Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has channeled Jurgen Klopp’s opening Liverpool gambit of 2015 in his attempt to convert doubters into believers at Elland Road.
Merseyside’s red tide began to change in October 2015. Jurgen Klopp’s first news conference as Liverpool manager struck a chord with Leeds United head Daniel Farke.
When Klopp took the podium that day, the Reds had been without a league title for 25 years. At Anfield, 1970s and 1980s believers had given way to 21st-century doubters. Klopp attempted to shift that mindset with his initial move.
Within five years, Liverpool would be crowned English champions again, followed by another Champions League two seasons later. Farke has been at Elland Road for nine months and has led the club to the brink of automatic promotion from the Championship.
The German took over a fragmented squad during a rocky post-relegation summer, but he has guided the ship to a positive conclusion. Farke, on the other hand, has swiftly come to comprehend the fragile confidence that prevails along Elland Road’s terraces.
After 20 years of sorrow, disappointment, fury, and mismanagement, with the exception of three magnificent seasons with an Argentine, United’s fan base has come to feel that good things are not for them. Good results do not tend to stay in LS11, and the tension at Elland Road on a major matchday is all too clear to hear.
Farke, like Klopp nine years ago, wants to see a transformation in mentality at Leeds. He believes that optimism is a much better default state to live in.
“I totally believe in this group and I totally trust these players, but because we are not the finished end product, I can’t guarantee we will always be there with a perfect outcome,” he told reporters. “I don’t want to copy anyone, but I believe it was my German fella Jurgen Klopp who said, after joining Liverpool, ‘We have to start this process to become believers, not doubters.'”
“This is similar to how I would like to invite everyone affiliated with Leeds United. These guys have done an incredible job, as has the club and its important members, to get from a really bad condition ten months ago to where they are now.
“We have an exciting young team with a lot of potential, and we’re on the right track, progressing so much in the right way. These guys deserve so much support and trust, and I’d like to ask everyone to be a believer, to believe that we can do it, that we can make this season a success.
“Either by moving up the table to the top two, or by playing a perfect season to qualify for the playoffs. If I’m being completely honest, I’d prefer to finish the season at the beginning of May.
“I was looking forward to planning a little earlier, to have a more relaxed summer, but if not, we’ll go for the play-offs. Right now, we’re just focused on the remaining three games; come on, be a believer.”
Far from being authoritarian, Farke acknowledges that some will want to be skeptics, cynics, and doubters. He insists that his young team will make them proud anyway.
“Believe we can do this and we go for it and if you choose to stay a doubter and moan a bit and then be pessimistic and whatever, don’t worry, we go for it anyway,” he went on to say. “No issue, but believe me, it feels a lot better if you’re a believer.
“This is essentially why I’d like to welcome everyone who supports us, because this young group requires backing, trust, and support, and they deserve it. This is what I’m completely persuaded of, so we go for it.
“I promise we will go for it. I can’t guarantee a perfect outcome because it’s football. We are young, but we will surely go for it. I really want to welcome everyone to be a believer because it feels so much better than being a moaner or doubter, but if you prefer to whine or doubt, that’s fine; we’ll go for it anyway.”
