Премьер лигийн шинэ улирлыг эхлүүлэхийн өмнөх судалгаагаар Лидс Юнайтедын дэмжигчдийн 99 хувь нь багийнхаа амжилтад өөдрөг үзэлтэй байгаагаа илэрхийлжээ.
Даниел Фарке пүрэв гарагт болсон хэвлэлийн бага хурлын үеэр дэмжигчдийн энэхүү өөдрөг хандлага нь багийн хувьд эерэг үзүүлэлт хэдий ч хэт хөөрөхгүй байхыг сануулав. Тэрээр хувьцааны зах зээл дээрх хөөс шиг гэнэтийн уналтаас сэргийлж, өнгөрсөн үеийн алдаануудаас суралцан бодит байдалтайгаа нийцтэй алхах шаардлагатайг онцолсон юм. Лидс Юнайтедын хувьд 2023 оны долдугаар сараас хойш удирдлагын түвшинд оновчтой шийдвэрүүд гаргаж байгаа нь дэмжигчдийн итгэлийг сэргээхэд гол нөлөө үзүүлжээ.
Ням гарагт Ноттингем Форест-ын талбайд зочлох тоглолтын өмнө Фарке өөрийн гэрээний нөхцөлийн талаарх асуултуудыг тойрч, багийн трансфер болон ойрын тоглолтуудад анхаарлаа төвлөрүүлж байгаагаа илэрхийлэв. Тэрээр 2027 оны зургадугаар сард дуусгавар болох гэрээнийхээ талаар илүү дэлгэрэнгүй ярихаас татгалзсан юм. Өмнөх улиралд Чемпионшип лигт 100 оноотойгоор түрүүлж, Премьер лигт 14-р байрт орсон амжилт нь Фаркед дахин нэг боломж олгосон хэдий ч багийн тогтвортой байдлыг хангах нь түүний гол зорилго хэвээр байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Ninety-nine per cent of Leeds United fans polled by The Athletic on their hope ahead of the new season said they were optimistic this month. No other set of fans in the Premier League matched that percentage in our survey.
It is a strange world when the optimistic epicentre of the top flight is in West Yorkshire, but it sums up the feel-good factor around Elland Road this summer. It has not escaped manager Daniel Farke’s attention either.
In Thursday’s press conference, ahead of Saturday’s visit to Nottingham Forest, Farke was asked if his job was made harder by the optimism around the club.
“I’ve read something today, or someone has mentioned it: we are the most optimistic club in the whole Premier League to head into the season,” he said. “Ninety-nine per cent of our supporters are optimistic.
“I don’t want to change this one bit because this club has suffered so long and was pessimistic for so long. It’s just proof we have done so much correct in the last years and I’m happy about this.”
He’s right. The key decision-makers at Leeds, including Farke, have made a lot of very good, sensible, obvious decisions since July 2023 and the result of that is this current glow.
There is no better time for optimism than before a ball is kicked, before the harsh refereeing decisions, dodgy deflections and unfair results start to spoil it all. For now, and arguably the first time in 25 years, Leeds fans can dare to feel like they support a competently run, well-financed football club.
Thursday’s media briefing was saturated with questions about the season ahead, United’s prospects, what Farke considers a good season and what may constitute failure. The 2026 edition of the manager’s State of the Union address was embraced the optimism but was cautious about getting carried away.
Leeds fans need to go back 25 years to find a period of such positivity (George Wood/Getty Images)
“I want our supporters to be exactly like this (optimistic),” he said. “I just want to mention, if this were the mood on the stock exchange, 99 per cent optimism, the bubble will burst very soon.
“I have to make sure I don’t allow this because, if we put the crossbar to the good old days of 40 years ago, playing for the title and position 14 is not good enough anymore, or we have to do three or four positions better, then we are completely on the wrong path.
“I won’t allow this because this is exactly what we did a few years ago and it ended in a disaster. A great coach like Marcelo (Bielsa) lost a job here.
“We had a disaster, financial chaos, four different managers within six months, relegation back to the Championship. I try everything within my skills to do better, but it will be difficult, otherwise, we would have done it before.”
The last time Leeds put two good top-flight seasons back-to-back was 2000-01 (fourth) and 2001-02 (fifth). The slide to League One began thereafter and, as Farke mentioned, when Bielsa took the club back in 2020-21, they fell apart in 2021-22.
Lessons from that collapse, which began with an underfunded summer of poor recruitment, have been learned. When you break down the state of play at Leeds, you understand why the fans are daring to dream again.
Further recruitment is expected before the window closes, but of course, any Leeds fan of any vintage should, rightly, be shaking their head as they read this. They might be optimistic, but they will also recognise that feeling that it is supposed to go wrong from here. It’s a defence mechanism.
The one loose thread, on which the media invited Farke to pull, was his own future. In a long list of sound decisions, the absence of a new contract for the manager stands out.
After an ill-fated season 2023-24 season, in which Leeds finished third with 90 points but lost the Championship play-off final to Southampton, they secured promotion with a 100-point Championship title the following season. A 14th-place top-flight finish, in which they lost just five times in their final 25 games, has put Farke in a strong position. And yet, as the season nears, he continues to count down to a June 2027 contract expiry.
He tried to defuse any analysis of that his own contract situation by talking up the importance of the last days of the transfer window and the imminent matches ahead. It should not have taken this long for his future to be decided, however.
The manager was trying to keep everyone grounded on Thursday. This will not be easy, but the support should be allowed to dream. This is what he wanted when he channelled his compatriot Jurgen Klopp in April 2024.
In the same way Klopp said Liverpool’s transition began by turning doubters into believers in 2015, as Leeds aimed for Championship promotion, Farke said: “I would like to invite everyone to be a believer.”
Eight hundred and fifty-three days later, the German may finally have his wish.
