Leeds United ended a gruelling Easter period with a crucial 3-1 victory over Hull City last night.
Much of Leeds’ squad have barely had the chance to pause and take a breath after returning from international duty, with Friday’s trip to Watford quickly followed by yesterday’s clash with the Tigers.
Considering some of the players who have missed those two matches, Leeds will be pleased with a return of four points, as they sit second in the Championship with six to play.
Leeds were certainly made to work for the three points at Elland Road on Monday after Sam Byram’s early opener was cancelled out by Fabio Carvalho just before the break.
It was then not until the 88th minute when Leeds re-took the lead as Crysencio Summerville won and converted a late penalty, before Dan James sealed the win with a special goal in stoppage time.
Redfearn says £7m Leeds player actually looked really ‘lethargic’ vs Hull City last night
For all Hull City’s possession in the first half, Leeds could’ve actually been out of sight inside 25 minutes, with Patrick Bamford missing practically an open goal with the score at 1-0.
Bamford was one of a small group of players who were not away on international duty last week and so should’ve been prepared to hit the ground running for the run-in.
However, a very ineffective performance at Watford was then followed up by arguably a worse one yesterday. Bamford is very much a confidence player and so to see him miss such a simple chance is worrying.
Neil Redfearn delivered his verdict on Bamford’s performance on BBC Radio Leeds after the match and claimed that he looked very ‘lethargic’ in most things that he did.
He said: “I don’t know if it was fatigue or lack of confidence but sometimes a lack of confidence can manifest itself into lethargy. He just looked a little bit lethargic in what he did. Patrick is a proven scorer, a vastly experienced striker who can score goals but he looks off it for me, for some reason.
“I thought Joseph came on and give Leeds energy. He occupied them physically and they were in more of a battle when Joseph went up there. He looked like scoring and was unlucky with his chance that came off the post.”
It is now time for Farke to unleash Joseph over Bamford
As Redfearn alluded to, the game seemed to swing back in Leeds’ favour after Mateo Joseph was introduced from the bench in place of Bamford with around 20 minutes to play.
On the contrary to £7m man Bamford, Joseph is full of confidence right now, having recently enjoyed a dream week scoring his first Spain U21s goal, and first league goal for Leeds.
Joseph has that pace in behind that Bamford just no longer seems to possess, and while he has had some good performances since coming into the team, the former just looks a much better player.
There are now six matches remaining in the Championship season and it feels as good a time as any to throw Joseph into the starting XI on Saturday given his form.