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Jesse Marsch will be ruing Rodrigo's injury with Patrick Bamford struggling at half-time in Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United
In what’s been a scrappy first half with Nottingham Forest taking the lead through Brennan Johnson, Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch will not be happy with the performance of his players, especially his star striker Patrick Bamford.
After what was a bright start for Leeds, they went a goal down against the run of play from a Forest set-piece.
The free-kick was swung in by Morgan Gibbs-White which the Whites fail to clear. The then ball dropped to Johnson on the edge of the box who fired a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Leeds have failed to win in their last seven matches when conceding the opening goal in the English Premier League dating back to their victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers [6 August].
Marsch’s expressions during the half will certainly have the players on edge with the Whites struggling to put together any real attacking patterns that can trouble the Nottingham Forest defence.
And one man, in particular, struggling to make an impression is 29-year-old Bamford who came into the side following Rodrigo’s unfortunate injury against Accrington Stanley which ruled him out until April [3 February].
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With Marsch expecting much energy and endeavour from his lone frontman, the former Middlesborough man just hasn’t shown the same class as the injury-stricken and goal-scoring Spaniard.
The striker also had an opportunity to score an equaliser, following some good work on the left flank by Wilfried Gnonto in which the forward totally miskicked.
The 29-year-old’s stats certainly tell the story of his poor game so far registering just 14 touches, six accurate passes and losing possession five times as well as recording no shots on target and failing to win any of his ground duels – something Rodrigo excels at.
The striker simply hasn’t been helped by his teammates with the likes of Jack Harrison, and Luis Sinisterra both failing to link up with him in the attack.
If the Whites are to come back from behind and record their first victory post-World Cup break, they’ll desperately need Bamford and his attacking teammates to fire on all cylinders.
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