Inside Daniel Farke's giant survival plan — Mail 3/8/25

Inside Daniel Farke's giant survival plan: Why Leeds made physicality and set-pieces the focus of their summer - and the one key position they still want to strengthen, writes AADAM PATEL

By AADAM PATEL and JONNY COOPER

The running joke at Leeds United this summer is that if you aren’t around 26 years old and tall, then the chances are the club aren’t interested.

And in reality, that is very much the plan, with all seven signings at Elland Road so far at least 5ft 11in and around their prime.

When the recruitment team at Leeds set out their strategy for the transfer window and their bid to stay up, physicality and set-pieces were keywords.

As one Leeds source told Mail Sport: ‘Physicality was something we lacked last season and something we identified as one of the major things we needed to improve if we want to compete in the Premier League. It’s no secret either that we had to get better at set-pieces.’

Of the 1,115 goals in the Premier League last season, 229 (20.5 per cent) came from set-pieces, excluding penalties. In 2023-24, the figure was 19.8 per cent.

‘It’s not a coincidence,’ said boss Daniel Farke when asked about the signings after Saturday's 1-1 draw against Villarreal.

‘If you join the Premier League with one of the smallest groups, there’s more pressure. You have to make sure you’re good at defending corners and set-pieces. We are more likely to need to score goals from set-pieces because I’m not sure if we can dominate games the way we did in the Championship.’

Staying in the Premier League has never been more difficult for newly promoted teams. In the last two seasons, all of the promoted clubs have been immediately relegated, something that had only happened once before, in 1997-98.

Leeds’ analysis identified the clear difference between intensity levels in the Premier League and the Championship and pinpointed physicality across all positions as something they had to focus on for their return to the top flight.

First through the door was 6ft 4in Slovenian central defender Jaka Bijol from Udinese for £15million. The 26-year-old led the rankings at Euro 2024 for clearances (38) and was second behind Virgil van Dijk for headed clearances (21) despite playing in only four games at the tournament.

Bijol continued to post impressive defensive numbers in Serie A last season, ranking joint-fourth for aerial duels won (110), fifth for headed clearances (103) and fourth for overall clearances (182).

That said, his style does see him on the receiving end of the referee’s ire — only two players picked up more yellow cards last season than he did (11), and he was the second most booked defender in Serie A over the last three seasons with 25 yellows.

Bijol will be suspended for Leeds’ first game against Everton, due to the red card he got playing for Udinese in his last Serie A game in May.

Sebastiaan Bornauw is another giant at centre half and fits the bill at 6ft 3in. The 26-year-old signed for £5.1m from Wolfsburg and, with 11 goals in 140 Bundesliga games, will certainly be an asset going up. ‘I think as a centre back, I am dangerous in front of goal. I like set-pieces, offensive set-pieces,’ the Belgian said when he signed.

Lukas Nmecha also joined from Wolfsburg and at 6ft 1in will be a handful. There were early signs of his strong hold-up play when he started against Manchester United in Stockholm and he scored in both of Leeds’ friendlies in Germany, albeit against weak opposition.

Nmecha has struggled with injury, playing only 22 league games in the last two seasons and starting only three, so he was let go for free.

The 26-year-old averaged four shots per 90 minutes and had the best expected goals ratio per 90 minutes (0.90) of any player to feature in at least 400 Bundesliga minutes in 2024-25.

These are small sample sizes, but Leeds see potential in a player who also has some Premier League experience — he played two games for Manchester City late in their 2017-18 title-winning season.

A direct replacement for Junior Firpo will be Swedish left back Gabriel Gudmundsson, who played nine Champions League matches for Lille last season and joined in a deal worth £10m.

He scored four goals and got three assists in 137 games for Lille in all competitions and the 26-year-old will be key in moving Leeds upfield, with only two Ligue 1 left backs carrying the ball a further distance (4,032 metres) last season, while none of those had more shots following a ball carry than he did (nine).

At 5ft 11in, he is tall for his position and crucially, his injury record is good but Leeds have a hole to fill, with Firpo providing four goals and 10 assists last season. If Gudmundsson can improve his end product, then Leeds may have a gem on their hands.

The arrival of Sean Longstaff for £12m from Newcastle offers Leeds something they severely lacked in their last season in the top flight — bundles of Premier League experience. The 27-year-old has played 171 times in the Premier League.

Longstaff’s hard-working style is also bound to endear him to a fanbase who appreciate industrious players willing to give their all — he has covered the most distance per 90 minutes of any Premier League player to play at least 2,500 minutes over the last two seasons (12.3km).

Also joining is Anton Stach, the 6ft 4in twice-capped German midfielder who signed from Hoffenheim for £17m. Stach led all Bundesliga players across the past two seasons for interceptions (120), and he ranked third for possession won (393) and fourth for each of tackles (142) and duels won (381).

His versatility — similar to that of captain Ethan Ampadu, who is adept in central defence and defensive midfield — could also prove handy. Last season, the 26-year-old filled in at centre back in 33 per cent of his Bundesliga minutes, with the rest coming in midfield.

Dealing with set-pieces was also a key factor in signing Brazilian goalkeeper Lucas Perri from Lyon for £15.6m but above all, Leeds wanted a good shot-stopper with a commanding presence.

In Ligue 1 last season, according to Opta’s xGoT (Expected Goals on Target) goalkeeping model, Perri prevented six goals and posted a save percentage of 72.5 per cent.

His numbers were even more impressive in the 2023 Brazilian top flight, registering a 78.4 per cent save ratio — the best of any goalkeeper with 10 or more games — and preventing an incredible 12 goals according to his xGoT. Perri is 27 and like the other arrivals brings important top-level experience.

‘They are all really good footballers,’ said Farke.

 

’We don’t want to play basketball with them. They fit with what we want to do and they add a special physicality. Speaking about age, this is what I wanted because sometimes you underestimate how important experience at this level is.

'Often, you could go with a 30-plus player who has played many games but is on the way down. I didn’t want to do that. We are ambitious and want to be back for good. The pressure is on us and they have to live it straight away.

‘For that, I wanted experience of Premier League level, of Bundesliga level, Serie A level and so on. It’s important to have players with good age, good experience but not the finished products.

'We didn’t want to have projects. We didn’t want players just happy to get another contract. We want players who are ambitious. The general theme is quality and players on the way up the hill in their career.’

Leeds are still in the market for a first-choice striker, a left winger and are open to back-up options in other positions. As Farke says, central defence and central midfield are sorted and they will go into their Premier League opener against Everton under the lights at Elland Road, ready for battle.