to temper expectations by saying that people shouldn’t e concerned if Leeds get off to a slow start, in fact, expect a slow start while he gets the team organised and familiar with his playing and management style. Say what? Bielsa took just six weeks to turn a runny pudding into a glorious cake. Sorry, Daniel, not having that! This is Leeds, you come here to win or get out of the way. We know what’s possible, don’t ask us to wait for results to come. Then Farke started to whine about contracts, and release clauses, and loan deals. He knew exactly what the situation was coming into Leeds, so he can’t now moan about it. If he simply said that players leaving because of relegation clauses wasn’t helpful, then fine. But he didn’t. Farke decided to start attacking players’ loyalty, claiming that any player with release clauses were mercenaries who weren’t committed to their clubs. In essence, he immediately pointed a finger at the likes of Wober, Adams, Harrison and any other player with a release clause. Not very good leadership skills. He went further by stating that he would never allow the club to sign players who wanted a release clause inserted into their contracts. He wanted the club to hold all the power over the player, and to be in complete control of transfer negotiations. That’s a nice thought Daniel, if you’re an established Premier League club with little threat of relegation. This no clause stance will not have gone unnoticed in the football world, and I guarantee you that a very large chunk of potential transfer targets have suddenly written Leeds United off as a destination right now. The comments from Farke, and his continued moaning about contracts, has been utterly ignorant at best. He’s alienating players at the club, and also driving away potential new signings. The fact that the likes of Sinisterra and Gnonto are now looking to leave has nothing to do with Leeds United the club, but almost certainly everything to do with not wanting to play for Farke. His public berating of players saying they can go train on their own and play in the U21s for a season will not sit well in the dressing room. Players form close friendships and bonds, and most importantly they value talent in the squad. Maybe he’s misunderstood “Side Before Self” and taken it literally. It’s not looking very clever. Farke’s negative comments may have sparked joy amongst the fan base, and it certainly has been well received by the social media trolls, but it’s only result has been to create a toxic atmosphere and driven a wedge between fans and players. This is definitely not the way to build a promotion campaign, but a fast track to losing the dressing room, regardless of the “we’re all together and fighting” rhetoric. The team didn’t look very together and fighting on Saturday. Leeds have talent in abundance, we know that. Farke’s system and divisive leadership is not creating a platform for the talent to shine and produce results. The vibe at Leeds is getting more and more negative and toxic each day, and Farke has been a major cause of this. The time has come for him to shut up about contracts and transfers, and to focus on the players and the football. Let the transfer market take us where it may, and get on with the fkn job of getting Leeds promoted. I desperately want Farke to succeed and shut up the doubters. Farke has the ability to create something special at Leeds. The question is, will his implosion continue or will he step up and do his job properly without all the bluster and condemnations? Side before self isn’t a stand-alone approach to winning, it’s the final piece of the jigsaw. Solve the puzzle first, Daniel.
I don’t have a problem with FARKE yet as I think he’s doing ok and the football is a mile ahead of anything we saw last season it’s almost like I can see what he wants to do but not knowing who he has to do certain roles. The off field stuff is killing the club and as usual nobody wants to come out and say anything, not even hey we know it looks bad but it’s all in hand. No we get nothing, the captain is silent and the only player voices are those saying sod it Im off. I believe a lot of upset happened in last seasons dressing room and conversations were had about who had what type of relegation clause. In other words the players gave up fighting due to shyte management and shyte football and accepted relegation was a way out of Leeds. Its now exploded. Talk of Adams staying, Wober staying, Sinisterra staying has all blown up now. The club have 2 weeks to bring in a very good striker a good AM, LB and maybe a winger if Summerville, Sinisterra go. I believe 49ers are shocked that they are not able to sell players but are losing them on loans. Short of cash and we may end up struggling
Interesting take on the current situation Billy but not one I'd agree with where Farke is concerned. At the end of the day he's just fielding media questions as best he can and my version is that he doesn't blame any player for exercising a clause that's written in their contract, in fact he's stated that publicly. Any criticism was aimed at the club for giving contol of the departures to the players by agreeing to the loan clauses in the first place and definitely not the players for taking up their contractual rights. However he did say he only wanted players who are fully commited to the club which is something every manager at every level would probably concur with.
Just a thought - were these clauses absolutely essential to sign those that have them? Would you be willing to risk your career on a club that narrowly avoided relegation? I wonder what calibre of player we would have signed if we refused to accommodate that requirement?
This is the level of head in the sand I don't understand ... Farke publicly slated Gnonto because his agent asked the club to consider a bid from Everton ... Farke's reaction was Gnonto could fk off and train on his own, his time playing for Farke is over ... the outcome was Sinisterra now wanting to go, because who wants to play for a manager who behaves so badly? Here's what a leader would have done: Gnonto's agent is approached by Everton to see if he'd be interested in a move ... agent says obviously because it's Prem and Everton are a big club ... agent asks Leeds to consider an Everton bid and negotiate a deal if possible, Everton go ahead and contact Leeds knowing Gnonto is partial to a move A leader would have sat down with Gnonto and his agent and explained that right now the club isn't keen on losing him because he's seen as a valuable part of a promotion push ... unless Everton came in with, say £35m, then the club would not accept a bid ... instead Willy, why don't you get your head down, work hard and give it your all until January ... if we're in the thick of a promotion battle by then you may even want to stay and get to the Prem with us this season ... at least you will have played a big part and clubs will take a closer look at signing you If we're struggling to get in the promotion hunt, we can look at offers for you in January if they meet our criteria, and then we won't stand in your way ... right now it's only Everton bidding, and they're trying to devalue you, which we're not accepting ... you are worth a lot more than £20m and they know it ... focus on Leeds, get us going up the table and then we can have a fresh look in January Had Farke done this, he would have had the respect of Gnonto and the dressing room ... instead he used Gnonto as an "example" of a player "not committed to the cause" and threw in Side Before Self to appeal to the fans ... it was a proper dick move that is going to have consequences, and it's going to hurt Farke a lot more than it will hurt Gnonto ... maybe Max Aarons walking away at the very last minute is already due to Farke's stupid behaviour ... yes, Bournemouth may be small in Prem, but in Iriola they have an excellent, progressive manager who I'm certain most players would rather sign for than Farke I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I want Farke to be a success at Leeds ... we can't afford for him to fail, because if we're still in the Championship next season it will become extremely difficult to get promotion ... Farke needs to dial it back with the public speaking ... it's his choice how he answers questions and attacking contracts, clauses and players is unbecoming of a Leeds United manager and definitely not the behaviour of a leader the players can trust and get behind It's now or never for Farke, get on with the football and stop behaving so badly
An excellent point Jock .. thing is, the club wouldn't have committed to these clauses if it wasn't to their benefit as well ... I'm writing a piece on the loans right now, should be up shortly
And there it is Doc, you've nailed it ... it's exploded for sure, but why? We now have players who don't have release clauses wanting gone, and that's never a good sign ... I say again, it's not Leeds United they want away from, it's a disrespectful manager Farke demands respect and trust, but seems unwilling to earn it
I wonder what Bielsa would've done with any player that he deemed not to be fully committed to the club and his methods. Guess we wil never know ?
During Thursday's pre match press conference Farke stated that Gnonto had trained well that day and if he did the same tomorrow (Friday) he'd be under consideration for a place in the squad for Birmingham. Now where have you read, or seen the comments that you're attributing to Farke such as saying he told Gnonto to **** off and train on his own ?
Max Arons a player who has worked with Farke for 4 years decided at the last minute he doesn't like him. Because Farke said a player doesn't want to play about a player who didn't want to play, and Aarons knew this in advance because he said it hours after arons was in Bournemouth. What planet?
Let's use Drameh as a reference point ... the lad told the club he needed to play more regularly to aid his development ... fine, Bielsa said, if this is how a player feels I won't stand in his way and he can go out on loan to aid his development ... he didn't tell Drameh his Leeds career was over, and he didn't banish him Farke has trolled the life out of the contracts, clauses and mercenaries narrative and it's not helping ... his tactics have been piss poor and he needs to buck up ... I still back him, but I can see a fkn hurricane swamping him very quickly unless he changes direction fast, and that's not good for Leeds United
Planet Reality ... think about it ... players talk, and regardless of Aarons having worked with Farke before, the Bournemouth environment must have felt a thousands times better than Leeds right now ... a quick hop onto social media and all you'll see is toxic vibes and lots of animosity towards players in general driven by "if you don't want to be here, fk off" How pathetic, and Farke has to take his share of responsibility for driving this toxicity, even if it wasn't his intention ... very unprofessional
He said "a player will train on his own if he's not committed, I don't want him ... he can even have his own dressing room to change in away from the group" It's not hard to figure out ... as for "not training well" meaning you're not in the squad, by omitting Gnonto, Farke is basically saying Willy isn't committed and won't play ... he used the "if he trains well on Friday" as an excuse to throw him under the 100-ton truck never mind the bus Also, what does it say about Sonny Perkins, who isn't injured, that he couldn't make the bench? Farke is playing games that he really doesn't need to get involved in ... Gnonto is being flamed publicly and it's going to turn the fans against him ... if Leeds don't get the bid they want and Gnonto stays, what is Farke going to do? I'm telling you this now, without prejudice or hesitation, Farke is flirting with dressing room morale in a big way ... we will lose our most talented players and we won't replace them, and the players left in the squad won't forgive Farke if this happens, because it impacts their careers long after the manager has gone Farke is failing in his key task as manager ... he has to unite the club from top to bottom, get everyone pulling together towards the same goal with desire and belief Transfers will happen, that's the nature of football ... but a divided club and alienated fanbase is a recipe for disaster, and right now Farke is doing the Daily Mail's job for them
Pretty sure Farke said anyone who doesn’t train doesn’t make the squad. Perkins had been ill, didn’t train, and so didn’t make the squad.
Made up rubbish. He asked for a move. The club refused so Gnonto / his agent made themselves unavailable for the next game (which is why he is being disciplined by the club and exactly what the agent did with the Roma player). Quite rightly Farke told him to train away from the first team squad. Not sure what your issue is with Farke or who you want instead (please enlighten me) but please don’t harp back to Bielsa as that’s finished never to return.
