By David Woods

28th Oct, 2020 | 9:05am

Gary Neville 'still can't work out' how Leeds ace managed 'brilliant' technique in open play

Gary Neville has become one of the country’s best pundits but even he was left bamboozled by what Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford did against Aston Villa last Friday. 

Bamford scored a hat-trick but it was his second goal – a shot with minimal backlift into the top corner of the net – that wowed Neville.

Talking on Monday Night Football (Sky Sports, Monday, 8pm) Neville said of Bamford, “Absolutely brilliant. I think he had the reputation of not being the best finisher and that was well-founded.

“That goal [his first], that’s just a poacher’s goal. The next two are really, really special.

“I still can’t work out the technique behind this [second goal]. He doesn’t really bend it. He doesn’t really hit it with his laces. It’s almost like these Ronaldo-like free-kicks where he cuts across it. But you very rarely see them in open play. It’s an absolutely brilliant finish.”

Neville went on to say that Bamford would be “knocking on the door” of the England team if he carried on in this rich vein of form.

Neville can’t work out how he did it but compared him to Cristiano Ronaldo – Patrick Bamford will be loving this.

It makes a big change for a player who has become more used to having his game pulled apart.

This was the sort of stuff he was getting from fans at times last season.

Before the start of the Premier League season the big question from places like talkSPORT was, “Is Bamford good enough to be a starter in the Premier League?”

Bamford himself hit back saying, “And so it starts” adding some snoring emojis to the message.

But he’s done his best talking on the pitch this season and you won’t find anyone questioning his talents at the moment.

We hope he can keep it up.

In other Leeds United news, Bielsa has devastating secret weapon at Leeds to unleash on Premier League