A key figure in Leeds’ rise has been Slovenia international defender Jaka Bijol, who tells FourFourTwo about acclimatising to the Premier League and life in Yorkshire.
The towering centre-back was a marquee signing for the Whites last summer and has operated alongside two fellow centre-halves throughout the second half of the season.
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Jaka Bijol of Leeds United arrives at Elland Road (Image credit: Getty Images)
JB: All those previous experiences helped me to grow as a player and prepared to come to the Premier League.
At Udinese, for example, I had a brief stint playing under Fabio Cannavaro two seasons ago.
That was probably the hardest season I’ve had as we were struggling throughout the year and I had my only big injury so I was out for a few months.
I returned and Cannavaro came in to oversee a five-game unbeaten run at the end of the season – we avoided relegation on the final day.
He was obviously a great player – a former Italy captain and amazing defender – and we still speak now sometimes.
He’s now in charge of Uzbekistan and I wish him all the best for the World Cup this summer.
Throughout all my experiences, I also developed as a person and I didn’t take it for granted that everything was going to go smoothly straight away in England.
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Growing up, I loved watching Lionel Messi in that great Barcelona side but I always followed English football very closely and watched a lot of Premier League and Champions League games.
It was a huge challenge coming here, and I had to be prepared for that and ready to take my chance when it came. You need these challenges in your life and your career in order to grow and get better and better.
I’ve managed to do that season upon season since I started playing professionally and I want to do it in the coming seasons as well. Yes, I’ve been really pleased with this season so far but I want to make next year even better.
Daniel Farke changed formation at half-time during the defeat at Manchester City on November 29, bringing you on and switching to a back three. How transformational has that been for the team and you personally?
For sure the switch helped us make big progress in our game. We just felt better in some moments and it gave us more confidence in ourselves.
It helped us a lot in our next games and, when your confidence is up, the performances and results follow.
Everything gets better and when your results improve, it gives you momentum.
So yes, it was an important moment in our season and I’m really happy how it has worked out.
Leeds United boss Daniel Farke (Image credit: Getty Images)You grew up in Vuzenica in your northern Slovenia, a picturesque town on the banks of the Drava River. What was that like and how does Yorkshire compare?
Vuzenica is a very nice part of the world and I really enjoy going back when I can.
There are ski resorts and things like that, but Slovenia is such a small country that everything is quite close by.
I had a really nice upbringing and my family gave me opportunities to try and do things I wanted to do, so I was fortunate in that respect.
I get a bit emotional thinking about my childhood because I have so many nice memories, but I’m loving life here in Leeds now.
I will often have a drive out visiting nice places like the Yorkshire Dales. It’s proper England up here! I really enjoy it.
Jaka Bijol of Slovenia (Image credit: Getty Images)Leeds have made history this season, winning a league game at Manchester United for the first time since 1981 and reaching their first FA Cup semi-final in 39 years. How did you enjoy marking your Slovenia team-mate Benjamin Sesko in the recent win at Old Trafford?
Ben and I are close and speak quite a lot, so I try to help him and we have met up since both coming to England.
It was a special feeling to come up against him twice this season in the Premier League because we’ve played together so many times for Slovenia.
It’s difficult playing against Ben because he’s a terrific player with so much potential but we did really well against him.
There was the 1-1 draw at Elland Road in January and then beating Man United 2-1 at Old Trafford last month meant a lot to our fans because of the rivalry.
It was also huge for our league position and gave us even more belief that we were here to stay in the Premier League.
I hope to have another great battle with Ben next season and I’m certainly feeling more confident with the more games that I play.
With Slovenia we didn’t reach the World Cup and it wasn’t the best qualifying campaign; it wasn’t the worst either.
Of course everyone wants to play at a World Cup but for a country such as Slovenia to make it there is not easy.
All the national teams have quality players nowadays and the next goal for Slovenia is to qualify for the European Championship in the UK and Ireland. That’s my big goal.
Jaka Bijol of Leeds United (Image credit: Getty Images)Daniel Farke has described you as an “unbelievable character and player with the potential to one day captain Leeds United.” How does that make you feel?
I don’t think that [captaincy] is an important part for me because we have so many great leaders already, so it’s not my goal.
Of course you want to help the team, but I just need to keep being myself and giving as much as I can to the group.
When I came here, you could see the togetherness in the squad and as a new signing I thought ‘What can I do to help it grow even more and make us even better?’
I think with the new guys that came in last summer, we have adapted really well and helped the club to enjoy a very good season.
I just want to do more and more and be here always. I want to keep winning with this team because we have so many good players and personalities.
We all get along and you can see that on the pitch, giving 100% every time.
That’s why we’re getting the results we are and if anything we should have a few more points.
Now that Leeds are safe, what do you see as the potential of this club?
It’s huge, especially with the job that the manager is doing.
I knew Leeds had a big history and a worldwide fanbase and I watched a lot of games under Marcelo Bielsa when the club had a lot of success.
We have stayed up and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup this season.
Maybe we can be disappointed we didn’t show our best at Wembley against Chelsea but it was still a great experience for the players and fans.
As a club we can grow a lot and just need the hunger to do it.
Crucially, I think everyone at the club has that same desire to keep progressing.
The vision from the ownership encourages, I hope that we can keep taking steps forward in the coming years.
In football there will always be a bad couple of games, but we have to stick together with our fans and keep going.
We’ve done this all season, especially when the results weren’t going our way earlier in the campaign, and that helped get us through.
I meet Leeds fans all the time and always enjoy chatting to them because they have been fantastic with me.
I want to keep making more memories and put this team in the history books as well.