Jesse Marsch sees Archie Gray's landmark Leeds United moment after remarkable off-field events

When 16-year-old Leeds United midfielder Archie Gray put the ball in the Manchester United net from 35 yards out, he put hundreds, if not thousands on the Elland Road attendance.
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In years to come the 9,808 who actually were there will be swelled by pub storytellers because it was an 'I was there' moment. Most importantly, it was another landmark and a tangible sign of progression to justify the growing excitement over the latest from the Gray bloodline.

This season has been a remarkable one for Gray, and not always because of his actions during games.

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There was the Victor Orta interview and a revelation that the teenager had given the director of football the same feeling he had when he first clapped eyes on Sergio Agüero. There was the flirtation with Premier League football, being included in the travelling party that went to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and being named on the bench twice by Marcelo Bielsa, all before his 16th birthday. At that age, the safeguarding regulations make for an interesting away match experience, with chaperones and separate changing areas. It was still a taste of the first team football environment, though.

Bielsa's January prediction that Gray will achieve elite status was perhaps the most remarkable off-field event of them all for the Argentine is not a man prone to hyperbole. What's more, he once used a Leeds United press conference to issue an eight-minute apology to Hernan Crespo for telling the striker, then a youngster, he was a player with maturity when he wasn't.

"If you lie to your son, in order that your son gets something from this artificial moment of strength, the lie, you will just resolve the problem for that day and that moment, but you will have actually weakened him in the future instead of strengthening him," said Bielsa in August 2018. If Bielsa said Gray has the qualities to play in 'every sector' of the pitch and all the resources he needs, he believed it. Whether Gray was in the academy building at Thorp Arch or at home with his family when he heard Bielsa say those words, it was a moment he may well remember and cherish forever, and yet more motivation to go on and prove everyone right.

All of these things and the media attention that naturally comes with them could be overwhelming for one so young, so his match-changing impact against Manchester United, of all clubs, is a reassuring sign that despite the ever-blooming expectation, Gray remains on track and capable of justifying the hype. There is a lot of talk, but Gray is not all talk.

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This was just his ninth appearance for the 23s this season - he has still played more minutes for the 18s than he has in Premier League 2 action and Leeds are clearly taking their time with him. As cameos go, however, in front of the club's new head coach Jesse Marsch and his assistants to boot, it was a special one.

HYPE TRAIN - Victor Orta and Marcelo Bielsa have both said remarkable things about Leeds United's 16-year-old talent Archie Gray, who scored a screamer against Manchester United 23s at Elland Road. Pic: GettyHYPE TRAIN - Victor Orta and Marcelo Bielsa have both said remarkable things about Leeds United's 16-year-old talent Archie Gray, who scored a screamer against Manchester United 23s at Elland Road. Pic: Getty
HYPE TRAIN - Victor Orta and Marcelo Bielsa have both said remarkable things about Leeds United's 16-year-old talent Archie Gray, who scored a screamer against Manchester United 23s at Elland Road. Pic: Getty

The ground, the occasion and the opposition all provided the perfect context and backdrop for his aggressive pressing that nicked the ball for Leeds in the final third and sent them on their way for Max Dean's goal and a 2-0 lead.

Scoring from 35 yards is always an impressive feat, regardless of the absence of a goalkeeper, but to control the ball, look up, block out the 10,000 voices telling you what to do and lift a shot over one defender's head and dip it down past the one on the line, showed remarkable composure. In scoring his first goal for the 23s, surely the first of many, just three days after his 16th birthday, he became the youngest player to find the net in Premier League 2 this season. It was, for so many reasons, one to remember. A landmark passed and another box ticked.

In this day and age there is no quiet development under the radar or behind the scenes - games are filmed, footage broadcast, phone cameras come out and youth football enthusiasts follow every kick like hawks, hoping to spot and proclaim the next big thing. Gray will be under the microscope from here on in, so much more so than his peers because of his name and all that has been said about him. Coping with the pressure and expectation will be a test, but the signs at Elland Road on Tuesday night were pretty good. He looks relaxed, when he's not pestering opponents, something his natural size and athleticism help him do well. There's much growing to be done still, too, and a high, high ceiling.

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And the more he continues to deliver moments like that one, or the turn and through ball against Tranmere Rovers, the more Leeds fans will make sure they can say they were there, when he does it again.