‘I didn’t really know what to do’: Bamford opens up on Bielsa moment that caught him off guard

Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Speaking on the Official Leeds United Podcast, Patrick Bamford has opened up on how he felt during one of Marcelo Bielsa’s first training sessions when the Argentine ran up to him and hugged him.

The clip of the striker celebrating with his manager after scoring a spectacular volley quickly went viral, and now Bamford has gone on the record about how he felt during that moment.

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“That caught me by surprise, you know, because I didn’t really know what to do,” Bamford said.

“The only time I’d really spoke to him was when I’d done something wrong in training and he was telling me what I needed to do, so it was never really that embracing hug kind of speech.

“When he did it, you can hear on the audio that Coops is saying ‘go on Pat, go up to him’, it was a little bit awkward, but it kind of did show that side to him early on, that he had that side anyway.”

Photo by NICK POTTS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

It’s actually quite funny hearing Bamford speak in this way about Bielsa.

The Argentine is quite clearly very close with his players now, and even on this podcast, Bamford described him as a Grandfather-like figure who likes to crack jokes.

However, it seems as though he eased his way in slowly when he first arrived at Elland Road, keeping himself rather distant and only speaking to his players when he needed to give them advice.

Bamford was clearly taken aback by the fact that Bielsa ran up to him to embrace him after his incredible goal in training, and to be fair, we can understand why.

Bielsa was already a footballing legend before coming to Leeds, so it makes sense for a group of Championship players to be slightly in awe of the Argentine.

Photo by Molly Darlington – Pool/Getty Images

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