The Voice - Match preview #28: AFC Wimbledon vs Bradford City Saturday 1st February 2025 3:00pm

Oh yes he did, an ankle stop from Leigh and Pattison . Saved them a point no question.

 

Agree, can fully understand resting Pointon by benching him as he did with Pattison and Richards on Tuesday but to leave him out of the squad unless carrying a knock seems bizarre to me. Why would you not keep his undoubted talent as an option on the bench if fit and available to play? Would he really rest him to be ready to play in the Vertu Cup? If so I'd suggest GA's priorities are different to mine as quite frankly I have no interest in that competition and Pointon if in need of a rest could have sat that one out.

 

That’s pretty damn well accurate compared to some of the “ We are entitled to win every game” nonsense. A evenly matched contest , they one opportunity taken, we didn’t take ours …onwards we move.

 

Some have a right to talk rubbish now and again?

 

Fine margins and Wimbledon just edged it with their slightly better work rate and energy. Their forwards worked our defenders far more than we did.
Next two home games winnable which we need to do for our promotion aspirations.

 

There was enough on show in our performance today that gives me reason to be optimistic. It wasn’t our best performance but we created some good chances against a top quality defence and limited them to half chances most of the game. A draw would have been a fair result.

Fine margins and we were on the wrong end of it today but still lots to play for.

 

14 Dons shots , how many did Walker need to actually save and didnt hit row Z? Very very little ?

 

One of those games where we wouldn’t have scored if we played til midnight. Biggest chance was when Pattison should have squared to an unmarked Leigh but didn’t and the chance was gone.

Wimbledon are a decent team and fair play to them. They have a high work rate and defended like lions.

Most disappointing aspect was the goal which was too soft. The wide player was given all the time in the world to cross to an unmarked player. Basic stuff and it cost us the game. Frustrating!

 

I agree that if Halliday is playing, I think he deals with it. However it feels harsh to say the defeat is down to Johnson.

 

A bit depressed by today. Perhaps I've been carried away by our recent good form but I thought today really exposed our limitations against a good side. This was an old fashioned 6 pointer and we came up well short. In truth we never really looked like scoring and Wimbledon were very comfortable once they were ahead. I thought Kavanagh was very poor, especially his ball control, and Smallwood was simply diabolical. And why did we play so much long ball against a defence like that? No one did themselves justice and the injuries are very worrying. The loss of some key players can completely derail a promotion push as Walsall are demonstrating. Not a good day.

 

Not a bad performance against a decent side. Played well first half but drifted out the game as an attacking threat the longer it went on. A costly lapse in concentration pretty much the difference between the sides although Wimbledon arguably edged it as the better side, which to be fair i'd expect with their form and being at home.
A run of very winnable games coming up which should hopefully see us in and around the autos still.

 

Looks like a hint of a foul on Johnson for their goal.
The Wimbledon player pulls him out of the way which leaves the other Wimbledon player (the goalscorer) unmarked.

 

Wimbledon had 14 shots but only 3 were on target, we had 5 with 2 on target, I can't remember either keeper being troubled ?.

 

It wasn't as if the cross had any quality from Jake he just pumped it to the back post where Tilley had a free header.

 

That particular stat on the BBC sport app can be misleading as you rightly allude to.

 

Good statting. Watching some highlights of Wimbledon before today it was clear that they love to get a shot off and in league two where defenders and keepers can be inconsistent it's a decent strategy. We should be trying to shoot more.

 

I think all stats can be misleading.
They can’t be taken as gospel without some sort of context.

I always go back to our 4-0 win v MK Dons
They had 72% possession and only 3 shots on target.
Possession of the football is very important
But only if you do something with it.

 

the problem for Pointon was the balance of the bench and it was probably a choice between Lapslie and Pointon for the last place on the bench as all of the other 6 players were needed to cover other positions. With Lapslie being ineligible for Tuesday it made sense to have him on the bench today to get some more minutes into him then give Pointon a full rest as I would say he's likely to start on Tuesday.