Adam Pope has insisted that the record Daniel Farke boasts of suggests that he is Leeds United’s best bet to get back to the Premier League despite the grumbles about his style of football.
Farke and Leeds were desperately unlucky to miss out on automatic promotion last season despite scoring 90 points and Southampton ended up beating them in the playoff final.
Leeds are sitting sixth in the table after six league games this season but the the Whites fans have been left underwhelmed by the style of football their side have been playing.
They needed a late goal from Joel Piroe on Saturday to see off a struggling Cardiff City who were down to ten men and there have been grumblings in the background about their style and failure to take chances.
Pope insisted that Leeds may not be as entertaining a side to watch under Farke as they were when Bielsa was in charge of the Yorkshire giants but stressed the German is still their man.
Leeds have taken a calculated gamble on Daniel Farke and his record of getting teams promoted
The German got Norwich City promoted twice to the Premier League and in any other season, Leeds would have done the same last year after scoring 90 points.
Pope insisted that given the record Farke has, the Leeds board have taken a gamble on a man who has the record of getting teams out of the Championship.
He feels given the way Leeds are going at the moment, Farke will make sure that the Whites are in contention for promotion at the business end of the campaign.
“I think Leeds did a lot of good things. It may not be the most entertaining, it might be functional and it’s not Marcelo Bielsa – I get that. But if that is your biggest crime then there’s nothing Daniel Farke can do about that”, Pope said on the BBC’s Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet podcast.
“This is a calculated gamble of who is the best fit for Leeds to get back into the Premier League. All the stats and all the evidence show that Farke is the most capable around of doing that.
“It would have happened last year any other year. This year he’s going about it in a way that suggests that he could be there again. What do people want?”
