"We have received a lot of support from the academy of Leeds," said Marcelo Bielsa after a stunning comeback at Aston Villa during his first season as head coach.
Five of Leeds' six substitutes that day were youth players and 18-year-old left-back Leif Davis had made a surprise debut. Three years on, the club finds itself in a similar position.
Charlie Cresswell and Cody Drameh are the young defenders to be thrown in at the deep end as a result of injuries and limited squad depth.
But this time around, it is at the other end of the pitch where Leeds may have really unearthed gem. Given the creative issues the team is suffering from, boy do they need one.
What has happened to Leeds United?
After an impressive first season on their return to the Premier League, Leeds' opening nine games in 2021/22 have been a struggle.
Heading into the 10th round of fixtures, they sit one place and three points above the drop zone with a -8 goal difference; only months ago they were considered an outsider for European football.
Only Newcastle, Norwich and Watford have conceded more goals with Leeds' 16.2 expected goals against (xGA) the third-worst in the league.
Their attacking brand of play has struggled to click too, with both their actual goals and expected goals tallies among the lowest in the division.
'Second season syndrome' is an inevitable tag, especially given Sheffield United's incredible drop-off last term following a remarkably similar opening campaign in 20/21 as Leeds had the following year, but there is more to it than that.
Injuries playing their part
Operating with a small squad can cause real problems when injuries start to strike, and that has proved to be the case for Leeds.
Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips, Luke Ayling, Robin Koch and Junior Firpo have all been sidelined at different times, while Raphinha's involvement with Brazil has also seen him miss some action.
The absence of Bamford has been most keenly felt.
Any side would miss their starting striker, scorer of 17 and creator of eight goals last term, but even before losing him four games ago Leeds were struggling.
Just two non-penalty big chances have been created in total. Only rock-bottom Norwich have created fewer.
Goals drying up
The Leeds of this season are a far cry from the side who built a reputation for attacking flair over the past three and a half years.
Two seasons in the Sky Bet Championship brought 150 goals with a +42 goal difference, while their opening Premier League campaign ended with 62 goals from 38 fixtures, scored from chances equating to a seemingly sustainable 62.1 xGF.
But eight goals in nine league games, alongside blanks in both Carabao Cup rounds, has the 21/22 Leeds looking at more like 33 goals over the piece.
They are literally half as good as an attacking unit.
How has Bielsa tried to solve things?
Bamford's injury has been significant but it did present the opportunity for Rodrigo to take up his more natural role as a centre forward.
A disrupted first season still brought a return of a goal nearly every two league games and an average xG of 0.40 per 95 minutes. He also gave the side a couple of assists with a decent enough 0.23 xA per 95 average.
There has been a decline in the new season though and that has come with a starting role in all but one of Leeds' games.
Ultimately, it's resulted in an overall non-penalty xG figure of 0.65.
Tyler Roberts has also been tried in the central striker position, but it simply has not worked.
In 360 minutes of action, he has registered just one shot on target.
How good is Joe Gelhardt?
In Leeds' most recent home league game, a potential answer to their problems may have presented itself - or himself to be more accurate.
Even Leeds fans could be forgiven for never having heard of Joe Gelhardt, a Scouse teenager signed from Wigan in the summer of 2020.
But his stunning showing off the bench against Wolves left plenty clamouring for him to be thrown into the starting XI.
In just 28 minutes he managed three shots, one of which was on target, a considerable 0.34 xG, and won a match-saving penalty to help secure a stoppage-time draw.
Against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, he again impressed, testing the keeper when coming on as a substitute.
But it is in other areas that his impact has been especially noteworthy.
Against Arsenal, no Leeds player managed more successful take-ons than Gelhardt despite just half-an-hour of action. Against Wolves, only Raphinha bettered him in that respect.
Too much too soon?
For Gelhardt, it's a balancing act. It's still early in the season but the pressure is there for Leeds to get results, particularly in a game against a side so heavily fancied to finish bottom.
They also don't want to put too much pressure on such a young forward.
But Gelhardt's showings so far - both for Wigan and Leeds - have demonstrated his talent. Increased minutes in competitive fixtures shows his status within Bielsa's squad - this isn't a player yet to set foot on the pitch for the first team.
The natural goalscorer Leeds need
The fact remains that when Bamford returns from injury, he will start. But in the meantime, do Leeds have a better option that their livewire young forward, against an opponent as poor as Norwich?
With 17 goals alongside four assists in Premier League 2 for Leeds - and two goals on his England Under-20s debut against Romania - Gelhardt is no stranger to scoring goals.
At the moment, Leeds' senior players have forgotten how to do it. Their teenage team-mate could be the one to remind them.
