George Overhill

Tue 6 February 2024 17:10, UK

Daniel Farke’s recent tactical switch to bring Patrick Bamford into the starting XI looks to be a tacit admission that his confusing early-season set up was a mistake.

The English striker spent the first half of the season on the outside looking in, without a goal, an assist, or even a start under his new manager, as his most notable contribution was a controversial missed penalty in the 1-0 loss at Stoke City on 25 October.

At the time the German was persisting with his preferred set up of playing summer purchase Joel Piroe as an attacking midfielder behind club-record signing Georginio Rutter up front.

Leeds United were largely winning, and as a manager who has twice finished top of the Championship at Norwich City, it was, and still is, difficult to question Farke too heavily.

But since the turn of the year Bamford has been installed as a number nine, while Rutter has dropped back behind him, and in his first six starts of the year the 30-year-old has responded with four goals and two assists in league and cup, while Piroe has taken his place on the bench.

The Dutchman was signed in the summer from Swansea City for £12million [Wales Online, 24 August] apparently as the long-awaited striker alternative to Bamford that had been missing throughout the latter’s endless injury struggles in the Premier League over the past two seasons.

At the same time when Rutter arrived a year ago, after Victor Orta splashed out £35.5m to sign him from Hoffenheim [Sky Sports], but was deemed not to be that option and he was largely ignored by a succession of managers as the Whites were relegated.

In fact, his current place off of Bamford in attack is exactly what German football consultant Jasmine Baba had predicted would “suit him perfectly” prior to his arrival in Yorkshire.

So it seemed counter-intuitive that Rutter and Piroe now appeared to be playing in each other’s positions, since the mercurial Frenchman’s weakest quality is arguably his finishing, which may be the ex-Swansea man’s best attribute.

Piroe chipped in with goals (nine in the league before the end of 2023) but looked at his best on the occasions when he ran beyond Rutter to find himself in a centre-forward’s position, and often seemed to be bypassed by the action when he stayed deeper.

Rutter on the other hand has been hard to keep out of the action wherever he has played this term as he has proven himself to be a free-wheeling talent who Championship clubs simply “can’t get” usually, in the words of The Athletic’s Phil Hay.

Since Leeds United have reeled off five-straight Championship wins with Bamford up front and Rutter behind him, moving to within a point of second place, it is hard not to view it as Farke realising his previous idea was misguided.

Again, the man with two Championship winner’s medals at home has clearly earned himself the leeway to go with what he thinks, but his subsequent change suggests the most obvious set up might have been the most effective all along.

While Bamford is by far the main beneficiary, it is Piroe who the situation is most harsh on as he has essentially become the fall guy while the opportunity to lead the line has instead gone to someone else.

The 24-year-old has the versatility to play in different forward positions, but attacking midfield certainly doesn’t seem his strongest, and according to Transfermarkt is not where he scored the vast majority of his goals, including the 41 in the Championship over the previous two seasons at Swansea that got him the Elland Road move in the first place.

If the set up is working now and Leeds United can force their way to automatic promotion as a result then there is ultimately no harm done, even Piroe could probably be excused for feeling slightly hard done by in the circumstances.

In other Leeds United news, a temporary member of the Whites squad wants to stay permanently according to Phil Hay.

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