Daniel Farke reveals Leeds United’s plan to prepare for the big clash with Leicester City.
Enzo Maresca’s Foxes travel to Elland Road on Friday night for a game that could have a significant impact on promotion and the Championship title race. Leicester are nine points ahead of Leeds at the top of the standings, so a win would put them 12 points ahead of Farke’s team, while a defeat would reduce the gap to six points.
Leeds had played five games in 15 days before meeting the Foxes and only one of them was on home soil. They had to play away to Plymouth twice, in the FA Cup and in the league, plus away to Bristol City and Swansea.
“It’s a bit crazy,” said Leeds boss Farke. “In more or less all other countries or leagues we talk about a short week when there are only six days or five days between games.
“Yes, this league, the Championship, is relentless. I was talking about this: the Premier League is more or less the best league in the world, but the Championship is about consistency. That’s what we’re showing at the moment.”
“Now we have to ease the burden a little bit, not only physically but also mentally, because first there was a lot of travelling,” he added. “I’m not sure if any other side in Western Europe has had more travel kilometres than us in the last few weeks.
“It’s unbelievable, but we can’t influence it, it is what it is, and that’s why we have to remember that we have a pretty young squad, also one of the youngest starting line-ups in the whole championship and certainly the youngest starting line-up in the top spots in the rankings.
“It’s a lot of pressure for them, mental pressure, and when you show that kind of consistency, maturity, it’s important to find moments to release the pressure a little bit and also to release the mental pressure a little bit, because our demands are high.
“We always want to play at the highest level and it’s important now, especially after this week with two big away wins, to ease the pressure a little bit in the next few days so that we are then ready and also full of energy for the upcoming matches and of course for the next week.”