Marcelo Bielsa is looking for Patrick Bamford to become more like Borussia Dortmund’s Leeds-supporting striker Erling Haaland.
The Whites have seen their No.9 take an impressive step up onto a Premier League stage this season.
Through 11 games in the 2020-21 campaign, Bamford has found the target on eight occasions – with all of those efforts coming in the English top flight.
Questions had been asked of the 27-year-old’s ability to deliver among the elite, with accusations often levelled at him of spurning too many chances.
Bamford is, however, showing that he can be a leading man for Leeds, with his boss looking to take his game to even greater heights.
Bielsa is a coach who leaves no stone unturned, with those at his disposal often asked to complete homework tasks.
For Bamford, that means watching videos of some of the very best in the business and taking important lessons from them.
Haaland has been the focus of Bielsa’s recent assignments, with the Argentine inundating his leading marksman with showreels of the Dortmund star in action.
Bamford told the Ornstein and Chapman Podcast of his manager’s methods: “Throughout the week you get sent various things.
“Sometimes you get clips of the defender you will be playing against.
“The last three weeks I had two or three videos sent every day of Erling Haaland, like 15 minutes each one.
“I had to watch them and see what I could pick out from him.”
Bamford believes some of that inspiration is rubbing off on him, with his latest effort against Chelsea seeing him make the kind of run that Haaland has become famed for.
“To be honest it was quite similar to some of his goal,” added the in-form forward.
“I think I can work on the explosiveness of some of my runs sometimes. Sometimes I make a run without 100 per cent determination or conviction.”
Haaland can rarely be accused of lacking conviction in his game, with the highly-rated 20-year-old – who was born in Leeds and has made no secret of his allegiance to the Whites – racking up 33 goals through his 32 appearances for Dortmund to date.