Whatever happens with his current crop of Leeds United players, they will never top the squad that won the title under Marcelo Bielsa.
One of the main reasons behind that is the fact that they were the first set of players in over a decade to help Leeds make a long-awaited return to the promised land.
From star playmaker Pablo Hernandez, boyhood fan Kalvin Phillps and midfield machine Mateusz Klich.
These players have etched their names into legendary status at Leeds and will be fondly remembered for, not only winning the title, but the manner in which they did it.
It needs to be remembered that it wasn’t all plain sailing, in Bielsa‘s debut campaign, the team crumbled right at the end and blew up in the Championship play-off semi-final to Frank Lampard’s Derby County.
Sound familiar?!
But 12 months later, Leeds were storming to the title and winning promotion but it came in the backdrop of empty stands.
The Coronavirus had gripped the world and brought everything to a standstill. It meant that Leeds’ promotion wasn’t celebrated as loud and proud as it could have been.
Klich opened up on that promotion and how his ‘only regret’ is there being ‘no fans in the stadium’ when they won the title, as he told The Athletic.
Leeds have one of the biggest fanbases in the country and you just know that they would have needed the whole of Yorkshire, and more, just to fit them in for a trophy parade that didn’t happen.
Leeds United’s promotion during COVID-19
“The only thing I regret — that we got promoted during Covid, and there were no fans in the stadium or a parade in the city,” admitted Klich.
“They waited 16 years for that and we couldn’t properly celebrate with the fans. I was hoping last season that the boys could go up and we could have a double parade to celebrate (Leeds lost in the Championship’s play-off final), but they have another chance now.”
Can Daniel Farke guide Leeds United to promotion?
Farke has promotion history with Norwich City, but Leeds is a different beast altogether because of the size of the club and the pressure he is under.
But the German can still take inspiration from the fact that it took Bielsa until his second season to get the club back where they belong.
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Time will tell if Leeds do that this season, as they have started the campaign in a mixed fashion, with the team not in trouble, nor sitting in the top two.
Leeds’ Yorkshire showdown against Sheffield United on Friday night will paint a better picture because that is a huge game in this promotion push.
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