{"id":427049,"date":"2025-09-15T19:47:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/427049\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T19:47:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:47:14","slug":"leeds-united-player-admits-he-was-so-nervous-he-didnt-want-to-play-in-championship-run-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/427049\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeds United player admits he was so nervous he didn’t want to play in Championship run-in"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Leeds United are now a Premier League club but Daniel Farke\u2019s side had to get 100 points to win the Championship title last term.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the end, Leeds United<\/a> and Burnley ran away with things in the three-way automatic promotion race over Sheffield United. However, it was still a nerve-wracking period for the club.<\/p>\n

Daniel Farke<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Scott Parker\u00a0were promoted with two games to spare over Chris Wilder\u2019s Blades team, with Manor Solomon\u2019s late goal deciding who came out on top despite both confirming their place in the Premier League with games to spare.<\/p>\n

Leeds ended the campaign with six wins in a row and having lost just one of the final 28 games in the league overall, but a run of draws had the fans \u2014 and some players \u2014 on edge. One player has explained how he felt in that spell.<\/p>\n

\"AoPhoto by James Gill \u2013 Danehouse\/Getty ImagesAo Tanaka\u2019s admission about his nerves during Leeds\u2019 run-in<\/p>\n

Ao Tanaka has hinted he would have left Leeds without promotion<\/a>. It was the summer of 2024 when Tanaka arrived from Fortuna Dusseldorf for just \u00a33.4 million<\/a> and it\u2019s proved to be a bargain.<\/p>\n

Tanaka has posted emotional social media posts<\/a>\u00a0in recent weeks, which outline his feelings on moving to the top flight at last. The Japanese midfield maestro has admitted that he was so nervous about promotion, though.<\/p>\n

Tanaka enjoyed holidaying with Joel Piroe<\/a>\u00a0in Japan this summer. It was during that time where he was part of an interview with\u00a0GOAL<\/a>, who have revealed the midfielder\u2019s thoughts on the run-in. <\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe last two months were really tough. Every week, I played while thinking that I didn\u2019t want to play. If I played, there was a chance that we would lose points. <\/p>\n

MORE LEEDS UNITED STORIES<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so nervous that I thought, \u2018I\u2019ll do anything, just give me three points\u2019. It\u2019s not like a Championship race, it\u2019s more like \u2018heaven or hell\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cFinishing third and not getting promoted is the same as finishing 18th. And if we get promoted, we\u2019ll go to the Premier League, the dream stage of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tanaka\u2019s nomination for Championship awards<\/a>\u00a0was well deserved, with the 27-year-old the player who ran the engine room of the team. That was also why\u00a0Tanaka was in the PFA Team of the Season<\/a>\u00a0recently alongside four other teammates at Leeds.<\/p>\n

Given the way he plays, you wouldn\u2019t know he was nervous from how he performed with such composure and quality. Leeds won six out of six after a draw to Luton Town in the run-in and he needn\u2019t have been so concerned.<\/p>\n

\"DanielPhoto by Ryan Pierse\/Getty ImagesWhat is Leeds\u2019 hardest period of the 2025\/26 campaign?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s obvious that\u00a0Tanaka is a player to build the Leeds team around<\/a>\u00a0this season for Farke. However, it will be\u00a0difficult for Leeds to survive Premier League relegation<\/a>\u00a0as it is.<\/p>\n

That end-of-the-season run was a breeze in the end but the cliche goes that there are no easy fixtures in English football\u2019s top flight, such is the nature of the Premier League and the gap to the Championship.<\/p>\n