The fact that Leeds United’s bench players weren’t taking chances was one of the few issues they had during the first half of the season. These days, that is not possible to say. When it comes to choosing the team and getting results, Patrick Bamford, Junior Firpo, Jaidon Anthony, and Willy Gnonto have all had an impact that has made Daniel Farke’s life more difficult.

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.

Joseph, who joined from RCD Espanyol in January 2022, is still only 20 years old. He is Farke’s junior central attacking option, trailing Joel Piroe, Patrick Bamford, and Georginio Rutter. Although there aren’t many minutes from this season, Leeds’ assessment of the young player was evident in the January contract extension for the summer of 2028.

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 and putting himself about, but what he really wanted was to make 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.

Before that opportunity, Leeds had made the most of the bad weather by failing to break through Plymouth and move the ball over the halfway line, but their better ball control was bound to create opportunities. Piroe rattled the woodwork with a strong drive not long after Joseph did. The Pilgrims shown their bravery when Joe Edwards broke into the area and forced Illan Meslier to make a save. They also probed to their right, bringing in crucial defensive blocks from Joe Rodon and Sam Byram.

Leeds kept up their dominance and applied such intense pressure that Plymouth started to wither. Leeds started to feel the vice-like grip of Ilia Gruev’s metronomic passing and his propensity to surge forward into any available space. Archie Grey, Joe Gelhardt, Bamford, Rutter, and Crysencio Summerville were among the new legs that caused the hosts even more problems. When Gelhardt thundered a shot against the upright, the only thing standing between Plymouth and a cup exit for a third time was the woodwork. Ryan Hardie managed to lead an improbable late smash and grab raid, challenging Meslier’s reflexes and focus, for some reason.

That’s when the extra quality Farke had added to his frontline truly showed in extra time. Dangerous from the start, Summerville received a pass from Rutter and did what he does best—cutting in from the left and finding the far corner of the net. With no regard for fatigued legs, the Dutchman attacked the hosts in the second half and fed Rutter, who finished with a shot that shaved the post to make the score 3-1. One’s own objective finished what?
was ultimately a rout. It could even have gotten worse for Plymouth, as the rain beat them down and Leeds beat them down.

Although Farke was pleased with Joseph and Gelhardt’s performances, he also wanted to give his first-choice players credit for their goals that they scored after coming off the bench. Leeds unexpectedly find themselves in a situation where seven attackers have found the net in the first five weeks of 2024. Goals are important for confidence. As the second half of this season gets underway, it poses the ideal kind of challenge for Farke.

“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 contribute goals. It improves our confidence and mood. This kind of scenario is preferable to wondering who I can approach to accomplish an objective. This headache is preferable.

And he would prefer to continue playing in the FA Cup. FA Cup runs are beneficial to the supporters, the team spirit, and the supporting cast in particular.