Daniel Farke may be closing in on a third promotion out of the Championship but, as bashful as ever, the headline-dodging Leeds United boss is keen to ensure that the credit goes not to the man giving the instructions but those following them.
The Yorkshire giants moved five points clear at the summit as they cruised past Coventry City on Wednesday night.
While time clearly hasn’t thawed the frosty relationship between the Coventry boss and the visiting support, Frank Lampard was gracious enough to praise Leeds following another convincing three-point haul.
Daniel Farke’s side, he says, are ‘the best team in the league’ right now. Not just on paper, either, but a point backed up by Championship standings as Leeds gather momentum in top spot.
The former Norwich City boss is insistent that this should not be seen as a victory purely for he and his coaching staff, however, but the players who continue to follow his ideas to the letter.
Daniel Farke heaps praise on Leeds United stars
“I don’t want to get all the praise. The praise goes to the players. My attitude in general, in the mid and long term, is you get what you’re willing to invest,” Farke begins, speaking ahead of Leeds’ FA Cup fourth round clash with Millwall this weekend.
“One of my principles is the players should work professionally and have outstanding fitness levels.
“We want to train smart and also modern, take care for recovery of the players, don’t take any risk in terms of injuries but we want to improve and train hard. If you have this, in the mid and long term, it pays off. You can show this consistency in the long-term, especially in the second half of the season.
“To work methodically is also good. We try to improve the squad every week, the longer we have with the team to work they should improve in what they’re doing. It is quite often the second season in charge was a better season.”
Farke can point to his glorious follow-up campaign in charge of Norwich as proof of his argument.
The Canaries finished a distant 14th in 2017/18 but then stormed to the title the very next season, blitzing Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds side along the way. Farke also recalls guiding SV Lippstadt 08 from a relegation battle to the dizzying heights of second-place during his formative days in Germany’s lower leagues.
And while some expected Leeds to drop off following the loss of key creator Georginio Rutter, teen sensation Archie Gray, and Championship Player of the Year Crysencio Summerville, his team are actually five points better off after 31 matches this season with 66 than they were en route to last season’s third-place finish.
Farke singles out Joe Rodon as defender makes ‘another step’ forward
Summer recruits Jayden Bogle, Joe Rothwell and Ao Tanaka have made key contributions. Though Farke feels that some of last season’s stalwarts have also taken big strides forward, using Joe Rodon as an example.
“I think if you see players growing, like Rodon for example, they’ve made another step this season,” Farke adds. “Our [ambition] is to try and improve the squad. It doesn’t happen overnight.
“In the end, all the credit goes to the players. If they are at home and don’t work and live professionally, it will not pay off.”
In his first season as a permanent member of the Leeds squad, the £11 million signing from Tottenham Hotspur has played all-but four of a possible 2,782 minutes this term.
An almost ever-present, the Wales’ international’s fearsome aerial presence and his outstanding reading of the game is a major reason why Illan Meslier, despite all his critics, remains just two clean sheets behind Burnley’s James Trafford in the Championship’s Golden Glove battle.
Rodon could only take a portion of the credit in midweek, however.
Leeds needed Illan Meslier to pull of a ‘world-class’ save to keep out Coventry striker Ellis Simms shortly after half-time in the Midlands.
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