Leeds United: Bamford's striking up some key partnerships

In bygone eras a £7m transfer fee would have hung around a striker like a lead weight but as Patrick Bamford pointed out after joining Leeds United, the market has lost its marbles. There is no such thing as a going rate these days and no end of deals which make £7m look like pennies.
Patrick Bamford celebrates his first Leeds United goal against Bolton Wanderers.Patrick Bamford celebrates his first Leeds United goal against Bolton Wanderers.
Patrick Bamford celebrates his first Leeds United goal against Bolton Wanderers.

It is, at the same time, the largest sum Leeds have paid for a player since Robbie Fowler 17 years ago and if Bamford is not bothered by the precise figure itself, he knows that £7m made him a marquee purchase at Elland Road.

As such he was conscious of starting this spell of his career in the way a player of that value should.

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On Tuesday, and on his first full start for Leeds, Bamford’s first goal came inside half-an-hour, a lovely finish set up by a clever piece of skill and taken with a shot which deceived Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Remi Matthews.

Samuel Saiz clears as Bolton's Josh Vela closes in.Samuel Saiz clears as Bolton's Josh Vela closes in.
Samuel Saiz clears as Bolton's Josh Vela closes in.

Three weeks after signing from Middlesbrough on a four-year contract, Bamford is up and running as Marcelo Bielsa’s entire squad seem to be.

“If it drags on and you go a few games without scoring, obviously people start talking,” Bamford said.

“You start putting pressure on yourself even when it might not be there so for me it was important to get off the mark. But it was more important to get into the team, get used to the other players and have my first proper game.

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“I’ve been here two weeks and even in those two weeks I’ve got a lot fitter. I had match fitness at the start of pre-season when I was with Middlesbrough but for 10 days to two weeks before I came here, I didn’t play any games. It’s been a while now so it was nice to get that out of the way.”

Robbie Fowler.Robbie Fowler.
Robbie Fowler.

Bamford had enough chances for hat-trick in the opening 30 minutes of Leeds’ Carabao Cup first-round win, bundling an early sitter wide before failing by inches to sneak a 20-yard shot into the net.

His goal came after he anticipated the arrival of an on-running defender, nutmegging him and driving the ball low to Matthews’ left from the edge of the box.

“I knew as soon as the defender came that he was going to open his legs so I slipped it through,” Bamford said. “As I looked up, the keeper made my mind up about where I was going. At first I was going to go to his right but he went right so I went to his left. I was happy it went in because I should have scored earlier.”

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Samuel Saiz, the heartbeat in Marcelo Biesla’s team during the first fortnight of the season, dictated Tuesday’s tie and had a hand in both Bamford’s early opportunity and the chance which he took on 27 minutes.

Under Bielsa, the Spanish playmaker has rediscovered his verve and escaped the depression which consumed Leeds in the second half of last term.

“After watching the two games this season, I saw how well Samuel played,” Bamford said. “I thought ‘you know what? He’s the kind of guy who can create a lot of chances for me’. He’s the sort of player who shows a wow-factor at times.

“It was important for me to try and create that bond with him and especially in the first half I think we played well together. We created a lot of chances. It was a joy to play with him.”

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Bamford’s best season to date, the 2014-15 campaign, came under another highly-focused coach, Aitor Karanka. Middlesbrough reached the play-off final in that year and won promotion to the Premier League under Karanka in 2016, albeit without Bamford.

There are few direct comparisons to be made between Karanka’s style and that of Bielsa but Bamford said he saw the same attention to detail in them, and the same commitment to specific tactics.

“They both train meticulously,” he said. “They have different styles in certain ways and there are other little differences but they’re very similar with how meticulous they are with details.

“Even watching against Stoke in the first game of the season, I was thinking ‘wow, we’ve got something here. This team looks really good’. It was the same at Derby. It was very fluid stuff up front with the midfield joining in and the team as a whole attacking. It looks very threatening every time we get the ball.”

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Leeds flagged in the second half on Tuesday, allowing Bolton back into the game before holding on for a 2-1 win. Bamford, who was substituted after 80 minutes, admitted that Bielsa’s line-up – showing eight changes from Saturday’s rout of Derby County – had “tired a little” but said he was optimistic that Leeds would be able to cope with the demands of Bielsa’s tactics and high press throughout the season.

“I think we’ll be able to keep it up,” he said. “It’s not just the 11 who’ve been playing. It’s a squad game and everyone will be needed.

“Everyone’s in good shape. From what I heard, pre-season was pretty gruelling. This is totally new to everyone. Every idea is new and it’s nothing I’ve ever come across before so it’s going to take a bit of getting used to.

“But because everyone is buying into it, it’s starting to come across and you can see that on the pitch.

“It’s one of those things where if we do finally get it and it all becomes natural, we’ll be able to keep it up for a whole game. Then you’ll see a really good team.”