Daniel Farke is under huge pressure to deliver promotion at Leeds United in his second season at the club and guided The Whites to a 2-0 win over Cardiff City on Saturday.
It has been an indifferent start to the 2024-25 push for promotion, having come so close last season. Leeds clocked up a tally of 90 points but failed to go up, the first-ever side to do so in the Championship.
Failure to beat Portsmouth and almost losing the opening game, followed by a 3-0 Carabao Cup loss to Middlesbrough was a woeful start. But it was followed by a draw at West Brom, and two wins in a row.
Defeat at Burnley reminded Leeds fans that this side is still in transition after a mini-rebuild but a trip to Wales saw Leeds record a third league win, and a fourth league clean sheet to push Leeds into sixth place.
However, the pressure is on Farke and it is increasing. Leeds look far from the polished object right now, and it is now being reported that The 49ers are keeping tabs on a manager Farke has faced this season.
Leeds monitoring West Brom manager Carlos Corberan
Back when Leeds were looking for the man to guide The Whites through the rigour of the Championship, Carlos Corberan was considered alongside Farke. But the Spaniard has since remained at West Brom.
Of course, Corberan worked at Elland Road as the U21 side’s manager and then on Marcelo Bielsa’s staff before going to Huddersfield in 2021. He has since worked at Olympiakos, and then with West Brom.
Now, The Mirror (22/09, p72) says that Leeds are keeping tabs on Baggies boss Corberan in case Farke is unable to cope with the ‘big pressure’ he finds himself under. Southampton are also interested in him.
Russell Martin is coming under increasing pressure after a poor start to the Premier League campaign. The report says Corberan has a £2m exit clause in his West Brom deal and could prove to be a bargain.
What Marcelo Bielsa said about Corberan while at Leeds
Corberan starred as Huddersfield manager, making the play-off final in 2021-22 but losing to Nottingham Forest. A struggle at Olympiakos saw him return to England with West Brom and Corberan has impressed.
With 91 games under his belt, Corberan has picked up 44 wins and guided West Brom to the play-offs last term only to lose to Southampton. Clearly, he is a manager more than adept at Championship level.
One with ties to Leeds, too. While working under Bielsa at Leeds back in 2018, the Argentine legend was full of praise for Corberan and is quoted by the Yorkshire Evening Post as saying he is “very talented”.
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