Leeds United take Daniel Farke gamble as Carlos Corberan verdict issued after Cardiff City win
Daniel Farke is the most capable manager of getting Leeds United promoted according to all the stats and evidence amid links to Carlos Corberan, says Adam Pope.
The BBC journalist defended the Whites boss on Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet (23 September) amid negativity from fans in the wake of a 2-0 win over 10-man Cardiff City, laying out the “calculated gamble” of the 49ers to put the German at the head of their operation.
Farke’s job has come under pressure early this season after two draws to start the campaign and a home defeat to Hull City [Inside Elland Road, 19 September], but Pope suggested people are being too demanding around style of play.
He said (9m): “It’s not [Marcelo] Bielsa and I get that, but if that’s your biggest crime there is nothing that Daniel Farke can do about that.
“This was a calculated gamble, if you want to call it a gamble, to go, ‘Who is the best fit for Leeds United to get back into the Premier League?’ All the stats, all the evidence, shows that Daniel Farke is the most capable of doing that.
“It would have happened last year, every other year. This year he’s going about it in a way to suggest that he could be there again. What do people want?”
With links re-emerging to West Brom boss Corberan [Sunday Mirror, 22 September, page 72] it was suggested by Simon Rix the Spaniard would be “even more boring”, with Pope adding “that’s very attritional”.
Daniel Farke cracks appear with 49ers at Leeds United
If Farke manages to go on the same run of form that his side produced last season after a slow start the current gripes might prove to be a fuss about nothing.
But it is what came after that which is largely responsible for the German’s position being called into question so early this term, with resuts at the end of the campaign falling off a cliff to throw away an automatic promotion spot before falling short in the play offs.
On a comparative shoe-string budget Corberan also got the Baggies into the end-of-season knock-outs and currently sits five points ahead of the Whites in top spot.
But it seems unlikely that the former Bielsa coach would be available from The Hawthorns after seemingly shunning interest in a return to Elland Road in the Premier League when linked previously before Javi Gracia’s appointment [Telegraph].
Farke can argue that ending in the play offs after a 90 point season is unfortunate, but being the odd one out when the other two relegated sides went straight back up isn’t a strong look, and it doesn’t detract from the fact that the Whites threw it away in the final weeks of the campaign.
And with cracks starting to appear in the relationship between the manager and the 49ers [Graham Smyth, 15 September] it isn’t impossible a change being made.
Corberan, on paper, might be the ideal option but it is equally true that the Whites could do far worse than Farke, so the pressure is on all round for things to improve quickly.
In other Leeds United news, the preferred exit destination has emerged if the club aren’t able to keep hold of a key regular Whites starter.
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