Leeds United fans will be very happy today after the club released a photo on Twitter of star striker Patrick Bamford back in the gym amidst their relegation battle run-in.
The Whites experienced a disappointing season in 2021/22 as they currently sit 16th in the Premier League table, with only five points separating them and the relegation zone with six games left to play this season.
There has been a myriad of factors as to why they have struggled this season, but maybe the biggest one is the extensive injury list that has plagued them all season. This list included important players like Bamford, Kalvin Phillips, Illan Meslier, Stuart Dallas, Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper, Robin Koch, Adam Forshaw, Rodrigo, and Tyler Roberts to name a few.
It is understandable seeing this injury list for why the team failed to find any consistency this season and as a result, has slipped into a relegation battle come the end of the season. However, it is not all bad news for the Leeds faithful as they managed to regain the likes of Rodrigo, Phillips, Cooper, and now Bamford.
In a tweet from the club’s official account on Friday, they showed a picture of the striker working in the gym and captioned a quote from the manager, “He’s making good progress. He’s been running on the AlterG and should be on the training pitch next week.”
TIF Thoughts on Bamford’s return…
It is no secret that Bamford was prolific and a big reason why Leeds had success last season, finishing ninth with an impressive 59 points and looking to be one of the next teams to bang on the door of the top six. During this season Bamford racked up an impressive 17 goals and eight assists (Transfermarkt) and was unlucky not to book himself a trip to the Euro with England that summer.
While Leeds is not in a dire situation when it comes to their league position they will want to finish as strong as possible to ensure a comfortable finish to the season as they have both Everton and Burnley breathing down their necks. In order for this to happen, having Bamford back and firing is going to be integral.
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In place of Bamford, Spanish striker Rodrigo has seen a lot of game time and while he has achieved six goals in 25 appearances he has certainly not had the same impact as the Englishmen and does not get close to him in terms of ability both scoring and assisting his teammates.
There is no telling what Leeds could have done this season if their squad had kept healthy. A front three of Bamford, Raphinha and Jack Harrison is a terrifying trio for teams to deal with and if they can keep the Brazilian come to the end of the transfer window there is no reason why this team cannot continue where they left off at the end of 20/21 season.