Noel Whelan reacts to Patrick Bamford’s display in Leeds win

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Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds (broadcast on 1/10; 21:47) that Patrick Bamford was a goal away from the perfect striker performance following Leeds United’s 1-0 victory against West Brom at Elland Road.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side are back at the top of the Championship after a hard-fought victory. Kyle Bartley turned Gjanni Alioski’s effort into the bottom corner during the first-half for the game’s only goal.

Leeds were made to work incredibly hard for the three points. And while it was West Brom who dominated the second-half, perhaps it would be fair to say that no player worked harder than Bamford.

The striker has come in for a lot of criticism for failing to take chances. But he was outstanding on Tuesday. His hold-up play was as good as it has ever been since his move to Leeds, and his work-rate saw the 26-year-old rightfully receive the man of the match award.

And Whelan insisted that, apart from the fact that he did not score, you could not have asked for a better display from the forward.

“I think he’s been absolutely brilliant,” he told BBC Radio Leeds. “Despite not scoring a goal tonight, that is the overall perfect performance from a striker. Holding the ball, aggression, controlled aggression, bringing people into play, running the channels, selfless running at times. He did everything.

“He’ll feel disappointed he’s not got a goal, and rightly so, you should do as a striker. But everything else, he’s ticked every single box that you would require from a striker. The manager looks at him and thinks what a great performance. You’ve got to give it to him.”

TBR’s View

It would be difficult to argue with those who believe that Tuesday saw Bamford’s best display for Leeds. He has scored 14 goals for the Whites and yet, it would be no surprise if that was the performance he was most proud of since his move to Elland Road.

Bamford’s challenge now has surely got to be to couple those kind of performances with a clinical touch in front of goal. There are obviously going to be occasions when Leeds’s other attacking players are struggling and Bielsa’s men are relying on their striker to find the back of the net.

But there is no question that Bamford deserves the plaudits coming his way after Tuesday’s win. And he will be hoping that the confidence that he takes from the victory proves to be the catalyst for a brilliant run of form.