Jobi McAnuff has lauded Patrick Bamford for what he did before he even came onto the pitch on Friday night as Leeds United came from behind to beat Leicester City at Elland Road.
Leeds certainly know how to put the supporters through some real turmoil. For much of the opening 80 minutes, Daniel Farke’s men were second best. Leeds had some golden chances. But they were also fortunate to only be a goal down.
Georginio Rutter was one of those who had a really tough evening. The Frenchman normally has a remarkable ability to keep the ball no matter how many challenges he faces. But that was not the case for large parts of Friday’s game.
Patrick Bamford lauded after Leeds win
Patrick Bamford shared that he had a word with Georginio at half-time to try and keep his spirits up. And speaking on Sky Sports (broadcast on 23/2; 22:46), Jobi McAnuff suggested that he was really impressed by what Bamford did.
“I really loved that at half-time, Bamford said that they had that conversation because he did look at times as though he was trying too hard,” he said.
“He has been a top, top player for them this season. It felt as though he was trying to carry that fight himself. And sometimes, when you’re trying too hard, things don’t quite come off. And I think the fact that Patrick, with that experience, spoke to him and for him to go and do what he did – because that’s all to do with Rutter there, picking the ball up, driving, just trying to break those lines because they were so solid at times. He really did step up and was a huge part of that comeback today.”
Striker embracing leadership role
Bamford has been hugely impressive over the last few months. Many of us were prepared to largely write him off after last season, particularly after he then struggled to make an impact off the bench in the opening months of this campaign.
But Bamford has silenced his critics lately. He has scored a number of goals, including, as it turns out, the final strike of the evening on Friday.
And it appears that he is embracing a leadership role away from the pitch. Georginio’s second-half display was on another level to what we saw in the first-half.
And Bamford clearly played his part in his teammate’s improvement.
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