Patrick Bamford labelled a ‘joke’ by Chris Sutton over Jesse Marsch criticism - Independent 7/2/23
Marsch was sacked on Monday after a run of seven games without a win
Harry Latham-Coyle
Patrick Bamford has been described as “a joke” after
appearing to criticise Jesse Marsch’s tactics following Leeds’ 1-0 defeat to
Nottingham Forest.
Marsch was sacked as Leeds manager on Monday after defeat at
the City Ground extended a winless run to seven games.
The American’s tactical set-up had been questioned by his
striker Bamford, who suggested that Forest’s centre-backs had enjoyed a
straightforward afternoon as they “just had me to concentrate on”.
“We needed more runners running past me to drag [Forest’s
centre-backs] out of position and create a bit more space,” Bamford further
explained.
“The whole game was literally two v one, which made it
difficult, and unfortunately I couldn’t find the answers to solve that.”
Former Norwich, Celtic and Blackburn striker Chris Sutton
believes that Bamford was wrong to make his criticisms public.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sutton suggested that the
29-year-old would have known where his comments might lead with Marsch under
pressure.
“Keep it in the confines of the dressing room if that’s the
way you feel,” Sutton said.
“He’s unburdening himself of any responsibility. I don’t
like that.
“He’s not daft - he knows the implications that it will
have. It will be taken as a criticism of the manager and his tactics. He’s a
joke for bringing that into the public domain.
“[Bamford] doesn’t strike me as somebody who wouldn’t
understand where comments like this would lead.
“He’s criticising the manager, the tactics. Things like this
snowball. It’s great he’s honest - but it’s only going to cause trouble.”
Sunday’s defeat leaves Leeds 17th in the table and without a
Premier League win since early November.