Daniel Farke's love letter to Leeds - imperfect but always united

No team in Europe's 10 highest-ranked top divisions has a 100 per cent record even before Christmas, and nor does anyone in the Championship. If a newspaper or website ever gives a player 10 out of 10, you know they are getting carried away with themselves.

Most managers spend their lives searching for perfection but true love comes from tolerating imperfections. It is why, despite dropping five points from a possible six last week, Daniel Farke says he is head over heels with Leeds United.

If it all feels a bit quick, Farke's passionate talk about the club he only hooked up with in the summer reads like a genuine love letter and will certainly warm the hearts of Whites fans.

The German might be a hired hand, a Championship expert in his next posting, but he gets it.

"One unlucky loss and draw, in these moments I feel more connected to my players and love them even more," he says reflecting on defeat at Sunderland and a draw at home to Coventry City which left his team 10 points behind Saturday's second-placed visitors Ipswich Town.

"I’ve just been here half a year but it really feels like I start to love this club, our supporters and what we are. When we have an unlucky spell, my connection with this club, our supporters and what we are doing feels even stronger.

"Our name says what we are about, we are Leeds United.

"We are Leeds and this means we never go the easy way. We are not without mistakes but we always play with a big heart, honesty and workload. We are special and unique.

"United, the second part of our name, means that yes, everyone likes to moan sometimes, but this just shows we care. When it’s important and we have to stick together we have the mentality of we are united against all the odds, it’s us against the world – although in the last weeks it’s more like us against the referees, if I’m honest.

"We could keep the ball better, Djed (Spence) could have put more pressure on the ball when the cross comes in (for Coventry’s equaliser), Archie (Gray) could have been higher, Pascal (Struijk) could have been more orientated in the middle, even Illan (Meslier), we make small mistakes.

"We should have scored, but we are not perfect. We tried everything and worked our socks off.

"In these moments I’m even more connected with my players and although we have just one point from the last two games, I never felt more in love with a group of players.

"When we have to stick together this club is like no other, we work our hearts out. We will do the same on the weekend."