In an interview with The Guardian, Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford says he will be a failure if he doesn’t get a sniff at Chelsea in his young career.
The 21-year old striker, who is on loan at Crystal Palace, believes he has all the qualities to break into Jose Mourinho,s star-studded team.
Signed from Forest for £1.5m as an 18-year-old, Bamford has yet to make his Chelsea debut but he recently agreed an improved contract until 2018 and continues to believe that he can break through at Stamford Bridge.
I have to believe, because if I didn’t there would be no point in doing all of this. In my head, if I don’t get a shot at Chelsea, personally, I think I will have failed.
When I decided to move to Chelsea I got a bit of stick at the time, but I didn’t move just because of the money or just because it was a big club. I moved there because I wanted to play for them. If I gave up without ever having a proper shot at it … whether that means doing a season on loan in the Premier League and going back there and trying to fight for a place, or whatever it may be.
If I didn’t do that without someone saying: ‘Look, you’re not going to make it at Chelsea’, without them taking the decision out of my hands, then I’d think: ‘I’ve let myself down a bit there’.
Bamford’s hopes of finally fighting for a place at Chelsea hit the roof when Didier Drogba confirmed he was leaving for the second time last season, but he was disappointed when Jose went for Radamel Falcao as his replacement. he admits he thought his time was due.
I did think that for a bit. People have said that if anyone is going to get the best out of Falcao, then it probably will be José. But we’ll see. It’s only a year loan [with Falcao], which kind of spins back to me on a positive. If it’s a year loan and I do well, then you never know what can happen.
Bamford’s priority for now is scoring goals and he is desperate to prove, after successful loan spells with MK Dons, Derby County and Middlesbrough, where he won Championship player of the year last season, that he can cut it in the Premier League.
Bamford loves Diego Costa’s style of play and would like to imitate him, but won’t go for the kill like Costa does, he will go for his aggressiveness.
Last season I worked on becoming a lot more aggressive in my play, but I can still get more aggressive; not in terms of wanting to go out and kill people, I mean aggressive as in holding the player off and he’s not coming through me.
I like the way he plays. And I’ll probably get slated for this, but I like the way that Suárez plays as well, even though he’s done things which you can never forgive, like biting people, I don’t agree with things like that. I think Costa would admit himself that sometimes he does go over the edge, but playing on the edge is kind of what makes you a great player.
Bamford was unused sub in Crystal Palace opening day 3-1 win over Norwich City and knows he must wake up to hit the ground running.
In my head I think I know I can play at this level. It’s just a case of waiting for my chance and then getting myself into it as fast as I can. The manager said to me I’ll get my crack at No9, and when I get it, it’s up to me to keep it.
