Leeds United man already has remedy to slow start but needs help with time-sensitive transfer issue

Leeds’ 2023/24 league campaign is yet to yield a victory, leaving sections of the Whites’ fanbase concerned that returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking is an objective already in jeopardy.

Fellow relegated sides from last season Leicester City and Southampton sit second and fifth, respectively, having picked up five wins between them; the Foxes maintaining a 100 per cent record in their opening three matches.

Leeds, on the other hand, sit 19th in the Championship standings, but at such a premature stage of the season, there is little to be gained from peering at the second tier table in great detail.

The club are fully aware of the need to supplement Daniel Farke’s squad before the end of the transfer window in under a fortnight’s time. Last weekend’s fixture at home to West Bromwich Albion saw the German name just seven of an available nine substitutes on the bench, which included two goalkeepers.

While time is running out to rectify the various gaps in Leeds’ squad, time is very much on Farke’s side when it comes to the bigger picture of achieving promotion next May.

United will be keen not to fall behind and are, to an extent, already playing catch-up with the sides who have hit the ground running in 2023/24. Nevertheless, history in this particular division shows all is not lost when teams tipped for the title begin the campaign slowly.

As recently as last season, Vincent Kompany’s Burnley experienced teething problems under the Belgian, winning just once in their opening three games after suffering relegation from the top flight. A narrow victory over Huddersfield Town was followed up by a score-draw with Luton Town and defeat by Watford, with the team scoring just twice in the process.

Kompany’s stylish Clarets would go on to lose two games in their next 43 league matches whilst outscoring the rest of the division, clinching the Championship title with 101 points and 87 goals scored.

As luck would have it, Farke has experienced a more difficult start to the season in the Championship and still gone on to be crowned champion back in 2018/19 with Norwich City.

The Canaries lost three of their opening five matches that year, winning just once in their first six. Eventually the team settled into a rhythm, collectively acclimated to Farke’s style and went up as champions on 94 points. Once again, they were the division’s top scorers.

In 2016/17, newly-relegated Newcastle United were somewhat surprisingly defeated in each of their first two games by Fulham and Huddersfield Town, both of whom had escaped dropping into the third tier the year prior. Rafael Benitez’s side went on to win the Championship title, after signing DeAndre Yedlin, Daryl Murphy and Christian Atsu – all of whom played an important role in promotion – during the final week of the summer transfer window.

Some would argue Leeds’ performance at home to West Brom last Friday warranted more than the solitary point it earned, and that the officials’ decisions went against the home side in crucial moments, namely Brandon Thomas-Asante’s opener which wrong-footed Illan Meslier after deflecting in off the Baggies striker’s arm.

Leeds have the opportunity to correct their course, in the transfer market and on the pitch over the next two weeks. Arrivals are expected at Elland Road, but they are needed very much without delay in order to integrate with Farke’s style and system, particularly if the team are to take six points from newly-promoted pair Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday in their next two.

Kieran McKenna’s Tractor Boys sit top of the Championship table and have been tipped to finish in the play-off places, meaning the Whites cannot afford to be complacent – or understaffed – when they visit Portman Road this weekend.

The club must not allow more fixtures to come and go in which the manager does not have a full squad to pick from, and in which the side does not take maximum points.

Reinforcements this week and a positive result in Suffolk would be a leap in the right direction.