Bielsa takes issue with continued calls for Leeds to start Nketiah, Bamford

Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa insisted that he is not yet convinced about starting Patrick Bamford and Eddie Nketiah up front together, despite the latter making another stellar impact from the bench in Tuesday’s draw with Preston.

Nketiah has already proved his worth from the bench this term and the England Under-21 international did so again at Deepdale, coming on as a substitute in the second half to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw for the Whites.

The 20-year-old’s goals-per-minutes ratio now stands at 77 minutes – with first-choice attacker Patrick Bamford only scoring every 250 minutes on average – and in his post-match press conference, Bielsa was asked again why he doesn’t feel he can start the pair up top.

The Argentine took issue with the question and insisted that there is still time for the partnership to work out, saying: “It is natural that people argue about my decision because they don’t have all the reasons I have.

 

 

“I want both of them to be a success this year. We have 46 matches or 50 matches. We are in the first 25 percent of the competition. I think that we have time so I can find a way that both of them shine. “If this doesn’t happen, it is going to be a mistake of mine.”

Bielsa also revealed that with Nketiah tending to Young Lions duties during the international breaks, it is often hard to have him and Bamford working together in training.

“We have never proved this kind of combination in our training,” the head coach continued.

“In the international break, Nketiah is not with us, because we play twice a week and when we prepare in the week there are few spaces to try these kinds of things. When you have a series of bad results and you have to find a different solution, that [kind of series] hasn’t happened.

“I think that all this around Bamford and Nketiah doesn’t help both of them.”

The 1-1 draw sees Leeds sit second in the Championship table, but Nottingham Forest push the Whites down to third with a win against Hull City on Wednesday.