Daniel Farke on his Journey with Leeds, Coaching Philosophy, and Love of Literature

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1:00My guest today is a gent who's a self-described footballing romantic, a fire beast who led Leeds to promotion, man the DJ decks, and then summoned the tactical alchemy to lead them to 14th place, preparing for a second straight Premier League season, currently wearing shorts on the sideline of Leeds' US pre-season tour, absorbing more UV rays than in a dozen Yorkshire summers. It's a joy to welcome Mr. Daniel Farker. Thanks a lot for having me. It's a joy to be with you. I want to go right back to the day that you secured Premier League survival. May 1st, 2026. Leeds 3. Burnley 1. Ellen Road. Post game.

1:40It's been some journey. An agony of a start. And then that fight towards 14th place. Looking at your face as you clap the crowd. It was pride. Exhaustion. Relief. Vindication. What did you feel inside? Because even Homer would say that you had some kind of crazy odyssey. Yes, all of those emotions, I would say, especially exhausted, a bit like today after the training session, so I look a bit sweaty and depleted as well. Beautiful. Of course, it was also like a great moment because you work so hard for such a long time, over weeks and months, together, of course, with our group of staff members, our group of players, with a whole club who is pretty much a family club towards one goal.

2:28And once you then finally achieve it, it's of course a feeling of great pleasure, of pride. In this moment, you also feel quite humble, if I'm honest, because you know how much it means to this club and to our supporters, especially to be successful and to be allowed to play again in the best league in the world, in the Premier League. And in this moment, it was quite emotional, I would say. It wasn't like a normal moment. It wasn't just like a clap over the head and then a point. There was a lot of emotion there because it had been some journey. Yes, of course. You need a bit of time also to realize what you have to achieve and what you have achieved.

3:07Especially you also need a few days to adapt to the situation because in the moment it feels a bit surreal and it feels like you're a bit out of your body and watch the whole scenario. It was a bit like this, But especially for the other people who put so much trust in me also to lead this fantastic club after such a long time back to the top flight and bring success back to this club with this unbelievable transition. Yeah, it was a great responsibility and it comes along with expectations and also pressure. And then to achieve it finally is a great feeling. is. Everyone loves your quote about your own personality, that you're 95 % coffee and cake and 5 % fire beast, which I think means party animal in English rather than fire beast.

3:55But everyone loves the fire beast things. You said there's some days during the year when you can still prove that you're alive. And then imagine saving yourself from relegation, that 14th place, that must have been kind of a fire beast night. Can you tell us your best moment at the celebration? No, it was a long night and we had so many cold drinks. I can't remember too much if I'm honest, because normally I'm not into alcohol at all. Again, I'm also trying to focus my boys more or less during a long season. It's more or less 11 months on one goal. I think I'm quite demanding and also challenging.

4:34I ask for each and every detail. It has to be perfect. Each percent counts. and you always have to be a driving force as a manager. But it's also important once you achieve something like this, then to allow yourself also to enjoy the moment and to celebrate a bit because all this hard work without enjoying would make no sense because then you're asking yourself one day why I'm doing all this hard work. But the other way around makes even less sense. Just fun and just celebration without hard work is completely senseless. And for that, we always try to find a good balance and the description of 95 % and 5%, I think it sums it up quite well.

5:14All you can remember is it involves some DJ decks. Everything else is just a foggy memory. More or less, that's right. Your pre-season began just two days after the World Cup final. Did you watch this tournament? Do you watch it as a fan? Do you watch it as a recruiter? Are you watching it as a tactical mind? Not too much, if I'm honest, because it was when I was younger, during my childhood, of course, like a World Cup was the biggest thing that you could watch in football. and everyone was excited even weeks and months before. And you watch each and every game, more or less you get up in the middle of the night.

5:45So when you have the time difference to my home country, Germany, for example, or if I'm in the UK, you get up in the middle of the night to watch each and every game. Right now, my job is more or less like I work. If you want to work on the top level, you have to be a bit like a workaholic. And I work more or less for 11 months, really more or less tirelessly, really towards a target. and I watch so many football games because there's another session more or less to prepare. There's another game to watch, another player to watch. And I watch so many football games that during the four weeks or five weeks of summer break, I try to stay a bit awake in order to recharge.

6:24And exactly during this time, it's a World Cup. So, of course, I watch the big games and of course with my German original, I watch the German games, for example. I was interested, of course, in the games of my players. I watch US games I watch England games there were a few games but not so highly motivated really more like SFN and not like with a tactical view I'm sitting in front of my laptop and watch so many games so I just want to enjoy these games and this is what we also need to keep and need to value that we still have a bit like this joy a bit like a child about football and sometimes also just can enjoy the game I want to talk about what you've described, how you approach a season, how you build that mental focus.

7:10But I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you first about that moment against Watford. That ball is dropping onto the sideline and you bring it down with a touch that is just so tender. You are so smooth with it. I think the flick between the legs was just chef's kiss. Talk us through what you felt as that ball just dropped you. Well, I see the ball coming and of course, should I do it? should I not do it because the stadium was pulled packed or whatever, 40 ,000. Yes, and sometimes a bit luck in life is more important than quality anyhow. So it was a good touch, to be fair. And then I felt it straight away.

7:46It was okay, the touch. But then you have to play it cool as it would be normal anyhow. I tried my best. So at the Oscars, I could have also earned an invitation because inside I thought, oh, touch was not too bad. So the outside is just playing it chill. the inside is just like top five moments as a professional footballer. Of course you have to pretend a little bit anyhow, because it should look normal for my players to touch a ball like this. Do you know how massive that moment is on the internet? Like how much it's replayed, it has a life. And whenever managers try it and it just bounces off their knee, not naming names, but then immediately they'll show that and then they'll show yours.

8:25Yeah, pressure's on, you have to deal with the pressure, so seems like I still got it.

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9:03We're two games into the preseason and you've talked about preseason. The philosophy is this is where you build the foundation for the entire season ahead. What does that look like, the foundation? Is it messaging? Is it tactics? What are you emphasizing in this moment? Altogether. Of course, you need to work on your physical endurance, on your strength. It's a pretty important moment for being physically prepared for a long season. Also to integrate, especially the new players, lots of tactical work, also like tactical tweaks and details work because during the season, sometimes you don't have that much time with so many games.

9:42So for that, preseason is very important. Also to create still the culture within our club, our values, especially within the group of my players and my staff members, how we want to work for what we want to stand. I think it's important to be really on the details also in preseason and also to create this winning culture again, this mentality. We want to play football games or soccer games in order to win, in order to win games, not just not to lose it. It's more like we want to win football games. On the other hand, still also to strike the balance because we are still at the moment without a few key players who get a bit more rest after the World Cup.

10:23but also to give the stage a little bit to some younger players to throw them into the mix and to see what they can do. For example, during the training sessions or during the friendlies. Don't get me wrong, we still want to be successful also during pre-season but it's a lot also like to find the balance between the hard work and not taking too much attention to the result of the games and also bringing some young players in and giving them some opportunities but on the other hand also try to perform as good as possible and of course also take the best possible results on these days. So it's a pretty demanding period with lots of training but I quite like it.

11:02Mentality, how do you teach mentality? Is it just a constant messaging? To lead by example, that's what I try also like to make sure that you don't let the standards drop so I'm a big believer in on the mid and the long term you always get what you invest so sometimes you can be lucky even in football you can yeah whatever have a week and you know when you don't train then concentrate it and have a night out for team building with the boys and still can win a game on the weekend so sometimes it happens like this but not over mid and long term over mid and long term i'm a big believer and you always get what you're willing to invest you always play like you train and this more or less the culture i want to want to exist so i know that i work together with human beings and not with Roberts and sometimes you have to allow them also to enjoy themselves and to be not 100 % on it but it has to be the right moment otherwise I make sure that the standards don't drop and this is yeah the only way I know how to work successful and I think this is quite important and yeah for that it's a pretty demanding period also for my players.

12:02I want to talk about this season but I do need to go back to last season that it was first back in the Premier League two seasons in the championship and there were early moments of challenge spoiler alert it ends well really really well but november lead had lost five out of six games a manager's job is so unforgiving you know the rumor mill is loud what do you say to yourself in moments of challenge when there's doubt all around you do you feel it do you keep it out how do you mentally survive through tough times daniel yes so experience always always helps was of course in the early stages of my coaching career perhaps that you get a bit more nervous, but I'm in general not a guy who crumbles under pressure.

12:44So in general, I would always pick myself in the moment when it really counts and when the pressure is on, that I stay even more calmer or try to stay more calmer. And I'm at my very best because we all want a job where you work on and where you feel it really matters. And yeah, my mantra is also like, if you can't handle the heat, then don't go to the kitchen. I knew exactly when I was signing a contract for Leeds United, this amazing club. Whatever in the last 25 years, it feels like 147 managers. Normally, I'm here since more than three years. To endure more than three months is more or less a miracle for this club because expectations are so high.

13:23It's such a passionate club. The tradition is there and we are one city, one football club city. So this is very rare in the UK. So normally you have London with 12, 14 clubs. You have Manchester with two clubs. You have Liverpool with two clubs. You have Birmingham with four clubs, but Leeds United, massive city, just one club. And yeah, you have a great responsibility and a great pressure, but you have to be prepared for this. And especially during a bit more challenging times, it's important also to be a bit like a shield for your players. and no one wants then a manager who is on the sideline or on the training pitch a bit hectic or jumping around or nervous.

14:06During this time, you have to stay even more calmer and cooler and this is the only way how you can bring such a passionate and emotional club to success and this is what I'm trying to do. Serious question. Is it fun being a football manager? What is the fun in being a football manager? Because it seems like 95 % of it is just stress. The best time, I'll be honest, the best time is as a player anyhow because then you just have to look after yourself. You have to make sure that you're ready for training for the games. You play during my playing times, it was possible to play a game. We won the game.

14:36Okay, you celebrated with the boys. Yeah, meanwhile, I'm a bit older. I'm so exhausted after the game. I'm happy when I'm on my sofa with a coffee and a cake. So I'm too old for the celebration anymore. I once asked Pep Guardiola, do you like it? He said, yes, I like it! In the most unconvincing way possible. But there is something that keeps you driving onwards. Can you put into words what it is? No, Pep was lying in this moment. but he's also exhausted after the game and I know him quite well. We get along quite well and have a really good relationship. And for that, it's a very demanding job and costs lots of energy and you have to be ready for this.

15:07It's more like the inner pride and the inner fun that you feel in this moment and the moments when you can let your hair down a bit and reflect. For example, during the summer break, when you're together with your loves and with your family and can enjoy a nice evening and also look back a little bit of what you have achieved And yeah, for example, we had also great success two years ago with bringing Leeds back to the Premier League and had an open bus tour through the city and it was crazy. The city was packed with more than 300 ,000 people. And if you then have a look in their eyes and how much it means to them and how much joy and fun you gave them in this, yeah, for all of us, sometimes also a bit challenging and difficult times in our days.

15:50This is a moment when you feel really, really good and really well and enjoy also like what you have done. and this gives me a lot. That moving on the DJ decks, that's the fun of being the manager. Yeah, so I'm still not dead anyhow, so for that, I remember during my young times, I grew up with 90s R &B and lots of house music anyhow, so I still could celebrate a little bit and I tried my best, yes. Your story of how you survived last season is well told. November 29th, 2-0 down, Manchester City, you made the change in formation. How long did you hold on to that tactical possibility? the three at the back did it just come to you or you always had it in like a glass case that you could grab like a fire extinguisher in a in a moment of challenge no it was well prepared because the game doesn't work like on the on the playstation where you just press some buttons anyhow and then it works you have to prepare it anyhow so and of course we have worked a lot also during the pre-season also during the games before to to be flexible on the training pitch and because you just can put on the paper okay we play a different formation the players have to know their positioning they have to know what they have to do i'm not married and addicted to base formations not at all i'm i'm addicted to principles and values and i always want to bring our principles on the pitch or our dna will never change but i think especially as a promoted side once you don't have perhaps the best individual quality in comparison to your big competitors it's it's important that you are a bit more flexible in which way you bring your principles on the pitch and for that we changed a lot also during pre-season and sometimes in the games before between form and formation three-man formation but sometimes a bit like a hybrid team so i can be also quite demanding to my players because they they need to be ready and switched on and football intelligent but i have but i have to prepare it on the training pitch that they They exactly know what we have to do once we change it during a game or between games.

17:49And yeah, for that, it was something that we have prepared. It was, of course, a bit more in the spotlight because this Man City game was then perhaps such a big difference when we changed it. We have, to be honest, even changed it before. It didn't have such a big impact. And for that, of course, everyone speaks about this Man City game. But the truth is it was well prepared and just hard work and not like a kind of mystical touch or magic. It's hard work. I know you said something beautiful. You said the transformation wasn't just the formation. I love your quote. You said, if it would be that easy, anyone can become a Premier League manager.

18:21Say, just play 5-3-2, let's go. But you went on an astonishing run. I'm beating in seven straight. I'm beating in nine of the next 10. It was a complete evolution. It looked like that from the outside, mentally, tactically. It was like a transformational glow up. What was tactics? What was mentality? Because I know you're big on mentality. What was culture? And does the winning shape the culture or does the culture shape the winning? Yes, the mentality that we've created within this group is second to none anyway. So really, I've really I've worked in many dressing rooms, but I've really experienced really like a spirit and togetherness like in this group.

18:57It really feels a bit like they're a group of mates or friends who are fighting together. And this is a professional sport. Very, very, very rare. So that was never in doubt, even during the times when it was before perhaps a few poorer results. And you also never in doubt were very tight, tied together as a group. Of course, it's important to be always switched on how to help the team tactically. So I'm not standing there with a hand in my pockets and drink a coffee and follow the game. And you always have to be switched on in order to help my players and to be there with the right decisions.

19:28But in football is also the momentum can change pretty, pretty quickly in both directions. you always have to be switched on and of course if you then have a good moment a good result and then we followed it up with a great win, big win against Chelsea at home I think, then you come into a momentum then it gives you a boost more or less also with the confidence and you have to use this momentum and keep it rolling, this is what we have done from this moment so performance wise we were not far away, sometimes you have to wait a little bit it's a bit like with a bottle of ketchup sometimes you have to shake it, nothing comes and then out of a sudden everything at the same moment.

20:04And then you have to use this moment. This is what we've done during the season. You've got to hit the label on the top by the neck. That's the secret. Goals. That's right. I love when you talk about the inspiration that you found from an Austrian symphony conductor, Herbert von Karajan. I don't know if I pronounced that right. I'm sorry, Herbert. You said his own professional secret to balancing all the instruments was, quote, he doesn't disturb my musicians while they're playing music. And I'm interested, how do you find the balance between coaching, managing your players, controlling your players and knowing when to step back just to let them cook.

20:35You're well informed but I actually love this quote from him because he was at this time then more or less the most famous conductor in the world and everyone was also wondering how out of such an orchestra of different characters, of different instruments he was able to get such a harmony in his work and of course he was playing his role a bit down with this quote I don't disturb it and I like this attitude because I want my players to shine. It's not important for me to shine. It's about for this young man anyhow to be in the spotlight and to shine. And of course, in the background, it's important to show leadership and to let them shine and also to allow them to shine.

21:16It's not the way just to lean back and make sure, come on, I don't disturb them. Of course, you have to give them patterns. You have to give them processes, principles, how they work, but then also allow them to use within these patterns and processes to use their creativity and use their quality to make the whole ensemble more or less successful and to shine. And this is, I think, what the most famous conductors, similar as managers, can do. They know also that man management is quite important. They know that, like in all more or less companies, once you feel valued, once, of course, they need challenges and also demands, but once you feel valued, once you feel comfortable, then you can be at your very best.

21:58And this is also how I try to work as a football manager, to support more or less my employees, these are my players, and to give them more or less an atmosphere of, of course, challenges, demands. I expect a lot, but also that they feel the trust, that they feel composed, and then they can be at their very best. That's what I'm trying to do. That's advice for life, for any leader, never mind just football.

22:25We have Mikel Arteta on this show and he talked about how he spent time with his American counterparts at the Los Angeles Rams through the Kroenke Group. Have you had any conversations with the San Francisco 49ers? Is there anything from American sports that's got in your mind that you're bringing over? Yes, of course, with our connections also a lot. And I take lots of inspiration out of different things. So, of course, there are, of course, football managers also in the past that have influenced me or nowadays out of discussions with some of the experts in this game. And it's lovely to chat with Pep about tactical things, with Thomas Tuchel about tactical things, with Jürgen Klopp about management.

23:09You take a lot out of them, but I'm always open, more or less, to learn also from other sports or also from other businesses. I was always interested, so I don't have just a football on my neck anyhow, so I was always open to learn from other sports or other business. I think it's quite important to ask how a company is successful, how a different sports organization is successful, how, for example, an NBA team is successful. So I took lots of inspirations. I followed the NBA when I was younger. A lot was more or less at times with Michael Jordan and Chicago Bulls with their wins and also more or less the men management of the big managers there.

23:57And also like basketball is different to American soccer or football, how we now call it in the UK, because there is a bit more stop and go, but also like how to make sure that you have a clear strategy and processes, for example, in your attack and not just like it's a bit coincidence and creativity. This was always an inspiration for me also to work slightly different to, yeah, how managers in football have perhaps worked. 20 years ago, it was okay. We have to be structured in defense and the offense is more like quality and creativity. No, I also want to help my offensive players how to start the attack and have clear processes.

24:36So it was a big inspiration for the NBA, for example. Phil Jackson. I read his books more or less like 11 rings and something has inspired me a lot and for that it's always a big inspiration. Mark, he's signing for Leeds so far this summer. Harry Wilson coming in from Fulham. You know, highlight reel and makes him look like a Fernando Torres stunt double. Can you talk about what you see in him? Where you see him thriving in your side? The challenge that he'll fix? Yes, Harry's a very experienced player on this level. He has lots of Premier League experience and what I like about his career, he has more or less improved from year to year and especially his last year was probably the best in his whole career.

25:16He's added fantastic numbers on Premier League level and he brings creativity once he is in a dangerous situation to play the final pass or to take the perfect finish. He has an instinctive finish and instinct for playing the pass always in the right moment, always with the right speed. And we thought if we can put him into our structure and let him also live his creativity, he could be a major step up in our offensive threats and hopefully he can prove me right also during the season and further on he's a fantastic guy and fantastic human being I'm pretty picky also which players I bring in I want good characters to fit to this group and for that we got the feeling he's the whole package but that's the idea right now, he has to prove it also in the league There's a lot of talk about the goalkeeper position for most clubs, big money is going on strikers or Morgan Rogers types, but goalkeeping is ever more crucial in Premier League units, central to the team's success.

26:12The goalkeeper, is it second, third, fourth most important player in terms of who you acquire for? Yes, there are definitely a few very important positions in football. One is definitely you need a goal scorer, you need a top striker, you need top centre-back. It's important to have also like someone in the middle of the park who is on the, there was a top quality on what rate. A goalkeeper, a strong number one, exactly in this role. So it's more or less your core bones in the team have to be spot on and you not gamble but can also take a few risks perhaps a bit like on the winger positions or whatever.

26:47But the goalkeeper number one is crucial because he saves you points and especially a society who is just on the way to establish themselves on a Premier League level. You need at least a really good number one, normally a top class number one. This is what all clubs, also in our positions, are aiming for. And for that, number one position is very important. In your mind, what does this squad need not just to survive, but to compete in the way you want it to? What separates the two? Yes, once you're in the position where we are, and of course within one or two years, it's not like then you would overtake clubs like Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, just with individual quality of the players.