For Leeds United this season, Patrick Bamford has warmed up more on the touchline than on the field.
Due to a mixture of injury concerns and his current position as third choice, Bamford has only appeared in 56 minutes of Championship action in Leeds’ first 14 games.
For the first time in his Leeds career, he isn’t being over-relied upon because Joel Piroe and Mateo Joseph are now both ahead of him in the competition for a spot up front.
Daniel Farke has maintained that Bamford is still a “crucial” member of his team, although his on-field performance doesn’t seem to support that claim.
According to Gary Rowett, Bamford will be irritated with his current circumstances at Leeds, which he reportedly showed at the full-time whistle of the defeat at Millwall.
Graham Smyth talks about Bamford’s antics on the Leeds touchline.
Over the past few seasons, Bamford has regrettably been used as a scapegoat at Leeds, with many of the frustrations stemming from the fact that he gets hurt so frequently.
Journalist Graham Smyth has strongly denied the accusations made by certain supporters on Twitter that Bamford is unwilling to make himself available because of the severity of his injuries.
Smyth discussed how Bamford’s touchline antics during his warm-up demonstrate how much he cares about Leeds’ success in the most recent episode of the “Inside Elland Road Podcast.”
“What I would say about Bamford is that it’s really annoying that his fitness has been such a problem over the past few years,” he remarked. Yes, Patrick Bamford has also struggled with inefficient finishing.
But some people appear to believe that he’s just being paid, that he’s working on his show, that he doesn’t give a damn, and that he’s not making himself available.
“Watch Patrick Bamford warm up late in games, when Leeds needs a goal, or when the game is close. He’s practically always motivating the players.” Willy Gnonto made a bad call in the last third last night [against Millwall], and the ball was out of play.
“Bamford was present in his ear, clapping, telling him to keep going, go again. We’ve seen that quite a few times this season, we’ve seen him pull Mateo Joseph aside to give him some advice from the touchline. You can’t tell me he doesn’t care about Leeds United winning games.
Even when he isn’t playing, he makes an effort to help Leeds win the match, even if it means starting guys who aren’t him. I believe that he is currently receiving an unfair rap.
Bamford’s opportunity at Leeds might be imminent.
As previously stated, Bamford is obviously lower on Leeds’ hierarchy, but his opportunity might not be far off.
Despite starting as a number nine in each of the previous six games, Piroe’s two goals is insufficient to compensate for his deficiencies in other areas of his game.
In recent weeks, Joseph’s minutes have also drastically decreased, raising questions about Farke his capabilities.
If that is the case, then Farke may look to the experience of Bamford again, a bit like he did during the second half of last season.