Javi Gracia to make single special Leeds United request as he aims to prove magic squad theory

The knockout competition likely played no part in the discussions with the Elland Road hierarchy when they met with Gracia to discuss the job they were offering and the remit he would have.

Premier League survival by hook or by crook would be seen as job done in anyone's eyes, yet club chiefs did deliver a message to Jesse Marsch that a cup run would be ideal this season and in Gracia they not only have a manager for whom the FA Cup is special, they have one who came within a game of winning it.

He took Watford all the way to the final in the 2018/19 season and as Newcastle United's run to Wembley in the Carabao Cup has proven this term, such an adventure does wonders for a club and its fans.

Gracia's first win, his first game in charge against Southampton on Saturday, lifted Leeds out of the drop zone. Beating Fulham to reach the quarter-final of the FA Cup would lift everyone.

"[FA Cup memories are] unforgettable for me," he said.

"What I could see in that competition, the way all our supporters enjoyed it is something I'll never forget. It's something I have tried to explain to our players, I have only one experience but that experience was something amazing for me. I would like to live it again."

The Spaniard, by his own admission, would prefer if the Craven Cottage cup clash came with a little more space either side of it, but regardless of the three-games-in-eight-days scheduling, he was always going to give this one its due.

"I give importance because I love this competition," he said.

"I have to try to organise, motivate myself, motivate my players to know if we play a good game and we're able to win it will be something really good for us. That's the mentality we have."

The very nature of knockout football necessitates the best performance a team can muster, because there are no second chances. Fulham, in form and flying in the Premier League, present just about the sternest draw for Leeds, even before you consider the Whites' retched recent run in the capital, so it likely will take the very best of Gracia and a team he's just getting to grips with.

There will be no influx of bodies from the treatment room for this game – neither Liam Cooper nor Pascal Struijk are expected to feature before Saturday and Luis Sinisterra remains out, along with Rodrigo – and Sam Greenwood is suspended, giving Gracia limited wiggle room for changes. But the man who has kept his team selection cards so close to his chest since his arrival, admits he will make changes all the same, to freshen things up.

"As I experienced at Watford, I always tried to choose the best 11 to start the game," he said.

"Sometimes to choose the best 11 is to make some changes and other moments is to maybe keep the same 11 you played in the last game. For sure we need something new, fresh legs to compete with our best 11. I trust all my players and it's a good opportunity to see other players."

If ever a man has proved, using the magic of the FA Cup, that this is a squad game and players are there to be trusted, or that those on the fringe can be brought in ‘cold’ to produce a performance, result and momentum, it is Gracia. He twice made 11 changes to his starting line-up en route to a Wembley meeting with Manchester City, beating Woking and Newcastle United 2-0 respectively with those entirely fresh teams.

"I like the attitude of my players, they showed they are available for the next games," he said after the win over Woking. After Newcastle he further explained his philosophy: "I believe in all the squad and it's not only words, you have to show it."

For QPR in the fifth round it was five changes and a 1-0 win, for Crystal Palace it was eight changes – although he had left a number of regulars on the bench a week prior against Manchester City as he quite clearly turned an eye to the cup. Gracia’s selection policy for the FA Cup became a talking point, particularly in light of the side he put out to face Manchester City ahead of taking on Palace. Roy Hodgson was so unbothered about it that he spoke extensively about how little it bothered him. Watford beat them 2-1. “I trust all my players,” said Gracia afterwards.

When it came to the semi-final and final Gracia went with what would largely be considered first-choice teams, although second choice keeper Heurelho Gomes played all eight of the Hornets' cup games that season instead of Ben Foster. A heavy defeat at Wembley, as Manchester City lifted the trophy, did nothing to diminish the magic of Gomes, Gracia and Watford’s FA Cup experience.

At Leeds, he has three goalkeepers to choose from and while he elected not to confirm who of Illan Meslier, Joel Robles or Kristoffer Klaesson would start, he added that this decision will be made with the same process as with the other 10 positions - "I try to choose what I consider is the best option to win the game.”

Elsewhere on the pitch there isn’t the same scope for tinkering. Cooper and Struijk’s absences have left Max Wober and Robin Koch as the only natural, senior centre-backs. Junior Firpo will want to play again, having visibly relished a long-awaited breakout performance against the Saints, but there’s no real choice at left-back anyway until Struijk is ready to return to the fray. Unless the boss springs a surprise and starts a youngster like Mateo Joseph or Sonny Perkins, it can only really be Patrick Bamford or Georginio Rutter up top.

Whoever gets the nod will also receive an opportunity to show Gracia that they could do a job at the weekend, too. Rasmus Kristensen, for example, will be desperate to supplant Luke Ayling and reclaim the right-back spot for the relegation battle ahead. Crysencio Summerville will hope to have the kind of impact that led to Saturday's winner, so he gets back in the starting XI. Marc Roca, if fit enough to start, will be keen to prove there's room for a ball-player in the midfield at Chelsea. Georginio Rutter has a point that he's yet to prove to everyone.

But from Gracia's words, it's clear his only ask of the squad at Fulham, his one special request for individuals with league minutes in mind, will be that they take him closer to another Wembley final.

"When I start a season and you ask me I always say the same, I want to win the title, the Premier League title, all the cups, I want to win everything," he said.

"That's the way we have to play all the competitions, try to be ambitious and try to win all the games. After the competition will put us in our places. Now, or at Watford, it was the same, we wanted to win the trophy and of course to win the title. Game by game you have to modify your target and realise it's maybe to remain in the Premier League and focus on that. I prefer to focus only on the next game, it's the best way to do your best."