Leeds United have a plethora of attacking talent at their disposal.
Jean-Kevin Augustin has previously scored goals in the Champions League, Jack Harrison has contributed to 11 strikes this term and Helder Costa once contributed to 18 goals in one season.
However, despite having so much talent at their fingertips, they’re still massively underperforming on their xG, and that may be down to one man.
Bamford’s woes
We don’t think Leeds fans need reminding how bad Patrick Bamford can be – after all, they slate him on social media seemingly every other week.
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However, until you look at the numbers it’s easy to underestimate just how bad he has been.
In early February he was underperforming on his xG by 7.62, and with just one goal since that point that gap won’t have become significantly smaller.
The striker’s finishing woes are there for all to see, but what is even more concerning is the fact that he’s nullifying £23m worth of creative talent.
Harrison and Costa suffer
Marcelo Bielsa’s side love to attack down the wings – only 20% of their attacks go through the middle and they put more crosses in than any other team in the division.
So how on earth have Costa and Harrison only assisted Bamford once each despite a combined 95 games played with him?
Surely a team that puts in 26 crosses per game should be seeing their wingers assisting their strikers more often than this?
The aforementioned players are playing their part as well. Costa puts in 2.4 crosses per game, with Harrison delivering a whopping 4.6, but somehow Bamford still isn’t making the most of these deliveries.
It’s through no fault of the wingers. Harrison has had no problem assisting other players, setting up more goals than any other man in Leeds’ squad, and Costa has previously set up eight goals in a single campaign with Wolves.
The fact of the matter is that Bamford’s not taking advantage. He’s not getting into the right positions, and when he is where you’d want him to be, he’s far too often fluffing his lines.
This needs to change. Harrison will likely join Leeds for £8m this summer, and the Whites are already committed to paying £15m for Costa – with that much money being shelled out for two wingers, they need to make the most of what they’re paying for.
In other news, Leeds’ summer priority should already be abundantly clear.
