Leeds United ignored Sir Alex Ferguson's warning on a night Elland Road went quid pro quo — Leeds Live 17/5/24
Leeds United hammered Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road to seal their place in the Championship play-off final at Wembley on a night the stadium found the blissful synergy it was built for
Sir Alex Ferguson once said footballers should always play
the game, not the occasion. How about both? Leeds United’s players were feeding
on the energy rolling in off Elland Road’s stands, pumping their arms for more
like Renton on a Friday night in Edinburgh.
Much like Trainspotting, last night’s tone was set by
Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’. Elland Road’s in-house DJ stepped up in the same
way the supporters and players would. Gone was the usual loop of pre-match fare
and in came beats to get your head banging and your heart pounding.
By kick-off, you could feel the electricity crackling across
the scarves being twirled and stretched around the stadium. It’s hard to recall
the volume of Derby County and 2019, but this felt bigger than anything the
ground has heard since then. The jeopardy of knockout football cannot be
matched by league games with no immediate consequence.
This had everything on the line and the crowd responded in
kind. Farke had talked pre-match about keeping a lid on emotions and trying not
to be over-motivated to impress the adoring home crowd. There was a degree of
control to the Whites players, but they didn’t play like robots and ignore what
was going off around them.
There was a synergy to what was happening. It was the
blissful relationship Elland Road has so often yearned for, but rarely been
given. This is a stadium that wants to be feral, on the edge, mindless, chaotic
and burning a hole in the sky. Yet it needs the players to fuel that and
players who are fuelled by it.
You could see, from virtually the first break in play, Ethan
Ampadu, the captain, and Junior Firpo actively turning to the Jack Charlton
Stand, asking for more, just one more hit, one more score. ‘We give you
something, you give us something in return.’
Joe Rodon roams into the Norwich City half and wins the ball
back twice in quick succession, a centre-back driving his side into the final
third. Raise the volume. Georginio Rutter somehow heads clear a corner in his
own box. Pumps his arms to the John Charles Stand. More, more, more.
An early goal acted like the perfect gift from the players
to the crowd. It eased early nerves in the crowd, which boosted confidence in
the players, which improved play, which led to a second goal, which nearly took
the roof off the stadium. This was a football team and its supporters in
perfect harmony.
