Sol Bamba was poor for Leeds United against Watford.
Leeds United defender Sol Bamba was not at his best against Watford this weekend, the Ivorian centre-back looking anything but the composed figure who started life at Elland Road with a string of fine performances.
The loan signing from Palermo has played every minute of Leeds’ last seven minutes and he began to show his fatigue last week in the 2-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.
With Giuseppe Bellusci unavailable for the match against Watford, Bamba was always going to start alongside Liam Cooper, but the 30-year-old was out of sorts and was held accountable by some Leeds fans for Watford’s final goal in the 3-2 victory.
Is Bamba’s honeymoon period over? Not necessarily. Having featured so rarely for Palermo the demands of regular Championship football were always going to take their toll and against Watford he had a passing accuracy of just 78 per cent – a far cry from the outstanding 100 per cent he managed against Millwall in a towering performance.
| Passing Accuracy | Tackles Won | Possession Lost | Duels Lost | Duels Won | Aerials Won | Interceptions Won | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sol Bamba | 78% | 6 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 90 |
The Leeds defender also lost possession on six occasions and he failed to win a single aerial battle all afternoon.
That is not to say he was completely atrocious. He still won nine duels, six tackles and six interceptions, proving he will do what he can whenever he is selected.
But the simple fact is he is faltering, and if Leeds manager Neil Redfearn manages him right, there is no reason to think this dip in form will be anything other than temporary.
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