Lee Chapman has urged Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford to be more aggressive and not to be too nice, as quoted in The Sun.
The former Leeds striker, who won the old Football League First Division with the Whites in 1992, has praised Bamford and has been impressed by how the ex-Chelsea and Nottingham Forest striker has evolved his game.
The 61-year-old believes that the 27-year-old has a chance to making it into the England squad for the European Championship in the summer of 2021.
Chapman told The Sun: “Bamford is very level-headed and nothing fazes him — but I’d like to see him lose his temper a few times! I want to see him get stuck in, hurt a few people, and be a bit more aggressive.
“Sometimes you can be too nice and if Bamford misses chances, he doesn’t seem too upset, so I think he needs to push himself a little bit harder. But he’s improving every year and I think he could be a useful back-up to Harry Kane.”
Chapman added: “The big problem I had with Bamford two seasons ago was that he didn’t score enough goals and got too involved in the build-up play.
“Now what I’ve noticed — and I was at Leeds’ game at Tottenham a few weeks ago — is that he’s staying in the box more and in positions where he can score goals.”
Does Patrick Bamford need to change?
Bamford comes across as mild-mannered while playing and in his interviews, and at the age of 27, it is hard to see the Englishman change.
There is actually no need for Bamford to change how he plays his game. True, the 27-year-old is not aggressive and does not get angry when he misses chances, but not all footballers have that kind of personalty.
Bamford is playing well at the moment and is scoring goals regularly for Leeds, and perhaps he will get the chance to play for England.
According to WhoScored, Bamford has scored 12 goals and provided five assists in 23 Premier League games for Leeds so far this season.
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