Alan Smith has told Sky Sports (02/11/20 at 6:20 pm) that Patrick Bamford has ‘surprised’ him and he is a player who is ‘deceptively quick’.
The former striker, who made his comments before Leeds were beaten at Elland Road last night, pointed out that the stats have shown this season that Bamford has ‘ran quicker’ than Leicester’s speed machine.
It has been a topsy-turvy career for Bamford, who was part of the talent-packed Chelsea academy, but was seemingly deemed not good enough before he found his perfect place at Leeds following several spells in the second-tier.
Sky Sports pundit Smith shared that Bamford’s start to life in England’s top-flight has ‘surprised’ him, as he praised him for his performances this term.
“He is obviously a fit lad,” said Smith. “Deceptively quick. I was looking at the stats today and he has ran quicker than Jamie Vardy this season. That’s how quick he is.
“But he’s an all-round centre-forward and he has surprised a lot of people, certainly me that he has done as well as he has in the Premier League. Maybe surprised himself, who knows.
“He had one or two false starts lower down. But, again, the manager believes in him. He is playing with a great deal of confidence.”
When Bamford was in the Championship, the criticism that used to come his way was regarding the number of big chances he used to miss during games – he missed his fair few last night also.
As a result, a section of people thought he would struggle when Leeds earned promotion. But that hasn’t been the case.
The reasons behind that is because he’s playing under a man who has backed him all the way – Marcelo Bielsa.
Plus, he’s playing like a man who has something to prove, so it is making him even more determined to succeed.
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