Leeds United news as Angus Kinnear makes Daniel Farke and Marcelo Bielsa comparison
Angus Kinnear has compared Daniel Farke and his style of management to that employed by Marcelo Bielsa in his time with Leeds United.
The German took charge of the Whites over the summer following their relegation to the Championship under Sam Allardyce, after a lengthy interview process saw him deemed the perfect man to help the Whites return to the Premier League.
Kinnear has revealed that Farke barely discussed managing Leeds in the second tier, instead focusing on how United offered him the perfect opportunity to prove himself in the Premier League as a first-team manager rather than a coach.
Speaking to The Athletic’s Square Ball Podcast (7 September), Kinnear said: “When we were negotiating the contract, he didn’t want to be called head coach. That’s a semantic change in terms of job title but it actually sums up his approach, which is much more like Marcelo’s — ‘I want to run everything’.
“Daniel’s not going to report to a director of football. We’ve been through a really challenging transfer window where lots of managers would have lost their sh*t repeatedly. He’s been so calm, so collaborative, so focused. It’s exactly what a club the size of Leeds United needs.”
The perfect man
Although there are comparisons between Farke and Bielsa, the two are very different managers who have been perfect for the situation required at Elland Road. After all, it wasn’t very often that ‘El Loco’ was known for his calmness.
But as Kinnear said, few managers would have remained as focused and calm as the German manager has given the tumultuous circumstances at Elland Road since his arrival, leaving the Whites in the best possible situation following the significant turnover.
Whether it be in the reintegration of Wilfried Gnonto, the introduction of Archie Gray as a first-team regular or even acting as a deciding factor to convince Glen Kamara and Djed Spence to join the ranks at Elland, Farke has barely made a mistake since taking over at Leeds.
The next step will be bringing the results that the performances have probably deserved in the early stages of the season and forcing United up the Championship table and towards the play-off and promotion places, now that the circus of the transfer window has ended.
If Farke can be anywhere near as successful as Bielsa was at Elland Road, it’s set to be an exciting period for Leeds United fans.
In other Leeds United news, Junior Firpo has said that he is closing in on a return to action following his injury