Daniel Farke may wield plenty of influence at Leeds United but he has a long way to go to match the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson which loomed over English football in his Manchester United heyday.
And, with the upcoming international break set to leave the Elland Road boss checking the news like the most obsessive of doomscrollers – desperately hoping to avoid any injuries which would hit Leeds United hard in the Championship run-in – Daniel Farke can only dream of being able to take a leaf out of the Sir Alex Ferguson playbook.
Manchester United and the FA were often at opposite ends of the rope as regular tug-of-wars took place with regards to the Red Devils’ availability for Three Lions’ duty.
As former Old Trafford stalwart Nicky Butt would later explain, in an era when Paul Scholes, David Beckham and the Nevilles were also England regulars; ‘At one stage, there was nine of us [up for international duty] and he would pull one or two of us out and let the other six go’.
Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images
Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images
Leeds United boss wishes he could copy Sir Alex Ferguson’s trick
Brenden Aaronson lost his place in the USA set-up. Ironically, ousted by the Leeds-linked Diego Luna. But Joe Rodon, Dan James, Manor Solomon, Largie Ramazani and Ao Tanaka are all likely to be earning plenty of air miles over the coming weeks.
Isaac Schmidt is reportedly in line for a maiden Switzerland call-up too.
“I hope the lads involved in international games will come through without injuries,” Farke admits. “Sadly, the days of Sir Alex Ferguson are over, who could just call the national team managers and say; ‘No, no, listen I keep my players’.
“Sadly, I can’t do this. I can ask carefully sometimes for a little bit of help but, yeah, the days that you could just resist sending your players are sadly over.”
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Farke is determined to see the positives, however.
The manager spoke about the rapid turnaround of a Sunday-Wednesday-early-Saturday schedule in his Thursday press conference. Leeds will have only 60 hours recovery time before kick-off against Queens Park Rangers this weekend.
Farke hopes to have Patrick Bamford and Max Wober back soon
A couple of weeks off, then, should only benefit those not on international duty. The likes of Illan Meslier, Junior Firpo, Jayden Bogle and Joe Rothwell, to name but four.
Farke is also hopeful to have both Patrick Bamford and Max Wober available again when the Championship season resumes in late-March.
“Overall, I think it is beneficial for us,” Farke adds. “In terms of getting Bamford and Max a bit closer to the team.”
Leeds travel to Loftus Road after getting back to winning ways in midweek. A Jake Cooper own goal and a late Ao Tanaka stunner saw Farke’s side leapfrog Sheffield United and go two points clear at the summit.
The manager is also relieved to avoid any further injuries. Joe Rothwell picked up a slight knee issue on Wednesday while Isaac Schmidt was missing from the squad due to illness.
“What I can say is that there is no injury concern,” Farke smiles. “And more or less each and every player who was with us yesterday seems to be available, at least for the squad.
“Isaac Schmidt, for the last game, he felt unwell. That was the reason why he was not involved in the squad.
“He was back in training today. He could also be a topic for [the QPR game] as well. As it stands, I hope I will have more or less the whole group to pick from, plus Isaac Schmidt, for the travelling squad.”