Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford is in a world of trouble and he has no one but himself to blame.
Patrick Bamford set to miss first leg of Leeds United’s play-off semi-final after FA charge leaves him facing a two-game van:https://t.co/CHUp8kwcx3
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) April 30, 2019
The striker has been given a two-match ban for a “successful deception of a match official” and now he will miss the last game of the season against Ipswich Town at Portman Road, and will also miss the first leg of the playoffs.
Leeds won’t know which team that they will be playing against in the playoffs until the end of the last round of fixtures on Sunday, but it will likely be either Derby County, Middlesborough or Bristol City, and having Bamford available for any of those opponents is something that Marcelo Bielsa would have liked at his disposal.
Instead, Leeds will have to make do with Kemar Roofe, who is available again after being injured. And while Roofe is the leading scorer for Leeds this season, with an impressive goal-scoring record himself, having Bamford as an option allows Bielsa another type of forward to chose from.
Leeds have been missing a number of players through injury this season, including time that both Bamford and Roofe missed out through injury. While Leeds have overcome almost all of the injuries, Bamford missing a least one key match through a totally avoidable suspension is completely unacceptable.
Of course, all of this could have been avoided had the referee and the assistant referee done their jobs against Aston Villa, but that’s water under the bridge at this point. Bamford is the one who, once he was confronted by Anwar El Ghazi, chose to drop to the floor like he’d been punched in the face. And yes, Leeds have been the victims of a number of dodgy refereeing decisions against them, but Bamford’s dive makes it easy for both fans of other clubs and pundits to dismiss those claims against Leeds. “Dirty Leeds,” they’ll say, “they deserve it.”
So thanks for hurting the team looking for glory, Bamford. Perhaps you can do the team a favour and score a goal or two on your return.