Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford has vowed to continue repaying Marcelo Bielsa’s faith in him following his electric start to the Premier League season.
Bamford has been superb for the Whites’ since their return to the top-flight, hitting six goals in as many games to cement his name as the division’s joint-third top scorer behind Tottenham’s Heung-min Son and Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
But it has not always been plane-sailing for the Englishman, who has come under fire frequently throughout his spell at Elland Road for struggling to find the back of the net on a consistent basis.
Doubts were also raised over the 27-year-old’s Premier League credentials during previous loan spells at the likes of Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough, where he again failed to score regularly.
However, the former Chelsea academy graduate is grateful that his manager has continued to show faith in his ability despite plenty of noise from the outside.
“Since he’s come in he’s put his faith in me from the beginning,” he told Jim White on talkSPORT.
“There was tough times last season when he stuck by me because as long as I was working for the team, even if I wasn’t scoring, he still had this belief in me.
“There’s a big thing there where I feel like I need to repay him and I’ve a good start with six goals and that goes some way to repaying him.
“But you’re only as good as your last game and we have to start fresh again on Monday.”
Bamford also cast some light on Bielsa’s style of management, revealing the Argentine is more of a meticulous planner than a hands on kind of boss.
“He’s always demanding more of every one of us and pushing us to be better,” he added.
‘He’s not a very one-to-one hands on coach. We have individual meetings the night before a game where we go through the previous game and he tells you what you did well, what you did badly and what he expects with the game coming tomorrow.
“That’s really the only one to one interaction we have, but throughout the week he is so demanding that he makes sure you keep your levels high because he knows that if you drop off it’s not going to be good for you or the team.”
Leeds and Bamford continue their campaign with a difficult test against fellow high-flyers Leicester at Elland Road on Monday night.
Published at Thu, 29 Oct 2020 11:43:36 +0000
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