Inside Leeds' Promised Land strategy: The four positions they want to upgrade in January, the secrets behind Daniel Farke's stellar promotion record and why star man leaving was a 'blessing in disguise'
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On an April night at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair, four Leeds United players picked up accolades at the annual EFL Awards. The day before, Daniel Farke’s side suffered their first home defeat of the season in the middle of a run of four points across six games which killed their chances of going up automatically.
![[Daniel Farke's side suffered a slump towards the end of the campaign and fell out of the automatic promotion places]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/05/17/93757601-0-image-a-2_1736098231812.jpg)
Losing at Wembley to Southampton in the Championship play-off final was the nail in the coffin. Of those four players, three were gone by August with Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter all sold as Leeds banked £105million but lost a huge chunk of talent.
![[Leeds suffered an agonising play-off final defeat by Southampton at Wembley in May]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/05/17/93757619-0-image-m-4_1736098239049.jpg)
The other, club captain Ethan Ampadu, only returned to action last week after sustaining a knee injury in September. Yet Leeds have five more points than they did at this stage last season and are crucially top of the tree in their bid to return to the top flight. Burnley, Sheffield United and Sunderland are all hot on their tail but Leeds boast the best attack (48 goals) and goal difference (+29), while their defence ranks third (19 conceded).
![[The Elland Road club began the campaign with a demoralising 3-3 draw against newly promoted Portsmouth]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/05/17/93757695-14252265-image-m-7_1736098453831.jpg)
‘At the start of the season, I wasn’t thinking about winning the league,’ Farke said last week. ‘I was thinking how can we be successful losing so many key players.’. Leeds racked up 90 points in the Championship last season but failed to gain promotion.
![[Farke revealed that he was not aware of Premier League release clauses in some of his player's contracts]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/05/17/93757697-14252265-image-a-8_1736098460898.jpg)
