Saturday’s defeat to Blackburn was Leeds United’s third loss of the season as a familiar issue arose for Leeds under Daniel Farke, the Whites losing 1-0 once again to John Eustace.

With Leeds renowned as a favourite in this league, it has seen most clubs look to score a goal against the Whites and then shut up shop in order to nullify the Leeds attack. Often, it is a tactic that defies Leeds.

Already this season, Burnley and Millwall have done it. Scott Parker’s men scored on the counter against Leeds at Elland Road, with Tony Dorigo criticising Jayden Bogle for failing to close down Luca Koleosho.

Japhet Tanganga scored for Millwall from a set-piece and that was enough to secure three points for Neil Harris’ side. On Saturday, Todd Cantwell scored a penalty and Eustace secured a third 1-0 win over Farke.

Tony Dorigo blasts Patrick Bamford during cameo at Blackburn

One interesting element of Saturday’s loss was that Farke chose to bring on Patrick Bamford before he turned to Mateo Joseph from the bench. It is clear that Farke doesn’t know which of the three is best.

But before Saturday, Bamford was considered third-choice striker. But with Joel Piroe and Joseph yet to really establish themselves as first choice, Bamford could now come in. However, Dorigo was not happy.

During commentary on LUTV’s coverage of he game alongside Bryn Law, Dorigo blasted £10m Bamford for a moment in the 75th minute when he charged through the back of Cantwell, conceding a free-kick.

“Again, you could see that one coming a mile off. All he is going to do is control the ball, get his body in the way. You’ve got to be a bit smarter than that, he’s going to take an age to take this as well, isn’t he.”

Who should start for Leeds against Derby County on Saturday?

Last season, Bamford came into the Leeds starting line-up at the start of January and it saw the one-time England man go on a decent run of form during the second half of the season, before injury struck.

Name	Clubs	Games (Starts)	Goals	Assists	Minutes per G+A
Mateo Joseph	Leeds United	38 (29)	3	3	182
Joel Piroe	Swansea Leeds United	151 (124)	61	13	148
Patrick Bamford	Nottingham Forest Derby County Middlesbrough Leeds United	207 (142)	69	15	149

All the signs are pointing towards a similar story this time around. Piroe did score his seventh goal of the season against Luton, but he is offering very little in terms of build-up while Joseph does the latter.

But Joseph has two goals in 18 Championship appearances. Bamford is yet to be given a fair run out, yet to start a league game and only given a few minutes here and there. Maybe, Bamford starts on Saturday.

Related Posts