Daniel Farke will begin piecing together his Leeds United starting XI to face Cardiff City over the coming days. The German head coach has only had three and a half weeks with his players on the training ground, but the Whites will be kicking off their Championship campaign in eight days’ time and he has huge decisions to make.
On the face of it, Farke has selection calls to make across the park. With Karl Darlow due to come through the door, there’s a decision to make between the sticks, while there are a number of options to consider across the backline.
Choices are few and far between in the middle of the park, but there are decisions to make out wide and up front as Farke must decide on how he wants his attacking line-up to look. It’s that battle for places at the head of the field that seems to intrigue more than most, too, with Patrick Bamford and Georginio Rutter both pushing for secure the lead striker role.
Both men have shown glimpses of their talents over the last few weeks and it seems they have one final chance to nail down the number nine role on Sunday afternoon when Leeds play their final friendly of pre-season at Hearts. There are other options, but it seems to be a two-horse race at this point so, who will Farke pick, Bamford or Rutter?
Well, Patrick Bamford is probably the more obvious candidate to start up front against the Bluebirds. The 29-year-old boasts heaps of experience, particularly at Championship level, and he’ll be boosted by the goal he scored for the Whites on Thursday night against Nottingham Forest.
He took that goal well, showing predator instinct to pounce on a loose back-pass before beating the goalkeeper by neatly rolling his studs over the ball and prodding the ball home. It was a clear relief for him after the difficult manner in which the last season ended for him and he’ll take confidence from the words of his manager, who underlined his importance and stature within the group when speaking to the press after the game at the Pirelli Stadium.
But, he was relatively quiet throughout the majority of his time on the field and probably didn’t carry the threat he would have hoped for against his boyhood club. Unfortunately, it’s been some time since Bamford was at his rampant best having scored just six league goals over the last two seasons after struggling with injuries and consistency on the field and his self-belief took a visible knock last time around.
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