"A similar feeling" - Don Goodman urges Leeds United, Daniel Farke to seek Marcelo Bielsa inspiration | OneFootball

Don Goodman has shared his verdict on Leeds United's promotion hopes next season

Don Goodman believes that Marcelo Bielsa needs to be Daniel Farke’s inspiration for Leeds United’s promotion push this season.

The Whites narrowly missed out on a place back in the top flight in the previous campaign.

The German led the team to a third place finish in the table, missing out on a top two spot to Leicester City and Ipswich Town.

A 1-0 loss to Southampton in the play-off final consigned the Yorkshire outfit to another year in the second division.

Leeds will now be hoping that the second time’s the charm, as they seek a quick return to the Premier League after suffering relegation in 2023.

Goodman highlights Bielsa's Leeds inspiration

Goodman believes that Leeds should take inspiration from Bielsa’s tenure as manager, when he led the team to a play-off defeat in his first year in charge at Elland Road.

The Whites gained promotion a year later, and the 58-year-old has claimed that they can repeat that feat again this season due to the excellent talent at their disposal.

"Leeds United need to take inspiration from themselves under Marcelo Bielsa when they agonisingly lost in the play-offs to Derby County despite being, arguably, the best team in the whole league that year,” Goodman said, via OLBG.

"There are similarities in the way they will need to pick themselves up and go again.

"There's a history of teams losing in the play-offs and bouncing back successfully and I always commend teams that have done so, like Leeds previously, as I played in teams who struggled the season after losing in play-offs.

"It was heartbreaking to see Archie Gray leave and it must have been gut-wrenching for him as Leeds runs through his veins.

"But it might just cut them a bit of slack and allow them to keep attacking players such as Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto for another year if they can be persuaded.

"The Championship is not as strong as last year, which gives them a brilliant chance to win promotion.

"Man-for-man, they do have enormous quality throughout the squad and that quality should be enough to give them a chance of winning automatic promotion.

"It's all about galvanising the squad and making them believe they are the best team in the league.

"There will probably be a similar feeling around the club to what there was last season after relegation as they didn't get over the line despite being in a great position with eight games to go when everyone was saying 'Leeds will go up'."

Daniel Farke’s Leeds United record

Farke oversaw a slow start to his time at Leeds, with the team falling behind the top two as they adjusted to the new coach and a new division.

That slow start ultimately proved costly, as the club missed out on an automatic promotion place by just six points.

But Leeds will be confident they can earn their way back to the Premier League in 2025, especially if they can hold onto talented players like Summerville and Gnonto.

Farke’s side will get their new campaign underway on 10 August with a home game against newly-promoted Portsmouth.

Promotion is a must for Leeds this season

The battle for promotion was quite intense last season, and Leeds were quite unlucky to be the fourth team that just missed out.

The path towards a top two spot this year should be clearer, although that will depend on how the transfer window goes at Elland Road.

If they lose more key players, with Archie Gray already gone, then that could bring the rest of the division back towards them.

But if they can hold onto the likes of Summerville and Georginio Rutter, then a top two spot is the bare minimum for Farke this season.