The development of professional football is really changing traditions all the time.
Many people say that the FA Cup is a traditional event that English fans take very seriously.
But even so, it has still undergone very big changes.
Fans who are familiar with English football must still have the impression that in the past, FA Cup matches were basically played away from home by strong Premier League teams. The purpose of this was to boost the opponent's home attendance and stimulate the football market.
Although many times, strong teams play with full substitutes and youth team lineups, their popularity is still very high.
But now, the situation has changed a lot.
After many low-level league teams draw a strong team, they will take the initiative to apply to arrange the game at the strong team's home court.
The reason is simple. They can get more income by playing at the home court of a strong team.
For example, Leeds United’s opponent in the third round of the FA Cup was Crawley, a team from England’s fourth tier.
Crawley is a small town south of London between Brighton and Brighton. The total capacity of Broadfield Stadium is 6134, but in reality? Because there are 3000 standing tickets, it is really in the FA Cup.
, only 3,134 tickets could be sold.
The key problem is that with Crowley's influence and the number of surrounding residents, he simply cannot sell so many tickets.
Therefore, Crowley applied to the Football Association to arrange the match venue at Leeds United's Amazon Stadium. At the same time, he cooperated with Leeds United officials to provide Crowley fans who followed the team north with Crowley's official ticket price.
Tickets provided.
In other words, if fans watch the game north, the ticket price will still be the same as Crowley's ticket price, but they can enter Amazon Arena to watch the game.
This is definitely a very, very big temptation for all Crowley fans.
The 3,000 tickets originally allocated to Crowley by Leeds United were quickly sold out, and 5,000 tickets were later added.
All of this revenue goes to Crowley, and Leeds United will also give Crowley half of the ticket revenue from the game, after deducting expenses and costs.
When all is said and done, Crowley can take away at least hundreds of thousands of pounds per game.
For the fourth-level league team that has long been unable to make ends meet, this is definitely a blessing in disguise.
For Crawley fans, although watching football in the north is difficult, because it is a weekend, it is more like a vacation trip, and they can come to Leeds United and watch their hometown team play at the world-famous Amazon Stadium.
, this is definitely a rare treat.
And things like this are everywhere in today's FA Cup.
For example, Morecambe, who is also in the fourth tier, was drawn against Chelsea and also applied to arrange the game at Stamford Bridge.
Regarding such a phenomenon, both the Football Association and English fans can actually accept it.
There are even many teams like Crawley and Morecambe who worked hard to reach the third round of the FA Cup, just because they want to get a strong team in the draw and then go to the home game of a strong team.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds are nothing to a strong team, but to these fourth-tier league teams, it is simply a sky-high price, allowing them to straighten their backs and even make a big splash in the league.
purchase.
As for the home and away factor, as for the hope of promotion, does it matter?
Even at their home court, even if Leeds United played with a full bench and a young lineup, they still couldn't defeat their opponents.
The gap in strength between the two sides is too great.
The Crawley fans who followed the team north also had a holiday mentality and did not value the final result at all. Even during the game, they marveled at the fantasy and technology of the Amazon Stadium, and on the other hand they were also impressed by the performance of the Leeds United players.
Cheers for the wonderful performance.
In this battle, Leeds United played with an all-young lineup.
Young players including Musiala, Kvalac Helia, Ansu Fati, Pedri and other young players all started. 16-year-old midfielder Garvey also made his debut.
In this game, the Leeds United youth team played an offensive storm, with head kicks and kicks in the first and second half, sweeping Crawley 5-0 and completely defeating the visiting team.
What’s interesting is that not only the Crawley fans in the stands were applauding, but even Crawley’s players took the initiative to applaud Leeds United after losing the game. Many players even came over to exchange jerseys.
Crawley captain and right back George Francom was born in Norwich's youth training and struggled in the lower leagues throughout his career. He praised Leeds United's stadium and players, thinking it was the best in the world.
The most dreamy football stadium.
At the same time, he also spoke highly of the Georgian left winger Kvaratshelia who faced him.
"He is really too strong, just like Messi, he can't be guarded at all!"
After the game, he also exchanged jerseys with Kvala Tskhelia. In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, he said that he would collect the jersey because he believed that Kvara Tskhelia would definitely play in the future.
Become a top star.
"At that point, this jersey will mean something special."
…
On January 13, in the 18th round of the Premier League, Leeds United faced Southampton at home.
Since after the winter break, Leeds United began to rest, especially in the second half of the team's schedule, adjusting the physical fitness of the players, and implementing Buenaventura and Pintus' small charging training plan during the winter break, which resulted in
The team's condition is not particularly ideal.
In the first half, the two sides shook hands and settled for a draw at zero to zero.
Especially during the halftime break, Sancho suffered from slight muscle pain, which forced the team to make substitutions.
After changing sides in the second half, Leeds United broke through Southampton's goal in a quick attack with only one point left. A through ball from Enzo Fernandez allowed Haaland to open the scoring for the team.
Than zero! 燡
Later, Rodrigo, who came on as a substitute for Sancho, assisted left winger Vinicius to score.
In the 83rd minute, Alphonso Davies helped the team score another victory.
In the end, Leeds United won the Saints Southampton 3-0 at home.
…
Three days later, in the 19th round of the Premier League, Leeds United continued to sit at home and welcomed Brighton.
Two consecutive home games, but the team had to make significant rotations.
This time, the old captain Vardy showed a superb level. First, in the 27th minute, he assisted Valverde to score, and then in the 41st minute, he received a pass from Rashford and scored.
And in the 44th minute, it was Vardy's assist that allowed Valverde to score another victory.
Interestingly, the two goals scored by the Uruguayan midfielder were all long-range shots from the front of the penalty area. It was really a ground-breaking and blockbuster!
Leeds United also relied on Vardy's two passes and one shot to defeat Brighton 3-0.
At the critical moment, the old captain showed the performance of Dinghai Shenzhen.
In an interview with media reporters, Vardy said that he was very satisfied with his current state and his position in the team.
"I am already 33 years old. I will definitely not be able to participate in so many games and contribute as many goals as before."
Vardy believes that his biggest problem is that he needs more time to rest.
"The way it is now, I think it's pretty good."
Leeds United officials are also very satisfied with Vardy's condition and affirm his role in the team.
…
After the 19th round, the team finally got a chance to breathe and got a week's rest.
Leeds United gave their players two days off to allow them to have a good rest.
On January 23, in the fourth round of the FA Cup, Leeds United faced Nottingham Forest at home.
Only 7 minutes into the game, Kvarachelia dribbled the ball past two opposing players on the left and then sent a wonderful pass to Alvarez in front of him. The Argentine calmly seized the opportunity this time.
, opened the scoring for Leeds United.
One to zero!
In the 29th minute, Camavinga's assist allowed Bellingham to score another victory for Leeds United, expanding the score to 2-0!
After a change of sides in the second half, Nottingham Forest pulled a goal back, but Leeds United scored another goal from Bellingham five minutes later, further expanding the score to three to one!
After that, Joan Armene's assist allowed Alvarez to score twice, making it 4-1!
In the 83rd minute, Musiala, who came on as a substitute, scored the fifth goal, helping Leeds United defeat Nottingham Forest 5-1 at home and successfully advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup, which is the last 16.
It is worth mentioning that Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle have both advanced to the top 16.
……blazing
Three days later, Newcastle St James' Park.
In the 20th round of the Premier League, Leeds United challenged Newcastle away from home.
As an Italian head coach, Ancelotti is also excellent at targeted tactics, especially when it comes to marking the opponent's core players. He always makes quite comprehensive preparations.
Just like when facing Leeds United this time, Ancelotti used two central defenders, Botman and Bremer, to clamp down on Haaland. This prevented Leeds United's center from getting a good chance throughout the game.
Can't take advantage.
Haaland's only bright spot in the game was assisting Sancho to score a goal in the 17th minute.
Since then, he has been completely frozen out of Newcastle's double centre-back.
Newcastle got a goal back in the 57th minute of the second half and even showed signs of reversing the lead.
But 4 minutes later, Sancho assisted Rashford to score, surpassing the score again.
Subsequently, Ancelotti changed two players in a row and continued to strengthen the offensive.
Especially the extraordinary king Saint-Maximin.
This French player is still the player with the most dribbles in the Premier League and even in European football this season. As soon as the French winger came on the field, he immediately overturned Mrs. Ashra on the right side of Leeds United.
But Pochettino also quickly made adjustments, and Militao strengthened his defense on this side. As a result, although Saint-Maximin's personal performance was very good, at the overall tactical level, he was only limited to Leeds United's right wing.
The road cannot affect the overall situation.
Osimhen was closely guarded by Ruben Dias in this game, and he also did not have a good seat.
In the end, Leeds United held on to their one-goal lead and defeated Newcastle 2-1 away from home.
But this battle can only be considered a narrow victory at best.
