Leeds United ghosts of last summer exorcised as key lesson learnt to aid promotion bid — Leeds Live 6/9/24
Leeds United have learnt their lessons and look stronger for it to challenge
There's an old worn out sport cliche that is trotted out as
seemingly a metaphor to be applied to anything these days, you know the one
that goes, "It's not how you start the race but how you finish it."
In the case of Leeds United's failed promotion attempt last season it was
definitely a case of how they started and how they ended the campaign which
affected the end result of missing out on the top two.
Daniel Farke's side can point to a shocking return of one
win in their last six league games when pushing, first for the title, and then
just for automatic promotion. Leeds ran out of steam in the final lap, having
had to work so hard to play catch up in the first place after a tough start to
the campaign. The fact the Whites had parity with Leicester City and Ipswich
Town going into the final two months of the campaign was impressive.
With four games gone of the current campaign Farke's team
have put a difficult summer behind them to sit fourth in the table on eight
points. Unbeaten and four points behind surprise leaders Sunderland, but ahead
of Burnley, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United, with only West Brom two points
ahead, Leeds are firmly in the mix and well positioned to kick on in the weeks
to come.
Contrast that to last season and again after a tough summer
following relegation and with players departing, Farke oversaw a return of five
points and a seven point gap on leaders Leicester. That gap would grow to eight
points in the next couple of games and by the time we'd reached the conclusion
of matchweek 10, Leeds were 11 points behind the Foxes and nine behind eventual
promoted side Ipswich Town.
We're four games in and with a tough run before the second
international break that features league games against Burnley and Coventry at
home, plus Cardiff, Norwich and leaders Sunderland away, there's still time for
things to go a little south and last season's situation replicated.
The difference a year on is that doesn't feel likely. Farke
has learned the lessons of last year in navigating his squad through the
turmoil of contract clauses, player departures and reshaping a side after a
huge disappointment. Leeds look much more settled as a group and while
supporter frustration was evident as the transfer window edged towards a close,
within the confines of Thorp Arch or the Elland Road dressing room, it appears
there was an ease and a calmness.