The long-awaited return of Patrick Bamford will not solve all of Leeds United’s problems.
After all, dreadful defending, coupled with a wasteful streak at the other end of the pitch, is usually a recipe for disaster. A bitter cocktail that leaves you with one hell of a hangover.
Bamford’s return will do little to strengthen a defence that has now been breached 50 times this season (only bottom-of-the-table Norwich City have conceded more).
But his highly anticipated comeback from another lengthy injury lay-off would at least go some way to fixing things at the other end of the pitch.
If it was Bamford, rather than little Danny James, throwing himself at Junior Firpo’s cross during Sunday’s topsy-turvy clash with Manchester United, Leeds might have turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
Football is so often decided on the finest of margins however. And, just moments after James failed to make proper contact with the goal at his mercy, Fred was hammering a left-footed shot into the top corner at the other end.
Whenever Leeds sign a new player, it usually takes a couple of weeks before Marcelo Bielsa deems them ready to start a league game. Bamford, you may remember, was forced to wait until February before he was included in Bielsa’s XI; A combination of injuries and the coach’s reluctance to start a player not yet au-fait with his unique brand of high-pressing football.
So it feels somewhat simplistic to suggest that Vedat Muriqi would have been the difference between no points and three when Man United came to town.
Was Vedat Muriqi the January signing Leeds really needed?
According to Rome-based publication La Lazio Siamo Noi, Leeds made an approach to sign the giant Kosovan in a £7 million loan-to-buy deal during the January transfer window.
Those hopes went up in smoke when Muriqi moved to Spain, joining similarly relegation-threatened Real Mallorca, instead.
Given the way Bielsa tends to approach new signings, we might have been waiting until mid-March before the towering number nine was trusted to lead the line at Elland Road. Nonetheless, the way Muriqi found the net in Mallorca’s 2-1 defeat to Real Betis last weekend – guiding a glorious header into the back of the net – had all the hallmarks of a supreme centre-forward who’d have given Leeds the presence, physicality and predatory, penalty-box instincts a Bamford-less side are crying out for.
“He looks to be a budget version of Erling Haaland!” says Spanish football expert Terry Gibson, speaking on El Tel and Jon’s La Liga Weekly podcast.
“What a signing. Mallorca are a really well-run club but needed strengthening up front. He’s dynamic, he’s pretty quick as well, really powerful. The header he scored was sensational and he’s had a massive impact.
“To the extent that I now think Mallorca are gonna be OK.”
Muriqi has scored twice and set up another in three games for Mallorca, helping his new side pick up six points from nine.
They probably won’t be able to keep him but (the loan spell) might help him, in his career. Other clubs in La Liga and around Europe might look at him and think ‘we need a striker like that’.
“He looks excellent.”
If Firpo’s cross had reached Muriqi’s forehead, rather than James’, perhaps the scoreline would have swung in Leeds’ favour at a sodden Elland Road.
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