Patrick Bamford lets Javi Gracia down despite Leeds United win, Elland Road exit could be on the cards
Saturday was a happy day for Leeds United fans as they saw their side move out of the Premier League’s relegation zone.
In Javi Gracia’s first game in charge, Junior Firpo scored the winner to secure all three points against bottom-of-the-table Southampton at Elland Road.
It was Leeds’ first win since 5 November and lifted them above Bournemouth and Everton in the table as they both lost to Manchester City and Aston Villa respectively.
And while it was a massive three points for Leeds, it wasn’t exactly a stellar performance.
There’s a lot to work on for Gracia.
Defensively, a clean sheet was great but there are still clear flaws in this side.
And in the attack, Leeds still need about 20 opportunities to get one goal and that has cost them a lot of times this season.
All in all, there are issues across the pitch and one of the biggest issues that the Whites have faced for well over a year now has been Patrick Bamford.
After all the injuries he’s had, you can understand why 29-year-old Bamford is merely a shadow of the player he was in the 2020/21 season when he scored 17 Premier League goals.
Bamford has had niggling issues all season and scored just one goal in the 16 Premier League appearances he’s managed to earn, with nine of them being from the start.
Gracia trusted the one-time England international to start against Southampton on Saturday but unfortunately, the striker let his new boss down with a stinking performance.
Yes, Leeds won. But let’s not pretend there were no issues for Gracia to learn from and iron out.
According to stats by WhoScored, Bamford had two shots at goal and both hit the target, although there were both extremely tame and had an xG of a stinkingly low 0.1 [FBRef].
It could have been more but Bamford just looked slow and lethargic in the box, failing to read crosses well or find himself in the right positions.
He won none of the three aerial duels he challenged for in the attack and managed just 27 touches of the ball before he was substituted off in the 86th minute. For context, Georginio Rutter came off the bench in the 75th minute and had 22 touches in 15 minutes of game time.
Bamford also could’ve been sent off for a lunge on Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
He was booked but ex-Scotland striker Chris Iwelumo told talkSPORT “it was a shocking challenge” and should have been worthy of a sending-off.
Gabby Agbonlahor also had some choice words about Bamford on talkSPORT, saying it was a “painful” display by the striker.
Bamford could be on borrowed time at Leeds United, after all.
He’s still got over three years left on his contract but Leeds spent a club-record sum on Rutter in the January transfer window and also have Joe Gelhardt rising through the ranks and Rodrigo, who’s currently injured, as an option up front.
Interest in Coventry City’s Viktor Gyokeres [Team Talk] could also be an issue for Bamford.
Bamford’s future at Leeds could be dependent upon his form at Leeds under Gracia, who wouldn’t be blamed if he opted to drop the ex-Middlesbrough striker for the next Premier League game.
In other Leeds United news, the Spanish media has reacted the Gracia’s first win as Leeds manager.
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