Daniel Farke has praised Leeds United’s remarkable Premier League survival campaign after the Whites officially secured safety with games still left to play.
Leeds extended their unbeaten run to seven matches following Monday night’s 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, a result that further highlighted the resilience and consistency which have defined their season.
Despite missing key players including Jayden Bogle, Gabriel Gudmundsson and Noah Okafor before losing Pascal Struijk during the match, Leeds once again found a way to battle for a valuable result away from home.
The achievement marks a huge turnaround for Farke, whose position had come under serious pressure earlier in the campaign.
Now, with 44 points already on the board, the German coach believes his side has delivered one of the club’s finest recent seasons.
“Whatever happens right now, nothing will take away that we have played an unbelievable season and amazing outcome, and how big of achievement this is for the club,” Farke said.
“Because to be the first team together with Sunderland since a while, who breaks a curse as a promoted side, [even] though we haven’t spent that much money like some other clubs in the past – it says a lot about this team.
“To already be on this amount of points and safe with three games to go is a massive and in addition to that, also unbeaten in the league against Liverpool, against Chelsea, against Man United – first away [league] win at Old Trafford since four decades. FA Cup semi final.
“Couldn’t be much better performance wise. Perhaps we should have been on even more points right now, but couldn’t be more proud of my players and for that, whatever happens, a fantastic achievement.”
Even with survival secured, Farke insisted Leeds have no plans to slow down in the final weeks of the season.
“But exactly what we’ve shown today, we also want to show this and to spoil our supporters even a bit more in our final home game, and then also, of course, on the final game day.
“If we can extend our unbeaten run and keep going, would be great, and we will fight till the end for every point until the last game.”
Meanwhile, the Leeds boss highlighted the collective mentality, tactical flexibility and fighting spirit that helped his team survive in one of the toughest leagues in world football.
“As a promoted side, you won’t win one point just due to pure individual quality, not one point.
“So you have to make sure that your fitness level is outstanding. You have to make sure that your game plan is always outstanding for each game, because you always face teams who have better individual quality.
“You have to be flexible in your tactical approach. You need to be able to play several base formations in order to mirror your opponent.
“You need to be able to change it during the game. Sometimes you also play hybrid against the ball, a different formation than with the ball, but you also need resilience and spirit and togetherness and really a culture full of values, and this is what we’ve shown.”
Farke also stressed that Leeds never abandoned their football identity despite the demands of survival football.
“And in addition to that, we are also the mentality to be brave, to play on the front foot and still to stick to our DNA.
“Normally, I like to play in the top half of the league and to fight for titles and our football is normally pure dominance and being good in possession.
“Yes, on this level, you can’t just play all the top teams out of the park, so you have to adapt it a bit, but still keep the DNA and be brave and play football whenever it’s possible.
“Today, it was a bit more like a hard-fought and a bit scruffy point. But we’ve also shown many, many good football performances. And this is also quite important.”
Leeds will now aim to finish the season strongly as Farke’s men continue to build momentum heading into next campaign.
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