Whilst other clubs are still working out what to do in this summer’s transfer market, I think we need to start talking about the upcoming winter window.
After all, the sooner you get things organised, the less chance you end up panicking on deadline day.
One player has been getting a lot of plaudits, not just from the fans, but from the media as well so far this season. Speaking in his column in the Daily Mirror yesterday, Ian Holloway spoke about how Patrick Bamford has ‘stepped up this year’. Now it’s very rare that I find myself agreeing with Holloway, with his little tirade the other night being a prime example, but I must say that he is absolutely bang on here.
Bamford has come flying out the blocks so far this season, with three goals in four league games including a brace against Wigan last weekend. But whilst it’s great to celebrate what he’s done so far, we need to just calm ourselves down a little bit and look at the bigger picture.
What concerns me with Bamford is his injury record. Even though it’s something that has only come up relatively recently, he missed so many games last year, the fact that they’ve started to creep into his game just gives me that little hint of doubt in the back of my mind.
And as Phil Hay mentioned the other day, Marcelo Bielsa is considering playing Bamford and Eddie Nketiah together as a front two in some games, depending on the opposition. That says to me that even Bielsa realises that Bamford needs help, he simply can’t be asked to carry the load for the whole season.
That’s why Leeds still need to go out and buy another forward in the January transfer market, someone who can take the load off Bamford on a regular basis.
I’ve spoken before that I didn’t think Nketiah was the right answer to directly replace Kemar Roofe and his goals from last season, and I stand by that. However, I do think there will be opportunities to get the occasional goal throughout the season to supplement what Bamford is doing, but asking him to replace Roofe’s 14 goals in the league is too much for a young man.