Time for Sam Greenwood? Decisions facing Marcelo Bielsa as he balances Leeds United's present and future hopes - Graham Smyth

In one hand, Marcelo Bielsa will hold the club’s hopes of, at long last, putting together an FA Cup campaign befitting their size, stature and top flight status.

Leeds’ relationship with a competition they last won in 1972 has become cold and distant due to a lack of recent joy.

It is five years since they last reached the fifth round, 17 years have passed since they made the quarter-finals and 34 have passed since their last semi-final appearance.

First-, second- and third- round exits at the hands of Hereford, Histon and Newport County have left scars.

Last season’s third-round defeat was relatively painless, not only because Leeds were a Championship side going up against Premier League opposition away from home, but because they gave Arsenal a torrid night.

A first half of Leeds domination brought Marcelo Bielsa’s football to the attention of Premier League fans for whom the Championship was some alien concept, making Bielsaball much more mainstream in England and making Arsenal look poor.

The Gunners won the game 1-0 with a second-half goal, Alexandre Lacazette surviving a VAR check for a kick out at Gaetano Berardi – a move as brave as it was foolish but Leeds won plaudits.

It was perhaps the best possible outcome for Leeds, given their do-or-die promotion bid upon which so much rested.

It was glorious failure and not simply another bout of their FA Cup malaise.

At Crawley Town, there can be no glorious failure.

This is a game from which Leeds can take no plaudits, without taking victory. Giving a League Two side a torrid time and losing would simply be chalked up as another cup disaster.

And there is a real chance that Leeds could go far in the competition. They have caused problems of some degree for every team they have faced in the Premier League this season and will fear no one.

Having strengthened the team that won the Championship by 10 points, there should be no-one outside the top flight who can match a full strength and on-song Leeds United over 90 minutes.

To go far, they must first go through Crawley, but whether or not they do so at full strength is unlikely.

For in Bielsa’s other hand, he holds the club’s hopes of developing players for the near future and long term and this game presents a chance to push players like Leif Davis forward a little more.

Jamie Shackleton, who is a player for the here and now, could use some more game time and gives Bielsa an option to rest either Stuart Dallas at right-back or Mateusz Klich in the middle.

But beyond those two there are several youngsters who will be keeping everything crossed this week, hoping and praying for first team debuts.

The fans too are desperate to see Sam Greenwood and Joe Gelhardt in competitive football.

The attacking duo have looked very good in Under-23s action and when goals are scored excitement follows. We’re an impatient lot, football fans and we don’t really like to wait for our promising stars of the future to mature, we want them to be stars now.

So when an attacking player like Gelhardt comes along, with what looks like the build and strength to handle himself physically while beating players with pace and skill, not to mention some Championship experience with his former club, the desire to see our belief in his ability tested is overwhelming.

Bielsa, of course, cannot simply send the 23s to Crawley because as the EFL Trophy proved, there is still a gap between development football and men’s football.

It might be a difficult game. I’ve watched enough League One and League Two games to know that they can pass loanee youngsters from Premier League clubs by entirely. Leeds will still need some older, wiser heads in their line-up.

And even before you get to the kids, players like Pablo Hernandez, Helder Costa and Ian Poveda need game time.

Bielsa has got to balance the first-team squad’s needs with the club’s future needs and this season’s priority – staying in the Premier League – with this season’s luxury – a good FA Cup run.

Quite whether football needs the FA Cup this season, given the circumstances, is a debate worth having but right now it’s irrelevant to Bielsa.

There’s a banana skin ahead and he needs to keep his balance.