“Obvious” – Gus Poyet issues defence of Daniel Farke amid some Leeds United pressure

After questions were raised regarding his future, Daniel Farke has started to restore the faith shown in him by Leeds United.

 

The reasons why Leeds brought in the former Norwich City boss after their relegation to the Championship were crystal clear. He got the Canaries up to the Premier League twice – once as champions – and the hope was that this experience of winning promotion from the second tier would aid the Whites.

Leeds came as close as they could have done to achieving that goal without actually doing it. In the end, they narrowly missed out on both automatic promotion and ultimate success in the play-offs.

 

Their tail-off at the end of the last campaign was a concerning one. That combined with their start to the new campaign – two draws in their first pair of league fixtures – made sure those noises surrounding Farke’s future were sustained.

Former Sunderland and Greece national team boss Gus Poyet believes that history dictates that the German is the right man to lead United forward into the future.

 

Leeds lost a lot of top talent this summer with Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter all heading to Premier League teams.

 

Poyet exclusively told Football League World, via William Hill, that he believes this was the reason for their slower start to the campaign.

“The appointment of Farke was an obvious one,” said the experienced ex-EFL manager. “He has the credentials of promotion having won the Championship twice before.

 

“He fits the mould well for Leeds and it wasn’t his time last season after the poor start, they had a superb rest of the season, but just came up short in the final of the play-offs.

“Over the summer, they lost key players, key players who were a huge part of the success last season to get the team up the League and into the play-off final.

 

“It is difficult to replace them and to kick-start a new campaign with new players or players who have come through the academy. It will take time, but he has the credentials to do it.”

 

Leeds will struggle to find a better manager for them than Farke

In every other season in Championship history, the 90 point total that the Whites accumulated in the 2023/24 campaign would have been enough to get them over the top and finish in the top two at a bare minimum.