Why the Premier League needs Leeds

... a Leeds that is back to stay

And so the future of the Universe depends on Leeds United. No pressure.

For Planet Football to survive as we know it and the Premier League to remain the single greatest creation since the Big Bang, it really needs to become more habitable again for newly-promoted clubs. Or even just one of them.

It’s always been a giant leap for any kind of Championship team. But, as the latest trio to land on the surface of the star cluster struggle for breath in the rarefied atmosphere, we all start to wonder where the ‘3 up, 3 down’ cycle will end. Maybe at the end of the M621.

Daniel Farke has the look of a character from Star Wars – the little brother Qui-Gon Jinn never talks about. He knows the Force he’ll be encountering after promotion better than most from his Norwich days. As Han Solo said, “never tell me the odds”.

Leeds are not up yet, any more than Leicester are down yet. It’s just that watching their post-match celebrations in Sheffield on Monday, I felt Leeds not only looked like a team that can find their way back to the Starship from here, but also a club that believe they belong in the top-flight.

Belief is a dangerous thing if you haven’t grown the wings to fly and even Red Bull’s sponsorship won’t do that alone.

Much as I enjoyed the buzz and bite of the top-of-the-table meeting of Yorkshire Ridings, I’m not sure I counted too many Premier League players on the field at Bramall Lane. Leeds have sold more of those than they’ve bought just lately and their summer recruitment drive will need a sprinkling of Californian gold-dust from their owners.

Money talks and we know the 49ers have not bought into Leeds because of any obvious similarities between that city and their hometown of San Francisco. Trams maybe.

Striking a financial balance between laundering the treasures that the Premier League offers and putting yourself into administration is a test of head and heart. PSR, SCR and whatever the imminent Regulator throws into the equation complicate the maths still further.

It was Farke’s boss at Carrow Road that spelt out the dilemma all too candidly 4 years ago. Sporting Director Stuart Webber said he wanted Norwich to become established as ‘a top 26 club’. To some it was a statement of responsible prudence, to others a criminal lack of ambition. It was probably both at the same time.

I might be wrong but I fancy it’s something that Leeds United might think, but never say out loud. They’ve never lost their big-time mindset.

They are not even a yo-yo club. Leeds have spent just 3 of the last 21 seasons in the top division. Leicester have been champions in the interim. A generation of Leeds fans have had to watch Leeds-Sheffield derbies and make many short journeys to Huddersfield and yet they still regard Manchester United as their bitterest rivals. Whereas Norwich and Burnley and Sheffield United might wistfully yearn for a return to the Premier League, Leeds fans hate being out of it.

And if the rest of football hates them for daring to think like that, even better.

Gaps are appearing in the league tables. Telling gaps. And they’re the very same gaps as last season. The bottom 4 in the Premier League have been cast adrift from the rest, the top 4 in the Championship standings are clear of the others. We called last season’s race for promotion the most competitive in Championship history but it didn’t make its winners very competitive in the big league.

What should worry Leeds even more is the lack of many gaps in the middle of the Premier League table. The promotion class of 2022 is looking a particularly bright bunch. Fulham, Bournemouth and Forest all came up together and all three have Champions League qualification in their sights now. Brentford, Brighton and Villa have each won promotion since 2017 and none of them are showing signs of taking a backward step any time soon either.

All six of those clubs have pacy, predatory forwards carrying Champions League threat levels. Leeds have got Daniel James.

It’s exactly 3 years since Marcelo Bielsa left the building. A lot of Leeds fans would have him back tomorrow. I’m not stupid enough to try to tell supporters of any club what’s best for them. There is no playbook for surviving promotion, no proven formula. Bielsa wrote his own edition and Leeds loved him for that and always will. Whether the players that his methods ran into the ground share the same affection is another matter.

My only contribution to the debate would be to suggest that Leeds United’s bid to re-establish themselves as the major players they think they are begins here. After tomorrow’s game with West Brom, 10 of their remaining 11 matches are against clubs outside the current Top Ten. They present an opportunity for Leeds not only to secure the points they require but also to show themselves to be significantly better than anyone else in their league. They’ll need to be if they’re to land successfully in the next one.

If they are to secure a position higher than 18^th in the Premier League standings, they will almost certainly have to finish above the two teams that come up with them. Then, they only need to pick off one more straggler. On current form, it could even be their sworn enemies across the Pennines.

Leeds United have always been different and proud of it. If they are to show they are different from the recent tourists to come and see the Premier League sights before climbing on their bus and heading back to more natural habitats, they need to show it now. Win the League and win it by a mile.