Leeds United man hands credit to Daniel Farke for help with tough start to Premier League life
Jaka Bijol had to bide his time for a place in the Leeds United team.
Leeds United under Daniel Farke have taken giant strides towards eradicating everyone's favourite Elland Road jibe.
One of Farke's bugbears as Whites boss has been the notion that when the going gets tough, the club will go to pieces. The Joy Division inspired song 'Leeds are falling apart, again' is never far from the lips of opposing supporters when something goes awry for Leeds, yet for two seasons now it has not rung at all true. Farke guided the club to 100 points and a Championship title last season, shrugging off doubts that emerged towards the end of the campaign following a draw at Luton. This season he has steered them to Premier League safety with games to spare with an incredible run of form at the business end of the season.
For nearly two years when the going has got tough, Leeds have arguably performed best. This season there have been stirring comebacks and late goals in some difficult circumstances. Like when they found themselves two goals down against Liverpool, or needed to come from behind against Spurs away, or most recently on Sunday when they were under the cosh without several key stars and found a last-gasp winner.
For Jaka Bijol, this suggestion that Leeds go to pieces when it comes to the crunch is an alien concept because it has not formed part of his Elland Road experience. The summer 2025 signing said: "I didn't see that this season since I came. I didn't have one day that feeling that we would be falling apart, but we always stick together. Maybe it was a few weeks that were a little bit tougher this season, and we had to really stick together throughout that. But yeah, we showed just the whole season the resilience, showed the quality of this team at the end of the day, and we put in some really amazing performances in front of our fans. Also that at the end of the season, we improved away,. We just have a feeling that we are unbeatable at home, to be honest, I really have a good feeling every time we play at Elland Road, it's amazing."
Bijol believes it has been a collective effort to achieve the number one goal of Premier League status for the 2026/27 season but he does give special credit to Farke for what he has done to lead the team. And the manager played a part in helping Bijol settle into English football after a difficult and at times frustrating start. The centre-back had to be patient and wait for his opportunity. Farke's switch to a back three presented more of a chance for Bijol and he grabbed it with both hands to become a key performer.
"He's done a really good job, I think everyone can see that," said Bijol of his boss. "Just an amazing season throughout, I think everyone was a big part of it, the most is always the coach. Just had to lead everything through the season and I think he did a good job doing that. I think it's enough if you see the table at the end.
"[As a new player] you just have to get integrated in the team as quick as possible, try to understand how the team works, how the manager works. Then you just go from that. For me personally, it was maybe not the best start, but then you just have to work on that, you just have to be persistent and try to build on your performances through the season and you just get better and better. The manager was a big part of that."