Patrick Bamford publicly disrespected by Leeds United youngster as things go from bad to worse
Leeds United star Patrick Bamford was publicly disrespected by Mateo Joseph before the defeat against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (13 April).
A spat broke out between the two Whites forwards during the rondo drill the squad goes through before every game, where two players are often found in the middle of a circle and attempt to win the ball back.
Although players can often joke and make fun of each other during the drill, things got a little bit more heated between Bamford and Joseph.
LeedsLive reported on its website on Sunday (14 April) that the 30-year-old was spotted trying to explain a decision to his fellow striker, who wasn’t interested and pushed him away.
After the senior forward’s efforts were dismissed a couple more times, Dan James, Glen Kamara and Liam Cooper all had a go at smoothing things over with the 20-year-old, but none of them appeared to be successful.
That certainly wasn’t the kind of preparation Daniel Farke would be hoping for as they looked to give their promotion hopes a boost against Blackburn.
It didn’t get much better for the Whites throughout the afternoon as Sammie Szmodics scored the only goal of the game on 82 minutes at Elland Road.
Although other results did go in their favour, with Leicester City losing 1-0 against Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town drawing 1-1 with Middlesbrough, it was a fixture Farke would have earmarked for three points.
After having such a strong start to the calendar year, where Leeds remained unbeaten in the opening three months since the turn of the year, their recent displays have been disappointing.
Since returning from the international break, they have only won one of their five games and the defeat to Rovers meant their unbeaten run at Elland Road has now come to an end.
It seems as though things aren’t quite right amongst the squad at the moment and, while the incident between Bamford and Joseph probably didn’t mean too much, it’s not great to see.
Those kind of situations can start things on a bad note before a game and have a negative impact on the dressing room at the worst time.
While it’s unknown exactly what went on between the two players, Farke may expect a young player to show a bit more respect to Bamford and some of the other senior men.
He will be looking to ensure no further incidents of that nature occur again over the coming weeks in West Yorkshire.
In other Leeds United news, Troy Deeney has shared a Whites promotion prediction.
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