Tony Cascarino admits Patrick Bamford has proved he IS good enough for the Premier League after his fine start to the season with Leeds United.
The striker has had his fair share of doubters throughout his career, and faced the latest volley this summer after he helped the Whites seal a return to the top flight.
Plenty of pundits and even former Leeds managers claimed Bamford was not the man to lead the line for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, with many urging the club to sign a replacement frontman.
But Bielsa has always ignored the talk and suck with his man, despite the likes of Eddie Nketiah and Jean-Kevin Augustin arriving on loan, and barmy links with moves for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani in the summer.
And Bamford has repaid his manager’s faith, with his superb hat-trick against Aston Villa on Friday night taking his tally to six goals and two assists in six games.
Cascarino was one of those who had doubted the former Chelsea ace’s ability, telling talkSPORT back in January he ‘tends to agree Bamford is not good enough for the Premier League – it’s another level’.
But speaking after the 3-0 win over Villa, he was all too happy to admit he had been proven wrong, and believes Bielsa is a huge reason behind the players’ success.
“The manager has made a massive impact,” said the Weekend Sports Breakfast host.
“He’s seen something many people, pundits, fans, people in general think that Bamford wasn’t good enough.
“I saw Patrick when he was about 19 a couple of times, I saw him at Gillingham one day, he got a brace, he always was a finisher.
“In about 2015 he went about 18 months without a goal, and he went from Crystal Palace to Norwich, to Burnley and hardly played, before he ended up going to Middlesbrough for £6million.
“He did score a goal in that period from the July to the January after, before he got to Boro, and there were questions marks.
“There have also been question marks from the managers that have had him, who would played him, then left him out, played him, then left him out.
“That even happened at Leeds when Bielsa first got there, he wasn’t a certain starter.
“But what we’ve seen is Bamford has improved, and he has got to take a massive amount of credit, for having the drive to become a better player, but it’s definitely come from the manager, too.
“The manger has overachieved with a lot of Leeds players that weren’t deemed good enough, and Bamford is one of that number, about seven or eight players that have come on leaps and bounds.
“Watch Patrick last night, he is worthy of being a Premier League player. All three of his goals, he’s got quick feet, he sticks the ball in the corner.
“Fair play to him. I’ve played with a lot of players who aren’t really that good but achieve way more than what they are capable of, and he’s doing that because he’s putting the effort in, he has the desire, and he’s got a manager who is pushing him really hard.
“And last night’s hat-trick was the result. I’m so happy I paid £15 to watch it!”
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By: Joe Moore
Title: Leeds star Patrick Bamford ‘a worthy Premier League player’ and has proven doubters wrong with hat-trick against Aston Villa
Sourced From: talksport.com/football/778546/leeds-patrick-bamford-hat-trick-aston-villa-tony-cascarino/
Published Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2020 12:52:31 +0000
