Gary Neville has been captivated by, and waxing lyrical about, the ‘unbelievable’ Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford on Monday Night Football on Sky Sports PL (26/10/20 at 10:40pm) after Bamford netted a hat-trick at Villa Park on Friday and Neville claimed that his second goal was ‘Ronaldo-like’ in terms of the technique he used.
It has been an impressive start to life in the Premier League for Bamford, who has scored six in six and is potentially looking like an England-worthy striker.
Given the way things are lining up for the 27-year-old, Neville is confident that he’s ‘not far away’ from potentially representing the country.
“Absolutely brilliant,” Neville told MNF, “I think he came up with the reputation of not being the best finisher or the best goalscorer. And that was well-founded.
“That goal [his opening goal v Villa], I mean that’s just a poacher’s goal. These two [second & third goal] are really, really special.
“I still cannot really work out the technique behind this [the second goal]. He doesn’t really bend it. He doesn’t really hit it with his laces. It’s almost like these Ronaldo-like free-kicks where he cuts across it. But you very rarely see them in open play. It’s an absolutely brilliant finish.
“His work ethic, the way in which he leads the line, the way in which he pressurises and his out-of-possession work is unbelievable. And then, you put this with it [his hat-trick goal]. Touch, touch and finish.
“I mean it’s very early. But you are not far away from being an England player. If you work hard, you are 6ft2, you lead the line, you run in-behind, you cause a nightmare for defenders and score goals like that. You are knocking on the door.”
In his days in the Championship, Bamford was often the talk of Yorkshire, either because he had scored the winning goal or was again missing a number of big chances for his side.
It’s heartwarming to know that the talk of Yorkshire is now the talk of the Premier League. More importantly, he’s a player who defines the player development capabilities and strategic brilliance of what Marcelo Bielsa is all about.
There’s no doubt that Bamford is Premier League worthy, it’s just a case of showing that he is now England worthy.