The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs Colchester United Saturday 12th August 2023 @ 3:00pm

That's my only gripe but it's a pretty big gripe. I know it's only one game but on that showing we've recruited well enough to win the majority of our games and definitely get close to automatics this year. However, we must play a higher line than we did for the majority of the second half. We didn't contain Colchester. They got into enough goal scoring opportunities to equalise on a number of occasions and if we play like that we'll give away leads often enough to jeopardise our chances this year. It's all very well sitting deep if we frustrate the opposition but we didn't. We just rode our luck with poor final balls and finishing from them. The only team that will guarantee our lack of success this year is ourselves.

Having said that the good news is we look like we have the tools to hurt any opposition when we need to but please can we not sit back every time we go a goal ahead.

 

Probably will be hit-and-miss as it's the nature of the division, but have to say we badly missed that kind of pace in midfield last season.

I liked Banks as a winger, obviously, and Wright was quality.

To be honest, I didn't walk away feeling I'd just watched a 'winger' as a much as an attacking midfielder in Oduor. Seemed to be pretty central a lot.

 

That's because Hughes likes them to be "inverted" and to get shots off.

Seems to be the trend these days.

 

His flick round the corner for Pattison was ace! But then Cook tried the same, it didn't come off (defender only just blocked it), and got a bunch of moans and groans around me

 

This cannot be stressed enough. We did it again on Saturday and thankfully, it didn't cost us that time but if we continue to do it, we will end up getting punished for it more often than not.

 

So we sit high up the field , like in the first 25 mins on Saturday and get ripped by the pace of their centre forward receiving long balls over the top or wider balls over the top down the left and right channels? Is that what is being proposed, here?

I doubt it?

The issue is we went TOO far back.

imho of course.

 

I think one of the issues is we are not fit enough to keep pressing for more than 45 minutes

 

Its about balance though. I'm not talking about squeezing up to the hall way line intent on playing in their half. I'm talking about moving up the pitch in possession. When we went ahead we literally kept clearing the ball and then digging a trench on the edge of our area. We got away with it imo. We should have played the same way we played at 1-1 when we went ahead.

 

We cannot play a high line, as our CHs are slow. No 25 Taylor left Stubbs in his wake.

Need to give Odusina a chance, not sure why he has been ignored by Hughes. Especially after paying a fee and given a 3 year deal. Makes no sense!!

 

Nobody is! Without bringing 5 subs on. Not feasible Park in all honesty. Even Liverpool stopped at half time until they brought the kids on yesterday .

 

Yes, balance. We dropped too far back.

 

Must admit, i've not seen an awful lot in Kelly that suggest he should be nailed on to start in the 3. I think the pace of Odusina as the covering CB would work a hell of a lot better.

 

Playing so deep late on was down to two main factors.

Bringing Haliday and Ridehalgh on as wingbacks who are naturally more inclined to sit deep and make a back 5, as opposed to Oyegoke and Gillead who played pretty high up the pitch.

Tired legs in our front line. Cook and Smith looked knackered late on and weren't pressuring Colchester's defence who were then able to play higher up the pitch themselves.

Going forwards we'd be better replacing our forward line to keep the high energy press up rather than bringing on more defenders.

 

Granted I was only watching on ifollow on a laptop, but I thought Kelly was sound. He looked fairly composed on the ball, looked to find his man, and I didn't see anything to suggest he was slow. I accept being at the game might see things differently

 

Not saying he's done anything wrong, just saying he hasn't exactly been a standout or made me think this guy needs to play, unlike Stubbs does when he came in for Taylor.

He doesn't look the quickest, and when Stubbs certainly doesn't have pace and neither does Platt, it does make me think at some point one of them is probably going to have to drop out for some pace. Especially if teams do just play pacey forwards against us and balls over the tops.

 

He’s been better than I imagined he would be so far. Credit to the lad.

 

It's something that I'm sure might be not as much a problem at home as VP always seems a narrow pitch compared to some of the others we visit but on wider pitches it could hurt us. The Colchester lads were fading holes in that 5 on our narrow field, imagine adding yards to that width and having to track runners, we'd be ruined if teams figure that out.

Pacey LWB and either trust Odusina to make an impact as that sweeper/covering CB, or get the lad out on loan someone and try bring a pacey CB in as the longer he is out, the less we know about his game, the less he is ready to play and the worse out investment in him over 3 years looks.

 

Just seen the Colchester goal again. How on earth can anyone be blamed apart from Lewis? An utterly hideous lack of concentration.

100% his fault and indefensible.