Leeds United manager Daniel Farke
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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Daniel Farke marked his 150th game in charge of Leeds United in Tuesday's League Cup win over Nottingham Forest. He knows his 151st will be “most complicated”.
The Whites begin their home campaign on Sunday against a Brentford side that has netted nine goals in their first two games of the season. This stretches to an incredible 20 goals in four fixtures when pre-season friendlies are included.
“At the moment, they are a bit like a bulldozer that is unstoppable,” said Farke of the Bees. “We need to be at our very best in order to control these moments because in the last weeks no other team was able to find a solution on how to stop them from scoring goals and winning games.”
Leeds, though, will hold a quiet confidence. They chopped down Forest on their own turf twice in four days over the past week; a 1-0 opening Premier League win thanks to Anton Stach’s 88th-minute free-kick, and the 2-0 midweek League Cup triumph.
There is a sense of optimism around Elland Road, which will be back up to full capacity on Sunday after the West Stand remained closed during pre-season with stadium expansion works underway.
Farke, now, wishes to expand his squad before deadline day. He is pleased with the business which has taken place so far, which includes club-record £40million arrival James Trafford and £34m defender Tarik Muharemovic.
But the boss has pointed out that nearly all of the new recruits - including most-recent signing centre-back Nico Elvedi and incoming back-up goalkeeper Michael Zetterer - have been upgrade replacements for players who have left.
“I've seen a few comments that we have improved our depth in the squad. That's not true,” Farke said. “I like our window so far, and all the signings are also spot on.
“But it was also necessary because we have also lost some top players who were very important for us last season. I think it's important and also our responsibility in the upcoming days to stay awake [to see] if we can improve the squad.”
Yet Farke nevertheless says the team in its current guise is “in a good mood and a good position” heading into Sunday's clash versus a Brentford side which has bolstered its own depth.
If Leeds are to grow beyond last season’s 14th-place finish, Farke - who is in the final year of his contract but will hope he has another 150 Leeds games ahead of him - knows that more is still needed.