Leeds United have enjoyed a decent start to the 2024/25 campaign and look well-placed to fight for promotion once again, having fallen at the final hurdle last season. Daniel Farke’s side have faced more than their fair share of top-end opposition so far but sit within touching distance of the top two going into the October international break.
Early concerns were swiftly put to bed as Farke shored things up at the back, with Leeds losing just one league game and arguably being the better team in all but their Carabao Cup first round defeat at home to Middlesbrough. They certainly have a squad fit for promotion, with the strength in depth evident by their ability to cope after losing both Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev from the midfield - albeit the club are assessing possible free agent options.
But what do opposition bosses think of Farke? And how do those likely to battle Leeds for automatic promotion rate their rivals’ chances? Well, the YEP has rounded up the key comments from each opposing manager so far this season - take a look below to see what they reckon...
7. Erol Bulut - Cardiff City
Leeds took three points from one of the most one-sided games in recent memory at Cardiff, with Bulut, who was sacked days later, cutting a defeated figure in his post-match press conference. He said: "We knew how important and how difficult the game would be for us. The plan was to stay compact and not allow the opponents chances and to counter well. But after 23 minutes we were only with 10 men and then we conceded after 30 minutes against a team like Leeds, with the quality they have, it's not easy to come back and change the game. In the first half, we invited them for chances because we lost the ball too easily. Too many easy, individual mistakes. When you do this against Leeds, the offence they have, if you invite them they take it." | Getty Images
8. Mark Robins - Coventry City
Leeds put Coventry to the sword with a commanding 3-0 win at Elland Road, with visiting head coach Robins predicting another promotion push for his hosts. He said: “I think the fans expect them to kick on and go up, absolutely. But Leeds are a different proposition to us. You look at Leeds and they have just been in the Premier League a couple of seasons ago, just missed out like we did a couple of years ago but we have been away from the Premier League for a long time, 20 years or so. Leeds have sold over £100m worth of talent this summer but replaced them with really good quality players as well. The young player and the level of the young player might just differ slightly. Leeds have got top players in the team, there's no doubt about it and they should be there or thereabouts but there's a lot of good teams in this division." | Getty Images
9. Johannes Hoff Thorup - Norwich City
Leeds and Norwich shared the spoils at Carrow Road last week and Canaries boss Thorup gave an honest assessment of his side's performance. He said: "We're not there yet where we can dominate a game at home against Leeds for 90 minutes. We took our chances, knowing there was moments in the game we had to defend, we were in our low block for maybe too long but that's how it is against a strong team like Leeds.” | Getty Images
10. Regis Le Bris - Sunderland
Most of Le Bris' post-match comments were surrounding Illan Meslier but the Sunderland boss echoed Robins' promotion prediction before last Friday's meeting. He said: “We know this is a strong team that is sized for promotion. They have many strengths. In possession, out of possession, counter attacks. It will be a good challenge for us because we need to respect every team, whether they are at the bottom or at the top because every game is difficult to win. That game will be difficult to win and we will need to manage it with intelligence as well because we don’t want to be naïve but we want to play with our identity so this is a new experience. It’s very useful for our growth and development. It’s a new challenge with new problems to solve for sure.” Photo: Owen Humphreys