Daniel Farke is close to achieving the impossible – matching Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United | OneFootball

“I haven’t returned to Leeds mainly because the feeling of nostalgia is something that, at times, one resists confronting,” Marcelo Bielsa told reporters on his return to English soil last month.

“Everything to do with my time at that club I experienced with nostalgia. I see it as one of the most beautiful memories football has given me.”

It would be an understatement to say that the feeling is mutual with the Leeds United fanbase.

That much was evident from the stands at Wembley for England’s friendly against Uruguay, pockets of Leeds supporters all around the stadium wearing shirts, holding banners and chanting for the messiah-like figure that led the club out of their Football League wilderness.

The scenes for that instantly forgettable friendly were reminiscent of the times that Leeds fans will remember first-hand, when fans of Newell’s Old Boys, Marseille and Athletic Club would flock to Elland Road to see the latest iteration of Bielsaball in the flesh.

Daniel Farke has emulated Bielsa in achieving promotion – as champions, at the second time of asking – but it would be difficult to ever something like that again.

You don’t see Farke’s face around any murals in the city. There’s no city centre street named after the German. You’ve never heard of the widows of Farke, have you?

That’s not to discredit anything that Farke has achieved in his three seasons at the club. He’s passed (almost) every test that’s been asked of him, from handling two incredibly difficult and chaotic summer transfer windows to taking Leeds up as champions with a hundred points.

But the context is different. Everything with Farke and Leeds has felt a lot more… business-like, in comparison. But the context meant that was always going to be the case.

Farke didn’t inherit a mediocre bunch that finished miles off in the Championship, having spent over a decade outside of the Premier League. The ‘sleeping’ part of ‘sleeping giant’ always felt particularly apt when it came to Leeds when Bielsa walked through the doors of Thorp Arch and changed everything in 2018.

The Argentinian oversaw a complete cultural reset, from the club to the fans to the city itself. Bielsa’s time in charge was the club’s great reawakening.

The size of Farke’s task was minuscule in comparison. There was a mess to clear up in the wake of the club’s 2023 relegation. Scattergun recruitment under Victor Orta had taken its toll. Directly succeeding Sam Allardyce in the dugout tells you everything about the state of the club.

Bouncing back was anything but a given, but Farke was dealt a considerably easier hand than Bielsa. Steady ownership, relatively healthy finances, some players too good to playing in the Championship. Leeds got the best man for the job and he duly lived up to his reputation.

Therein lies the difference. ‘Best practice’ was exactly the right approach from the 49ers ownership group, to their credit, but it doesn’t exactly have the fairytale romance and mystique of Bielsa – interpreter in tow, bucket on the touchline, out-of-this-world football.

You were always left with a sense that when the time came for Farke to depart, it would come with the kind of functional, card-hard business logic that came with his appointment in the first place. A handshake, a ‘thank you’, genuine respect and appreciation for all he’s done, but ultimately a look ahead to moving forward with the next guy.

That’s not to say that there isn’t a lot of love for Farke. If reports are to be believed, the Leeds board were on the cusp of ruthlessly replacing him after he’d achieved promotion in the summer, only to change tack due to the outraged sentiment within the fanbase.

Even then, it was impossible to escape the feeling that he was on borrowed time. The managerial equivalent of a Dwight Gayle, Adam Armstrong or Rob Earnshaw. Your classic ‘too good for the Championship, not good enough for the Premier League’. Two miserable top-flight stints at Norwich City. A record of 0.5 points per game in the Premier League with the Canaries had him down there with the likes of Scott Parker.

Indeed, you imagine there would have been an acceptance had Leeds pulled the trigger when Farke was reportedly a game or two away from the sack back in November. The prevailing mood at the time was that things had probably run their course.

What a difference a few months makes. Not only has Farke demonstrated an admirable pragmatism that few knew he had in him, but his masterclass of a shift to a back three has Leeds making as decent a fist of survival as anyone could have possibly predicted.

Seventeenth would always have represented an excellent return for Leeds this season, particularly in the wake of the last six promoted clubs all sinking straight back down like a stone.

Squeaking survival would mean the world to Leeds. Particularly the club’s coffers. But what will really write Farke’s name into Leeds folklore – into the realms of a Bielsa – would be something spectacular. Like a cup run all the way to Wembley.

Leeds haven’t made it to a cup final in 30 years. They haven’t made it to an FA Cup semi-final since 1987. Nobody under the age of 40 has a memory of Leeds making it to the final four of the world’s most historic cup competition.

And now they’re there. This is already something special.

Yes, Leeds have been fortunate with the luck of the draw. Three Championship sides and a rotated, 18th-place West Ham. But we’ve just seen Arsenal dumped out by second-tier opposition. The likes of Fulham and Sunderland, safe in midtable, miss golden opportunities to progress.

Humiliation FA Cup exits to the likes of Newport County, Sutton United and Histon are still fresh in the memory. Leeds United’s greatest team under Don Revie suffered an infamous defeat to fourth division Colchester United in 1971. Even Bielsa’s Leeds lost to League Two Crawley Town, who added further indignity by subbing on reality tv star Mark Wright in a 3-0 win.

Last season, Crystal Palace made it to Wembley by beating Stockport County, Doncaster Rovers, Millwall and Fulham. Who cares?

Leeds have literally won one FA Cup in their entire history. They haven’t been to a final in over half a century, their last appearance the famous Jimmy Montgomery defeat to Sunderland way back in 1973.

Farke isn’t there yet. There’s still work to be done. He’ll still be some way off Bielsa’s mythical status if Leeds produce yet another limp, depressing display and lose at Wembley – something they’re all too familiar with after years of play-off heartbreak and cup final anticlimaxes.

The biggest blot on Farke’s copybook was Leeds’ anaemic performance in the 2024 play-off final defeat to Southampton. The sense they left something out there. Now he has a chance to make amends.

You can hand Farke the keys to the city if he becomes the first Leeds manager in 34 years to deliver silverware, and only the second after Revie to lift the FA Cup.

It’s a big ask, with Chelsea and likely Manchester City standing in the way.

But Farke doesn’t necessarily need to get his hands on the trophy to inch up towards Bielsa status. Giving the fans a performance to be proud of, something to celebrate, and exorcising the demons of Wembley heartbreaks past would go a long way. Eric Cantona was the last Leeds player to score at Wembley.

Leeds are unbeaten against Chelsea this season, and played them off the park at Elland Road. They lost home and away to City, granted, but pushed Pep Guardiola’s title-chasers hard both times. It’s just two games and anything can happen.

The fans can genuinely dream of a trophy, which is uncharted territory for a whole generation. Farke deserves his flowers for making that happen.