The Voice - Match preview Most liked posts in thread: Bradford City vs Walsall Saturday 3 September @ 3:00pm

I think Odusina will oust Crichlow. He's done well, but there's a casual element to his play. When we're on top it comes across as very composed, but when we're up against it he looks a bit lax.

 

A wins a win but let’s hope that we ain’t gonna have to rely on our keeper to win us games week after week ............. Walsall didn’t deserve that today but how many times had that happened to us over the years

 

I only saw the last 8 mins plus injury time and they looked humongous. Their incessant use of the long throw was a waste and far too predictable. Wright looked to have a head on his shoulders and help manage the game out in the end. Harratt should £ have buried that 1 on 1 to take the sting out of the game . Playing poorly and winning is a first for us for a long time!

 

Critchlow has that reggae boy style of play. Seems very casual. He totally got turned inside out for the pen. A few mins later he also got the ball stuck between his feet, and we were lucky to not concede. I like his composure and pace, but as I’ve said for the past few weeks, he plays like we’re always 3 nil up.

 

My thoughts on the game

Tactics
Poor from the get go. We were set up in a 4-1-4-1 formation that left Smallwood exposed an had players all over. I understood the idea of playing Sutton in a more advanced role so he could make those runs behind the defence but it was fairly fruitless as there was only Cook to aim for in the box on most occasions. The goals ultimately changed the game although we didn’t make it easy for ourselves. A more clinical team would of pulled more than 1 goal back in that second half. Hope people now understand the importance Gillead has on this team. And this is coming from someone who criticised him throughout last season.

Players
Good Goalkeepers will win you 10-15 points a season. Great performance from Lewis. Hasn’t had a bad game since he’s joined. Terrific bit of scouting from those involved. Halliday was poor at the start but grew into the game. Ridehalgh was steady. Someone said this earlier an I fully agree, Our CB’s play like we’re 3-0 up. They need to bring the ball forward quicker rather than passing sideways and backwards

Smallwood’s poorest game imo. But I understand why that was the case to an extent as he was left isolated in the middle on many occasions. Young an Chapman seem to have good chemistry. I still don’t believe that Chapman belongs in the middle though. He is a confidence player though I’ve noticed, he needs to get the ball under his feet a few times before he’l feel confident enough to make things happen. Similar to Banks but on the opposite end of the spectrum, as he kind of packed it in the moment he realised he wasn’t getting the better of Walsall’s Left back. What a goal by Young. His best years ahead of him. Hopefully Hughes can help him reach his potential

Don’t need to say much about the Cookie Monster. Give him a chance in the box an he’l score. Felt he struggled in the air against Walsall’s CBs. Harratt wasnt as sharp as he usually is. Felt like he was playing at 70% today. Better performance from Oliver today, There is clearly a player in there an I hope the city faithful have patience with him as I feel he can be a great signing for us. Great to see Periera back. Wright looks like a good acquisition. Very direct an has pace to burn. Glad to see Songo get minutes as well. His influence certainly played its part in the win today.

Opposition
Best team to come to VP this season. They were organised, Compact & Direct. Defence was both strong and quick. Unfortunately for them, They had a loss of concentration for the first an their heads dropped which played its part in the second. But they were a constant threat throughout the game. If they could play like that every week an had a striker on the level of Cook, They’d be in or around the play offs come May for sure.

 

Far from the only error the referee made.

Very poor performance today from a man that looks like a typical know-it-all.

 

I do agree that we need to be better but under Adams the XG sometimes was off the charts and look how that turned out.

Plenty to do and certainly improvements to be made but I'm not unduly worried by the XG stat. Once we find the right balance I'm sure all of the stats will take care of themselves.

 

This early in the season and we're talking about playoffs as the aim.

Automatic is the goal.

 

And it’s a compliment to our players that teams resort to these tactics against us

 

Re Trevor's comment re the Liverpool match, you need to remember the time shown on the board is always stated as "a minimum of x minutes". The board usually goes up a minute or so prior to the 90 minutes being up, so if there is further time wasting, substitutions, etc, between then and the end of the stated extra minutes, this should be tagged on.

Liverpool scored on 97.09 minutes, so 2.09 were added on, which included Pope lying down for 90 seconds or so in the added time. Whether it's an independent time keeper or the referees, I wish they would all start adding on the correct amount of time wasted during a game, rather than a fraction of what it should really be, as it might show players it's pointless to keep stopping the game.

 

Definitely, totally agreed!

Klopp couldn't have looked happier when it all worked out in his favour though, but hypocrisy and football go hand in hand in the heat of the moment!

 

There is going to be some good players on the bench today

 

Didn't expect that.

 

Harry Lewis was great today, well worth the MOTM award,

but i will also give a shout out to Halliday today, he provided the cross for Cook to score and made some timely last ditch tackles when Walsall turned up the heat and even out run Dion the wanderer by providing a counter attacking overlap.
Thought Dion is the one with pace to burn.

 

Agree Faithful. Over the past two/three games, Crichlow has started to show flaws in his game, making more mistakes.
After Odusina's performance against the Owls, I was hoping that he may get his chance today alongside Platt.
Also Chapman is not a player for that No.10 role - poor again today and not at all effective.
Need better in that position, I was glad to see him taken off after 76mins, for me it should have been a lot sooner.

 

Decent game of football today Lewis was the difference and got us the points probably the best earned MOM I've seen in a while. Walsall look a decent team and fair play they came to win that a draw wouldn't have been unreasonable.

Their back 4 were monsters and we struggled against it. Haliday's run and ball for the goal was fantastic and I'm really liking Young he's brave, talented and a bit raw if Hughes can tease it out of him there's a proper player their.

Delighted to see Dion back and I hope Wright is a bit more selfish next time he should have had a go himself. I still think we need a bit more urgency in our play but when we get at it we look a very decent team. I actually thought Oliver looked alot Sharper today and was a problem for their back line when he came on.

 

3 fortunate points. CBs, particularly RC had on off day, CM overrun and poor Banks, has he got out of the no 6s back pocket??

The saviour, DP was a liability in the defensive 3rd and offered only glimpses moving forward, as Walsall were camped in our half, allowing space.

Truthfully, good result, poor performance. Add that to Colchester away, Barrow away. So so performances vs Donny & Crewe... Far too many questions than answers.

Have some fecking width MH

 

On the one hand, I watch some of our games and am wondering why we're so open and why we give away so many opportunities - but then I look at the quality of those opportunities, and a lot of the time I think it's worth the pain as we try to really find our rhythm.

I do think these are growing pains, and while today was probably the worst performance of the season (certainly at home), we got through it.

Defensively we were really riding our luck, but even there goal was a poor quality one.

If we can improve and get better at what we're trying to do, we could be a real force.

I'm still very confident of a top 7 finish.

 

Wouldn't say we are in trouble I'd say the best is yet to come. We didn't fluke it to be honest Lewis played a blinder and we took our chances. The 1st goal was against the run of play somewhat and we had to be resolute but we were and that's what counts. Genuinely think if we can get on a roll we'll take some beating this season.

Olivers best game for us today he won alot against a very physical defence and should have scored as should Kian and Chapman for that matter. We need a bit more urgency in our play and we do miss Walker. Fair play to Walsall they had a proper go, they were physical and made it difficult but they didn't batter us.

A high xG is great but you know what it's just a stat it doesn't get you three points.

I've really liked what I've seen from Young might be on my own but there's just something about him. He's got the nuts to keep having a go even if it's not working. I don't really care if he loses the ball a few times I just want to see him keep being brave and having a go at teams.