Erling learning centre

BAMFORD ASKED BIELSA TO SUGGEST A STRIKER TO STUDY.. HE SAID HAALAND

MARCELO BIELSA has praised Patrick Bamford’s desire to keep improving after he requested videos of Erling Haaland to study.

Bamford has been analysing clips of the prolific Borussia Dortmund striker and boyhood y Leeds fan for pointers.

Bamford asked Bielsa

( right) to recommend a striker he could watch and the Leeds boss is delighted with his willingness to learn n when he has al ready dy scored eight Premier League L goals this season.

“With Patrick, that’ s something very special because when players are established, they don’t usually have this attitude where they still want to improve,” said Bielsa.

“For young players, who are coming up, this process is very important. Imitation, copying, is a key element in the improvement of a player.

“Before, young players coming through used to look at the senior players, copy the things they did and try to do the things the best players did.

“Now we can look at the whole world and see the players we want to be like.”

Bi elsa suggested Ha a land–even though, at 20, he is seven years younger than B am ford– because of his ability to get behind defenders. The Norway striker, who is the son of former Leeds midfielder Alfie, has amassed 23 goals in 19 games for club and country this season and Bielsa’s staff have been sending Bamford clips of him for the last three weeks.

“The initiative didn’t come from the coaching staff, it came from Patrick,” said Bielsa. “He asked me if there was a centreforward I thought he could look at and Haaland has a virtue where he can easily be found behind the opponents’ defence.

“For me, this is a virtue that is difficult to acquire and it’ s something Patrick is progressive ly improving at. I thought if he observed what Haaland does, it would be useful for him.”

Bielsa also needs to work on Leeds’ defending at set- pieces – they have conceded five goals from deadball situations ahead of tonight’s clash with West Ham at Elland Road.

Leeds have been dogged by this problem during Bi elsa’ s two-and-a-half-year reign because of hi s emphasis on playing attacking football and he admits he has not solved it. “We are trying to improve this aspect in all the ways possible,” said the Argentinian .“Up until this moment we haven’t been able to resolve it, which shows I haven’ t yet found the tool to prevent this happening.

“If you look back at some of the periods in the Championship, we also had difficulties defending set- pieces, so for the last two-and-a-half years we have been working on this.

“The problem is not just the correction, but also the greater quality of the opponent in the Premier League hinders us or affects how we play.”

LEEDS: Meslier, Dallas, Ayling, Cooper, Alioski, Phillips, Raphinha, Rodrigo, Klich, Harrison, Bamford

WEST HAM: Fabianski, Coufal,

Ogbonna, Cresswell, Balbuena, Rice, Soucek, Fredericks, Fornals, Haller, Bowen