Development on Daniel Farke's Leeds United future emerges | OneFootball

The Whites' boss is under increasing pressure at Elland Road

Leeds United manager Daniel Farke is reportedly under pressure in the wake of the Whites' underwhelming start to the new Championship campaign.

Football Insider reporter Pete O'Rourke has claimed that the pressure is on for the German boss to deliver promotion this season after his side lost out in the 2023/24 play-off final to Southampton in May, and so their start to the new term has seemingly not impressed the Whites' board.

Leeds currently sit in ninth-place in the second-tier, with two wins, two draws and one loss from their first five league games, with that solitary defeat coming at home to Burnley last time out.

Farke previously delivered promotion from the Championship to the Premier League twice while in charge of Norwich City, and his aim was to do so with Leeds after being appointed last summer following their relegation to the second-tier, but he was unable to take the club back to the top-flight in his first campaign in charge.

According to O'Rourke, Leeds' chiefs expect to return to the Premier League for the 2025/26 season, so the pressure is on the 47-year-old to turn their fortunes around and get his side challenging at the top of the table soon, or he will likely face the sack.

Leeds' form must improve for Farke to stay in charge

Farke's position seems secure at this moment in time, but some more bad results in the next few weeks could see him on his way out of Elland Road as Leeds look for immediate results this season, as is the cutthroat nature of management when a team wants to reach the top.

He seemed to have all the right ingredients for automatic promotion last season as the Whites kept all of their top players, but they also started that campaign slowly, and still eventually ended up challenging Ipswich Town and Leicester City for the top two, but finished in third and then were narrowly beaten by Southampton at Wembley in the play-off final.

According to Football Insider's O'Rourke, the Whites' hierachy are wary that Farke's side recovered from their shaky start last season to be one of the best teams in the Championship after the first few weeks, so he may well be granted more time than expected to perform a similar upturn in form.

Leeds' position in the top-half of the table only really tells half of the story of their campaign so far, as they failed to win in their first three games in all competitions, with draws against Portsmouth and West Brom either side of a damaging 3-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough in the EFL Cup.

It seemed they had turned a corner after that loss though, with respective 2-0 wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City, but then another home defeat last time out, this time to Scott Parker's Clarets, looks to have ramped up the pressure on Farke heading into their clash against struggling Cardiff City on September 21.

Farke has been dealt a tougher hand this season after summer dealings

Despite Leeds still boasting one of the strongest squads in the second-tier this season, it is fair to say that Farke has been dealt a tougher hand this term after numerous key players were sold in the summer and the money brought in was not invested back into the squad.

Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, Archie Gray and Glen Kamara all departed Elland Road throughout the transfer window, and while each have been replaced by an incoming player, it is unlikely that the respective new faces will be able to instantly replicate the goalscoring and assisting feats of Summerville and Rutter, or the tenacity and quality of Gray and Kamara.

The Whites have taken punts on the likes of Largie Ramazani and Ao Tanaka, each unproven commodities in English football, and while both could definitely turn out to be great signings in the long-term, it is unfair to expect them to have an immediate impact on Farke's side.

New additions Jayden Bogle, Joe Rothwell and Manor Solomon, meanwhile, are players that can be expected to play to a top standard in the second-tier, but it is still tough to bed in so many new players while trying to compensate for huge losses across the pitch.

There can certainly be some element of blame placed on Farke's players in individual moments so far this season too, with missed chances such as Brendan Aaronson's shot to win the game against Portsmouth, or Mateo Joseph's great opportunity to open the scoring against Burnley that wasn't taken both huge moments that would likely have made the narrative around Farke's position a lot different at this moment in time.

Leeds must consider all these factors when assessing Farke's future, but it is pretty clear to see that he will not last much longer unless there is clear improvement in results soon.