Leeds United can create core memory for new generation as Stuart Dallas makes perfect point — Leeds Live 8/3/26
Stuart Dallas chats with Leeds Live about the opportunity Leeds United have been presented with this weekend
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
Leeds United are two wins away from Wembley but one on
Sunday will bring up a generational achievement in itself.
Scores of fans have not seen their club reach the
quarter-finals of the FA Cup in their lifetime, or living memory. Third-round
goalscorer Wilfried Gnonto had not yet been born when they last made the final
eight in March 2003.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke was still operating as, by his own
admission, “Europe’s slowest striker” for lower-league German outfit SV
Lippstadt, a club he would take from sixth to fourth tier in his first
management role.
After impressing with Borussia Dortmund's second team, he
attracted the attention of Norwich City, Leeds’ weekend opponents. Farke is not
expected to be in the dugout against his former team on Sunday as he serves a
one-match following his red card against Manchester City last week.
Nevertheless, the German - who reached the quarter-finals
with Norwich in 2020 - has described himself as a football “romantic” and is “a
big believer in cup competitions”.
Former Leeds hero Stuart Dallas - who is opening his new
premium ‘Optimum Padel’ centre just a 12-minute drive away from Elland Road in
Cross Green later this month - never reached the latter stages of the
competition in his career but is clear about the opportunity before this
current crop of players.
“A home game is what you wanted, and you've got it against
lower league opposition which is fantastic. It's a huge opportunity for them,”
he exclusively told Leeds Live.
“If they can get through that into the quarter-final, you
just never know what could happen - and obviously it's a route in Europe as
well.”
While internally the club are realistic about this prospect,
Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe has stepped down as vice-chair of Rangers
following talks with UEFA about multi-club ownership, having seen the
difficulties Crystal Palace ran into last year.
The final is still beyond the horizon at this stage, and
Championship club Norwich are no pushovers given their form of just one defeat
in six games and two in 11.
There is meanwhile a feeling of angst around Elland Road,
with Leeds now just three points above the Premier League relegation zone
following their 1-0 home defeat to Sunderland.
After the fourth-round penalty shoot-out win over Birmingham
City, Farke admitted it was “not realistic” to think about winning the cup at
this stage and whether the importance of Sunday’s tie has decreased in light of
this week’s league result will become clear in the starting XI picked.
Premier League survival is clearly the main priority,
although the manager insists that he “always” has respected the cup.
“I don't think Daniel will be looking at it thinking he’s
going to rest a lot of key players now that they lost to Sunderland,” added
Dallas. “He's going to go into this game to win it and try to get that momentum
and that confidence back again.”
Having achieved a club record 100 points to win the
Championship title last year, Leeds players are eager to create more history,
according to Ilia Gruev.
Speaking recently to Leeds Live, he explained: “You want to
keep going because you know these are things people will remember your name
for, if you win titles or if you have big achievements.
“You never know, we can hopefully have a good result against
Norwich, which is, firstly, the most important thing - to win the game. And
then you can of course speak about other things.
“If you have the chance to write history, I think you should
go for it. You should try everything that is possible in your way to achieve
great things.”
