Prior to Saturday’s loss to Blackburn Rovers, Mateo Joseph publicly insulted Patrick Bamford, a star for Leeds United (13 April).
During the rondo practice that the team does before every game, in which two players are usually found in the middle of a circle and attempt to get the ball back, a fight broke out between the two Whites forwards.
Things became a little more heated between Bamford and Joseph throughout the practice, despite the fact that players frequently joke about and make fun of one another.
On Sunday, April 14, LeedsLive revealed on its website that the 30-year-old was seen attempting to explain a choice to his teammate, who pushed him away and showed little interest in hearing it.
Dan James, Glen Kamara, and Liam Cooper all tried to mediate the situation with the 20-year-old after the veteran forward’s attempts were rejected a few more times, but none of them seemed to be successful.
In an attempt to increase their chances of promotion versus Blackburn, that was most definitely not the kind of preparation Daniel Farke would have hoped for.
The Whites’ afternoon didn’t go any better as Sammie Szmodics scored Elland Road’s lone goal of the match on minute 82.
Farke would have targeted the match for three points even though other outcomes did go their way, with Ipswich Town drawing 1-1 with Middlesbrough and Leicester City losing 1-0 to Plymouth Argyle.
Leeds had an impressive start to the year, going undefeated in the first three months since the year’s beginning. However, their subsequent performances have been lackluster.
They have only triumphed in one of their five games since returning from the international break, and their run of victories at Elland Road has now ended with the loss to Rovers.
Even though the incident involving Bamford and Joseph most likely didn’t mean anything, it’s not good to see that things don’t feel quite right among the group right now.
Events of that nature have the potential to negatively affect the dressing room at the worst possible time and set a sour tone before a game.
Although the specifics of their exchange remain unclear, Farke might have expected a younger player to be a little more respectful of Bamford and some of the other senior veterans.
Over the next few weeks, he will be making sure that no such instances take place in West Yorkshire.
