Phil Hay: Daniel Farke ‘Bluffing’ over ‘Weird’ Patrick Bamford injury ahead of Leeds United v Norwich City
Phil Hay has suggested that Daniel Farke may have been “bluffing” about Patrick Bamford’s injury ahead of Leeds United’s playoff clash with Norwich.
The Whites striker was ruled out of both legs of the semi-final by Farke with a patella tendon issue, after the initial injury was described as a bruise and was thought to be nothing serious.
But while appearing on the Square Ball podcast (16 May), Hay was asked if Farke may have been bluffing to surprise Norwich ahead of the second leg and The Athletic journalist admitted that the situation was “weird”.
“He [Farke] didn’t sound like he was bluffing, with Bamford, I don’t think, but everything depends on how quickly he recovers and what happens,” he said.
“It was kind of weird to go from ‘there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong’ to ‘his tendon is damaged’, because you would’ve thought that would be picked up rather quickly. It didn’t sound or feel like that was going to be the case, so there’s definitely a decision to make. I don’t know.”
Patrick Bamford to make surprise return for Leeds vs Norwich?
While the team was defensively solid against Norwich at Carrow Road in the first leg, they lacked a real offensive threat going forward and in the penalty area.
Bamford certainly has his flaws when on the pitch, but his presence in and around those areas always gets opposition defenders thinking twice and that can sometimes create space for his teammates if nothing else.
So having him back available for the second leg at Elland Road would be a huge boost to the team’s chances of success, but also to the fans in the crowd after expecting to be without him.
However, with the injury record that Bamford has and the fact that Farke hardly ever takes big risks with his player’s fitness, it seems highly unlikely that would be the case unless there has been some sort of miracle recovery.
The chances are that he is watching from the stands with the rest of the fans, but everyone will be hopeful that if the squad get to Wembley then he can be part of it on the pitch.
In other Leeds news, Crysencio Summerville’s stance on his future without promotion has been shared amid interest from Liverpool and Chelsea.
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