Daniel Farke has highlighted Leeds United’s brilliant fitness levels but it hasn’t always been a positive of the squad.
Former Leeds United manager Sam Allardyce has questioned two of his predecessors for allowing the squad’s infamous fitness levels under Marcelo Bielsa to plummet.
Allardyce and Bielsa bookended Leeds’ previous three-year return to the top-flight between 2020 and 2023, the latter having won the Championship title before overseeing a ninth-placed Premier League finish. The Whites under Bielsa were renowned for their incredible fitness levels but a pile-up of injuries and poor results led to his departure in February 2022.
Jesse Marsch succeeded the now-legendary boss but lasted just 12 months, with a drop-off in Leeds’ energy levels clear as they slipped towards serious relegation trouble. Javi Gracia then lasted just 10 weeks in the dugout and failed to energise the squad before Allardyce's ill-fated four-game spell in which a return to the Championship was confirmed.
“Bielsa had the top physical stats in the Premier League, Leeds United were number one,” Allardyce told the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, reflecting on what he discovered when arriving at Thorp Arch. “So when I went to Leeds after two [more] managers, I’m thinking ‘at least they’re fit’.
“They were bottom three. The two managers after Bielsa allowed the physical stats to drop into the Premier League bottom three. I thought that if we were in the top six, at least we’d be fit enough to stay in a game, organise ourselves and stay in the game.
“I remember being manager of West Brom, they [Leeds under Bielsa] came down and were still going in the last 20 minutes as fast as they were in the first 20 minutes. So why on earth had the next two managers allowed that to slip?”
Leeds United fitness non-negotiable again under Daniel Farke
Those baseline fitness levels were non-negotiable under Bielsa and have returned to such status with Daniel Farke in charge. The Leeds boss has regularly highlighted his squad’s physical statistics in press conferences and while late concessions have been common, rarely have they come as a result of fatigue.
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“We as a newly promoted side have to always go over the line with our physical output,” Farke said on one occasion ahead of facing Everton last month. “We are in the top-two for physical stats, sprints, distance covered. We need to invest a lot as we can't just dominate games like on Championship level.”
Leeds recruited last summer with a heavy focus on physicality, welcoming strong runners such as Sean Longstaff or Anton Stach into the midfield. The Whites also added Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha to their striker ranks, the pair both proving dependable outlets who have overcome sketchy recent injury records to make significant contributions.
That improved physicality has seen Leeds become a very difficult team to beat, particularly since Farke tweaked his approach to better highlight the strengths of his squad. The German’s side have lost just two of their last 13 Premier League games, a run which leaves them three place and six points clear of relegation ahead of Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa.
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