Leeds United: Did Leeds struggle without Patrick Bamford?

National World - LocalTV

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00:00One player you've noted that you thought Leeds missed was Patrick Bamford.

00:06I think he's a character and a player that divides opinion because on his day he can be very, very good.

00:12Of course, he does have his problems with injuries and at times he can be left wanting a little bit,

00:18but in a game like this against QPR, you thought he was badly missed.

00:22Yes, the phrase that comes to mind with him is,

00:25you don't know what you've got until it's gone, is a little bit how I would say it with that.

00:29I think Daniel Farker almost alluded that to himself in his speaking post-match.

00:33He was saying a few days ago everybody wanted him to force him into retirement and stuff,

00:37in terms of people getting on his back again, because it has been a bit like that lately for him

00:41when he came back to the team in the new year, came back with a bang and had a decent flurry of goals,

00:46obviously scored again at Borough.

00:49Yes, they did miss him. It's as simple as that, though.

00:51And as I say, suddenly when he's not in the team, you do realise almost how much he does for the team

00:56and his hold-up play and just generally being there, his leadership as well.

01:00You've got to remember he's a very experienced player and Leeds are a very, very young team.

01:04You take out someone like that who's got a lot of experience and it leaves a big hole,

01:07especially when there's a lot of people like Ayling have gone and Cooper's on the bench and whatnot

01:11and they start on the other end.

01:13He went with Joel Pirou up front and to be honest, I know there's continued calls for Matteo Joseph to start

01:19and I'm in that camp. I think he should be given a start.

01:22I think he's a very, very talented young player. I get that you've got to tread carefully with youngsters

01:26and whatnot, but every time he's come on, he's done the business and he just looks more of a threat

01:30at the moment than Joel Pirou, who he obviously had a couple of attempts and stuff,

01:34but it just didn't work for him at all in that role.

01:36And we'll talk about Junior Firpo in a minute, but there was one cross from Firpo from the left,

01:40which went straight through. I mean, it's absolutely brilliant, but a cross straight through the box

01:43and they were just begging for someone like Bamford to get on the end of it.

01:46Bamford's always had his knockers and stuff for his finishing. His finishing isn't great.

01:50He obviously misses a lot of chances for the ones he scores as well,

01:54but I've always said, always doing these shows and everybody can see it,

01:58his hold-up play is absolutely superb and it really just does make leads tick.

02:02It wasn't just about up front. It wasn't just about Pirou not playing particularly well.

02:07Nobody played really well, to be honest. I mean, the midfield, the centre midfield was a huge concern.

02:12Gruev's been obviously fantastic since he's come into the side,

02:15but I mean, we can all see that he didn't get close enough for the first two goals

02:20and they were just getting through the midfield far too easily, really.

02:22And Archie Gray is obviously a superb player, but you've got a superb talent with the world at his feet at 18.

02:28But you've got to remember, he's very, very young as well.

02:30And I think a lot of people are saying, you know, you kind of missed that Camara and Gruev access

02:34in the middle of the parks. Maybe that's something to look at.

02:37But yeah, really, I mean, obviously other people injured like Pascal and Dan James, obviously,

02:42Connor Roberts as well. But in terms of the, you know, when you look at that game,

02:47you think they could have done with him. You definitely look at Patrick Bamford

02:49and you just hope he's back for this weekend for the finale.

02:52I think he will be. Daniel Farker was saying afterwards that basically it was a really heavy bruise.

02:55He got on the back of Borough, was still swollen. He couldn't train the day before.

03:00Basically, he said, if you're not training the day before, there's no chance you get to be involved.

03:03But they tried everything. He said that in three or four days, he'd probably be OK.

03:06And obviously, they've got a week before the next game.

03:08So, I mean, we're speaking before press conferences here and whatnot,

03:11but it sounds like he'll probably be back this weekend and Leeds definitely need him.

03:14But obviously, you know, they need more than Bamford.

03:16They need to win and probably, you know, results to go their way quite simply.

03:19So, yeah, I don't know what the future will hold for Leeds up front.

03:22Bamford's now 30, but he's very useful to have around.

03:25There's no doubt about that when you sort of realise that in games like this.

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