Daniel Farke is the leading candidate to land Leeds United’s head coach role, it would seem. The German head coach is the overwhelming favourite with the bookies and reports in Germany are suggesting an agreement could be in place between Farke and the Whites.
Such claims come towards the end of what has been a long and precise selection process over the last month to find the right man. Patrick Vieira was thought to be in the running but he is on the verge of joining Strasbourg now, while Scott Parker and Brenden Rodgers were options thought to have been considered.
Farke is well known to English football fans after spending four and a half years at the helm of Norwich City, where he won two promotions to the Premier League. The 46-year-old couldn’t keep the Canaries in the top flight, but he is still regarded favourably at Carrow Road for what he managed to do during his time at the club.
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He has since spent time at Krasnodar, a club he left before taking charge of a game due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Borussia Monchengladbach, where he spent the entirety of last season. He led the club to a 10 th placed finish in the Bundesliga before being sacked at the start of the summer to be replaced by Gerardo Seoane.
Over the last few days and weeks a number of personalities have spoken about Farke and their experiences of him, with Chris Sutton being one of the latest. But what have his former players said about him in the past?
Leeds Live have done some online digging to bring you what nine of this ex-players have said about Farke at various points of his managerial career.
Teemu Pukki
Reminiscing about his time at Norwich City following his release, Pukki said of Farke:
“Huge credit to him. He is an amazing manager and it really worked for us. I enjoyed working under him and it was a great team and staff. It was a great team to be a part of.”
James Maddison
The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder credits Farke with playing a key role during the early days of his career:
“I'm a confident lad and Daniel Farke coming in was the little kick up the backside that I needed. He gave me a chance to play at Fulham away (in August) and since then I haven't looked back.”
Todd Cantwell
Speaking after joining Bournemouth on loan during the 2021-22 Championship campaign, Cantwell said:
“I think I’ve had a fantastic experience with my first manager in Daniel Farke at Norwich. No matter what happened, we had a fantastic time together and he really helped develop me.”
Ben Godfrey
Everton and former Norwich defender claims Farke helped him hone his skills as a centre-back after emerging initially as a defensive midfielder:
“I trusted his opinion and can’t argue with it so far. He mentioned my pace and being aggressive and playing out from the back. People were telling me to be patient when I wasn’t playing – it’s easier said than done, that.
“It is so hard when you’re not expecting to play but you have to keep grafting to be ready for your chance.”
Max Aarons
Canaries right-back Aarons made his debut under Farke and, speaking to the Daily Mail, he described the emotion he felt when the German left Carrow Road:
“It was really hard mentally around the time Daniel left. We had been there two years ago and gone down and you do start getting visions of that season and it was really hard to cope with.
“And then Daniel left and that was just really sad. On that day, after the Brentford game, I spoke to him. He told me he loved working with me from day one. It was an emotional conversation as I am just so grateful to him.”
Alexander Tettey
Tettey spent nine seasons with Norwich before ending his career in his native Norway and, speaking after Farke’s sacking, he admitted the German had left no stone unturned:
“The boss has done everything he can in those situations really. In terms of players, he doesn't have the 10, 15, 20 million-pound players, he has young talent mixed with a couple of senior players and not all of them has had Premier League experience.
"He's done everything he could to be fair and it's tough for him as well at times when he wants to play differently but hasn't had the players to do that."
Joe Scally
Scally was one of Farke’s most used players last season in the Bundesliga and the American clearly liked when he saw from the Leeds-linked man:
"I like him a lot. He's a really good coach and speaks perfect English because of his past at Norwich. That's very comfortable for me because it just makes communication easier. He has his own philosophy, his own style.”
Nico Elvedi
Swiss defender Elvedi was a stalwart in the Gladbach side last season and he was impressed with Farke from the first few days of pre-season last summer:
“My first impressions have been very good. I think he suits Borussia brilliantly. I’m excited for the next few days and am feeling good. I’ve heard from teammates that his training sessions are hard work – and I experienced that this morning. But that’s a good thing, pre-season needs to be challenging. It’s important that we’re fit going into the new season so that we can give it our all as soon as the campaign begins.”
Jonas Hofmann
Hofmann spent time with Farke at Borussia Dortmund, before the manager’s spell with Norwich, before linking up with him once more at Borussia Park. He said during the early days of Farke’s most recent tenure:
“I know Daniel Farke from my time at Dortmund, where he was U23 coach at the time. I didn't experience him as a coach back then, but of course we got to know each other personally.
“He is a great guy, and I am convinced that he is a very good coach for Borussia Monchengladbach.”
