Marco Bielsa has been vocal in his support of Patrick Bamford, amidst criticism of the striker from the Elland Road faithful. Many Leeds supporters believe that Bamford’s goalscoring record isn’t satisfactory considering the sheer number of chances the West-Yorkshire team creates.
It is widely believed among the Leeds supporters that Bamford is the man to blame for Leeds’ mediocre start to the 2019/20 campaign. However, Bielsa has defended the striker and instead points to another weakness in the team as the main problem. Indeed, the Argentine has lamented his team for their lack of efficiency. By this, he means that there has been a lack of goals scored throughout the team and that Bamford isn’t the only player who has been inefficient at converting chances.
During an honest interview published on the official Leeds United website, Bielsa proposes his belief that goals should come from all over the team, and shouldn’t be the sole responsibility of the striker. He argues that “we can score from outside the box, but we haven’t shot and we can score from set-pieces. It’s important not to make the centre forward the only person responsible for not scoring enough.”
Leeds United currently sit third in the Championship, however, are placed 13th for goals scored. This is a worrying statistic for a team that creates more chances than any other in the division. What is even more telling, is that Bielsa has felt the need to publicly defend Bamford on numerous occasions, since criticism of the striker has become widespread, significant and public.
While some of the Elland Road faithful see the benefits of Bamford’s all-round play, an ever-increasing majority are eager for the striker to be replaced by Eddie Nketiah, his younger counterpart. The 20-year-old is on-loan from Arsenal, and has five goals for the Whites in just 433 minutes of Championship football, while Bamford has four goals to his name in a much greater 1032 minutes. This statistic demonstrates a significant discrepancy, and outlines the stark difference in goalscoring nous and ability between the pair.
However, Bielsa is adamant that Bamford currently deserves the number nine jersey more than Nketiah, as a result of his ability to work hard for the team, hold the ball up well, and bring others into play. The Argentine is characteristically stubborn and is unlikely to change his mind any time soon.
While it is unclear whether Bamford or Nketiah would be the better option up-front, what is clear is that Leeds need to find a way to score more goals, particularly at Elland Road. The team narrowly missed out on automatic promotion last season, and a lack of goals scored could cause them to face the same fate this year also.
Leeds United continue their campaign this weekend at home to QPR.
