Journalist Graham Smyth has slammed Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford for his poor substituted cameo in the club’s most recent defeat.
What’s the latest on Patrick Bamford and LUFC?
After picking up a crucial win in the Premier League on the weekend, Javi Gracia’s men may have looked at their latest FA Cup tie with renewed optimism.
However, in the end, they didn’t have the quality to get past Fulham with goals from Joao Palhinha and Manor Solomon condemning the Whites to a 2-0 away defeat.
In the game, Bamford had nearly half an hour to come on and try to make a difference for his team but it seems as though he failed to help much.
Indeed, in the Yorkshire Evening Post player ratings, Smyth handed the striker a 5/10 for his efforts and wrote: “Unable to make his minutes count. Didn’t look at it when the ball was in and around the area.”
How has Patrick Bamford played for Leeds of late?
Seeing as Leeds actually finished the game with more shots (16 compared to seven) at goal, and more shots on target (six compared to three) than Fulham, it’s fair to say it wasn’t a great day for their strikers.
In his 27 minutes on the pitch, it’s safe to say Bamford added very little as he had one shot off target, completed just 60 per cent of his passes, lost the ball twice, and managed just six touches (via SofaScore).
With that in mind, it sounds as though Smyth’s criticism was probably fair. All in all, it’s not been a great season for the Englishman who has scored just one in the league amid some fitness issues and this was another game that passed him by.
No doubt, he’ll have to do more next time out if he wants to impress new boss Gracia.