The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Wednesday 19th April) Has Bamford become a passenger
Has Bamford become a passenger
During Bielsa's reign, we saw all players covering every blade of grass. If they didn't, they wouldn't be in the squad. Since returning from long term injury, it's fair to say that Patrick Bamford no longer fits into that category. With approximately 18,000 miles on the clock, the 29yo still shows glimpses of brilliance, but is it enough to guarantee him a starting position?
Although his job description probably doesn't mention tracking back, Leeds can ill afford to carry passengers, especially when their present plight looks so onimous.
How long will Bamford be out for
With 1134 minutes of game time under his belt, it was hoped that Patrick Bamford's injury woes were behind him, and that he would rediscover his form, and save Leeds from relegation. Unfortunately, neither scenario looks plausible after his latest injury set back. The 29yo picked up a calf strain during the Palace massacre, and could be out for weeks.
Although not thought to be serious, the Leeds No 9's injury records over the past several years have hit Forshawesque proportions, and the physio's will be taking extra care to ensure he's match fit before returning to first team action.
Building for the future flawed, if in the short term, Leeds are relegated
Phil Hay has written an interested article in 'The Athletic' this morning covering the recruitment process at Elland Road. Whilst Messrs Radrizzani and Orta should be commented for building a squad for the future, the entire recruitment process is flawed, should Leeds get relegated. Not only will they lose their portion of the Sky monies, but every predator worth their salt will be circling around West Yorkshire, ready to pick apart the Leeds Utd carcass until nothing is left.
Hay highlights Rutter's cameo role against Liverpool as a 'partial example of why their season has reached crisis mode for a second time'. The raw facts are Leeds only have limited funds. They can't afford to splash out circa £30m and not expect that player to have an immediate impact on the game, a point Hay makes blatantly clear:-
"Money alone says Georginio Rutter should possess an ounce of that talismanic dust. Rutter is young, admittedly, and visibly raw but he is Leeds’ most costly signing and 25 benign minutes on the pitch against Liverpool on Monday were, in microcosm, a partial example of why their season has reached crisis mode for a second time. Here is where vision crosses the line into luxury."
"As a club and a business, Leeds like to build or to tell themselves they are building: hefty academy recruitment, a squad intended to peak at a later date and stadium redevelopment ideas that might get off the ground some day."
"In future years, the theory is supposed to speak for itself because the decisions taken now, the gambles on longer-term growth, will be justified in time. Except to the naked eye, the short term is on fire and what comes next is wholly linked to it. Put another way, the blueprint of growth cannot have included the process of Leeds going down."
"Rutter, to return to him, is a well-regarded prospect. There were plenty of recruitment departments in Europe watching him while Leeds were scouting him and plenty who saw him as a potentially worthwhile investment. There are clubs out there who could have signed him without the need for immediate impact on the basis that impact was already coming from existing players in their camp."
"But Leeds? Leeds needed Rutter to make his presence felt in some form, to influence this season and nudge them forward. Peak Rutter wasn’t going to materialise at the age of 20 but at £30million ($37.3m) or thereabouts had to make an impact on results that were nowhere near under control when he signed in January."