Daniel Farke makes development admission as Leeds United and Norwich promotion stat emerges
Daniel Farke has admitted that he has developed as a manager since his time at Norwich City, as comparisons have emerged comparing his time at Carrow Road and Leeds United.
The Whites have entered the November international break in third place in the Championship, eight points behind Ipswich Town and Leicester City who occupy the automatic promotion places currently.
During Farke’s last spell in England’s second tier with the Canaries, his side also had 31 points after the opening 16 matches. While the German’s side went on to win promotion to the Premier League, he believes he has grown and improved as a manager since that season.
As quoted by Leeds Live (14 November) he said: “Someone told me the last time I was working for Norwich on Championship level we had, after 16 games, exactly the same amount of points. So you can point on it and mention this.
“Obviously, they have the same manager, the same coach with the same believings about football and the same thoughts about football.
“I have also developed in the last couple of years and, hopefully, I’ve also improved and developed my thoughts [on] what I want to do. I am also not living too much in the past and not too much reflecting.
“Really, my only focus is here on Leeds United and I’m so grateful to work for this amazing club and all my thoughts and my whole heart is there to support my players here. They are different players, it’s a different club, different thoughts, different set-up and for that.”
Better manager
Leeds United supporters will likely see it as a boost that their manager was able to earn promotion to the top flight in his last Championship job, with the same start as they have had at Elland Road this year. But realistically, it is likely nothing more than a coincidence.
Farke’s beliefs may be the same now as they were at Carrow Road, but he has said that he has developed and changed as a manager since then and the Championship has done exactly that, becoming an even more competitive division.
The Whites are only just over a quarter of the way through the campaign and while some are already suggesting that Leicester and Ipswich are shoo-ins for the top two places, there is a hell of a lot of football to be played this season.
Between now and the end of the campaign, there are 90 points to play for and in that context, Leicester and Ipswich’s eight-point lead doesn’t seem that big. Hopefully, Farke’s history can be repeated and Leeds can close that gap in the coming months.
In other Leeds United news, Liam Cooper has revealed that he is acting like a secret agent to tempt one Whites star to play for Scotland