The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs Carlisle United Sunday 14th May 2023 @ 7:00pm

Please don’t play Osedebe again this season he was terrible when he came on. Why they took Banks off is beyond me.
But on a positive note what a fantastic atmosphere tonight probably the best for years

 

I accept he’s coming back from a terrible injury and it’s probably on his mind, but he offers nothing in attack or defence. Once he came on he was continually being reminded by Smallwood where he should be and not to forget to pick his man up. I’d almost opt for Pierera who at least can keep the ball and give Carlisle something to think about when we attack.

 

What makes you think that?

 

Nearly had shirt off his back in 2nd half

 

I’m not a big fan of odds in knockout football but people were mentioning them on here so here is the updated odds, it shows the fickle nature of football although I hope this one turns out to be right.

 

He's not a left midfielder. I'll judge him after a preseason, 10 matches and playing in his normal right midfield position.

 

From a distance it looks like Cook is being constantly fouled but when you look closer Cook actually leans into defenders with all his weight, so they have to essentially climb away from him to win the ball so it looks like they're then manhandling him to the ground.

 

The loss of Chapman has proven to be a real issue for us. We don’t have anyone capable of playing LW which means we either ditch the 4231 system or put a square peg in a round hole out there (eg Osadebe). Didn’t like the 433 today as Walker drifts too central and we have no width on the left (for attacking or defending).

Agree with the other comments Osadebe seems a bit of a headless chicken and the other options we’ve tried recently (Eisa, Nevers) haven’t cut it either. Surprised that Pereira can’t get a look in really as we’ve tried virtually everything else.

 

Like Windass used to. Referees don't fall for it. It's tedious.

 

I can only assume MH doesn't trust Pereira, especially in situations like last night, with his fancy flicks and not tracking back

 

Agree Osedebe didn’t start well and was ineffective, almost weak when he replaced Walker on the left. However when Platt and Darbyshire came on and moved more to the centre he looked way more comfortable and when he had to hold the ball up in the corner, did so well.

The left side hole is a challenging one since Chapman got injured. Who knew how much we would miss him? Thought Ridealgh did a very decent job yesterday, whilst often been exposed. Smallwood has come in for criticism however off the ball, and certainly in the first half, I thought he covered the left side really well whilst Walker floated.

 

Absolutely, man of the match for me

 

First part of the job done last night and that is all we could have asked. Some of our fans are far too critical

Atmosphere was fantastic, and well done to the NWK drummer for keeping it constant, people don't realise how important those boys are to keep the atmosphere going

Bring on Saturday

 

I really don't get some of the negativity. The game didnt throw up any surprises. It was always going to be tight and for me, a draw wouldnt have been a disaster but a lead of any margin is a fantastic result. Other than the freak Peterborough result, there isnt more than s goal in any of the games.
As has been mentioned, the Chapman injury has left us with a massive hole as we unfortunately have nobody who can effectively play that role. MH has therefore been forced to revert to a much more pragmatic system with the return of Clayton. Its not always easy on the eye but its effective, solid and makes us very difficult to beat. That system also works very well away from home. The home game was actually the one that concerned me the most so I'm delighted we've come out in front.
Avoid defeat on Saturday and we are 1 game from promotion. I think we will need to score up there but I'm confident we will.

 

It's like Garner from last night, Garner has played like that for his career. It's all about conning the ref into giving positional free kicks. Cook uses his power to make the defender physically try move him, Cook leans into whichever arms the defender has on him to make it look a foul. Garner is smaller so he gets shirt tight and either backs in or holds his waist towards the defender and spins himself to the floor, hoping the ref sees his final movements rather than his first actions, to get the free kick.

Thankfully last nights didn't fall for it much, next game might be different. The ref next Saturday is the one who sent Platt off for 2 yellows for 2 softer fouls and then added 10 minutes on.

 

It was there for the tie to be put to bed. 2-0 or 3-0 but we had 2 shots on target. Yes, we scored from 1 of them but that isn’t good enough.

Perform like that next Saturday and we will lose the tie.

 

I accept there was some of that going on. But there were several times when their CBs had hold of Cook round his neck and it almost looked like they were trying to throttle him. Thats dangerous and should be penalised.

 

Whatever his normal position is, no matter how many pre-season or league matches he has, surely he should at the very least be able to control a football.
After last night, we all saw that he cannot.

 

Unfortunately it’s the next 90 minutes and beyond that are the most important. Not playing in his natural position shouldn't stop him marking players and listening to instructions. The position he was supposed to be playing (on the left initially) demanded he get up and down the pitch, but he often drifted inside and left acres of space. It really is a dilemma for Hughes and highlights the poor recruitment of left and central midfield during the January window. Happy that we won the game, but should we go on to Wembley, we might get massively exposed on a bigger Wembley pitch with our 2 older defensive midfielders and non-existent left midfield. The starting 11 first half was effective, but opposite to earlier in the season, our subs are making us weaker.

Anyway, a goal up and all to play for. Not a lot of options for Hughes but if we can scrape across the line we’ll all be happy.

 

Exactly, not saying it's everytime either. When refs at this level get used to a players tactics they tend not give fouls, wonder if that was the case with this one? I believe he ref'd 3 of ours and 2 of Carlisle or the other way round before last night. I remember in the second half, Huntington had Cook by the face at one point, ref gave nothing.