Leeds United's new problem as next cab off the rank shines - Graham Smyth's Plymouth FA Cup Verdict — YEP 7/2/24

Leeds United are turning a bad problem into a good one with the help of the FA Cup, in which they remain thanks to a 4-1 win at Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday night.

By Graham Smyth

One of the few problems Leeds United experienced in the first half of the season was that the fringe players were not taking their chances. The same could not be said of late. Patrick Bamford, Junior Firpo, Jaidon Anthony and Willy Gnonto have all made impacts that have made Daniel Farke's life a lot harder when it comes to team selection and a little easier when it comes to results.

The FA Cup fourth round tie at Elland Road against Plymouth Argyle was when Anthony picked his moment to come to the fore, scoring a beautiful goal. Though that did not guarantee a start against Bristol City, the man who replaced him there - Willy Gnonto - followed in the loanee's footsteps with a goal of his own, a matchwinner to boot. Both Anthony and Gnonto featured in the team that took to a rain-swept Home Park for the FA Cup replay, alongside the next cab off the rank, Mateo Joseph.

A January 2022 signing from RCD Espanyol, Joseph is still only 20 and as the junior man in Farke's central attacking options finds himself behind Patrick Bamford, Georginio Rutter and Joel Piroe. Minutes this season have been scarce but Leeds' valuation of the youngster was seen in the summer 2028 contract extension dished out in January.

The second biggest compliment you can pay Joseph is that while other young talents have failed to do enough to even be considered part of Farke's plans and therefore found themselves making exits of a permament or temporary nature, Joseph has hung in there as a squad member. The biggest compliment of all, however, was a start in the FA Cup at Plymouth on Tuesday night.

And it has to be said that Joseph made a real fist of it. The early minutes were all about pressing, putting himself about but what he really wanted was to be making a name for himself in the final third. A first chance to run at the home defence was thwarted by an offside flag, but his second took him all the way into the area onto Sam Byram's and after turning his marker inside out he crashed a shot onto the woodwork via Conor Hazard's fingertips.

Prior to that chance Leeds had made heavy weather, in the heavy weather, by struggling to break down Plymouth and get the ball beyond the halfway line, but their superiority in possession was always going to lead to chances. Not long after Joseph rattled the woodwork, Piroe did the same with a fierce drive. The Pilgrims proved a plucky proposition and came close themselves when Joe Edwards stole into the area and drew a save from Illan Meslier. They probed down their right, too, and brought vital defensive blocks from Sam Byram and Joe Rodon.

A half-time score of 0-0 was fair enough but it should have changed soon after the break as Leeds came roaring out to up the ante. Joseph, again, was right amongst it and was unlucky not to see his drive tipped just wide of the post. The pressure told midway through the half, Gnonto getting on the end of a fine move to crack the ball beyond Hazard. With two goals in two games, Gnonto is taking his chance while Daniel James is out injured and finally making a case to come in from the fringe.

That should have been that, Leeds should have gone on to add some insurance and start looking forward to a game against Premier League opposition. It's never that easy, though, is it? Plymouth did not gave up, earned a free-kick and aided by some ponderous defending, levelled the tie through Brendan Galloway.

Leeds continued to dominate and press with such intensity that Plymouth began to wilt. Ilia Gruev's metronomic passing and his penchant for darting forward into any available space began to give Leeds a vice-like grip. The arrival of fresh legs, in Archie Gray, Joe Gelhardt, Bamford, Rutter and Crysencio Summerville, gave the hosts even more trouble. Only the woodwork, for a third time, came between Plymouth and a cup exit when Gelhardt thundered a shot against the upright. Somehow Ryan Hardie had enough left in the tank to lead an unlikely late smash and grab raid, testing Meslier's concentration and reflexes.

To extra-time then, when the extra quality Farke had injected into his frontline really told. Summerville, a menace from the off, took a Rutter pass and did what he does, cutting in from the left and finding the far corner of the net. In the second half the Dutchman showed no mercy for tired legs, ran at the hosts and fed Rutter, who squeezed his shot in off the post to make it 3-1. An own goal completed what was ultimately a rout. It could even have got worse for Plymouth, as the rain beat down and Leeds beat them down.

Farke was impressed with what he got from Joseph and Gelhardt, but wanted to hand plaudits to his first-choice men too for coming off the bench to score goals. Goals are good for confidence and Leeds suddenly find themselves in a place where seven attackers have hit the net in the first five weeks of 2024. It presents Farke with the best kind of problem as the second half of this season begins to unfold.

"It's important we're competitive and also have options," he said. "Willy with back-to-back games with goals, but I'm quite happy that Cree is back with a goal, Georgi, it's important for their self confidence. If you want to be ambitious, you need competition and players who chip in with goals. It's good for our mood, our confidence. I'd rather have such a situation than thinking who can I go for to get a goal. I'd rather this headache."

And he'd rather keep going in the FA Cup. FA Cup runs are good for morale, good for the fans and this one is proving good for the supporting cast.