Daniel Farke makes our ‘sack him’ cynicism look absolutely insane | OneFootball

Is it perfect timing or dumb luck if the day you drop into the relegation zone is the day everything falls into place? That’s a question for Leeds United and specifically Daniel Farke.

It’s only 10 months ago that Farke’s side slipped to 18th in the Premier League after a 3-2 defeat at Manchester City.

Leeds had won only three of their 13 Premier League games upon returning to the top flight for another go, and defeat at City was their sixth in seven Premier League games. The narrative around Daniel Farke had only hardened. Excellent manager in the Championship. Brilliant at steering sides into the Premier League. But a waste of time once you get there.

Scott Parker without the chip on his shoulder, basically. Even here we wondered aloud ahead of that season whether Burnley, Leeds or both might actually be justified in rewarding their promotion-sealing managers with P45s and warm best wishes for the future. A future presumably spent getting another team into the Premier League.

Seems absolutely insane now. But it still made perfect sense a long way into last season. But something happened at half-time at the Etihad that changed everything.

Initially it led to heartbreak. Leeds, 2-0 down and out of the game at half-time, had switched to a back three and roared back to level the score on the back of two half-time substitutions.

Alas, Phil Foden, who had opened the scoring in the first minute, finished it in the 91st. City took the win, Leeds and Farke took something less tangible but over the rest of the season and into this one of far greater significance.

It already looks incredibly significant; it could end up one of the Premier League’s great sliding doors moments.

Because that second half at the Etihad sparked something in Farke and Leeds that sees them now sitting fifth in the early Premier League table and very correctly considering European qualification an entirely reasonable target.

After that second half at City, Leeds went on a seven-match unbeaten league run that included a win over Chelsea, two draws against Liverpool and another against Manchester United.

For the rest of the season they behaved at worst like a mid-table side and at their best something rather more. Another eight-match unbeaten run in the spring, featuring eye-catching wins at Manchester United and over Brighton, saw them end the season well clear of any swirling relegation unpleasantness going on beneath them.

They could even enjoy a 3-0 defeat at West Ham on the final day, taunting their opponents who would instead be the ones making the step down in class.

Leeds didn’t hit the headlines with their summer activity, but what it has been is clever, thoughtful and efficient. An upgrade here, a squad gap filled there. A genuinely impressive capture of James Trafford to take the No. 1 spot.

And now all things seem possible. They are unbeaten. They have produced one of the most captivating one-off performances of any side all season in the demolition job inflicted upon Newcastle.

A frustrating goalless draw against Crystal Palace just before the international break is a slight reality check. Yet even here are signs of progress simply in being able to now find such incredibly minor setbacks against seasoned Premier League opposition so intensely frustrating.

Leeds have become a genuinely impressive Premier League side, and have done it in the image of a manager for whom Our League had for so long appeared to present an uncrackable code.