The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs Crewe Alexandra Saturday 26th August 2023 3:00pm

5 Games in we're still searching for a formation and new players. Shambles really from all concerned

 

Sorry , what. Someone made a silly point about egg on face I replied. What is it that offended one?

 

You see, you're doing it again. It's tedious for the rest of us.

 

Crewes problem was no focal point upfront. Nevitt didn't look like a striker and they badly lacked someone to be the outlet for the final ball after what at times was a team able to pass at will upto the final third. Make no mistake we are way off being a side capable of challenging the top three. We've no real way of getting Cook into the game at the moment and that back three set up kill us at the back, theres just no movement in them. It wasn't so bad last year passing between two but the three leaves us one less option upfront to pass to as the wing backs aren't really working.

 

Fair play to him. Maybe a fresh start and a good preseason free on injuries was what he needed. (And a bit of freedom/creativity - Hughes would have squeezed that out of him like he has with everyone else)

 

Good point,do we actually have a fitness coach.

 

You asked, I responded. Read the thread before responding is sound advice. I replied to someone who made a point directed towards me , NOT the other way round. Did you miss that bit?

 

I rest my case, m'lud.

 

Speaking purely as a fan, I agree on the fitness points. How many times last season did we surrender points late on because we had nothing left to get up the pitch. It hasn’t changed. Today why do 2 young backs come off due to apparently cramping up? Why can’t Walker never do more than 70 minutes when we then loose his influence? Why was Smith looking spent for such a young guy? Why was Pattison flat out with cramp at the end and most surprisingly given all that I’m told ( so could be speculation) the players had an extra day off following the Morecambe shambles, why. A Manager called Parkinson would have had them in on Sunday.

 

Spot on RT. Cook isn't a focal point . He’s not a hold the ball up, target man. He’s too remote from the midfield , especially in the current formation and only comes into play when wing backs get involved in advanced wide positions or set pieces.

If I were to be honest I haven’t a clue what the formation is, but three in the middle leaves us swamped and outgunned. That’s how it appeared in the first half today.?

 

At the risk of getting into an interminable argument with you, we didn't have three in the middle today, we had two, Pattison and McDonald. That's why we were overrun. We were playing either 343 or 523.

 

That’s decent debate!

What was Walker doing though? Cook and Taylor up top as a 1-1, with McD , Walker and Pattison as the middle three in the first half . They were overrun a la my first comment.

 

Walker was playing up front on the left. Smith on the right. Cook in the middle. A back five. That leaves two in the middle. Pattison and McDonald.

 

Naming no names but a recent manager of ours said that modem football players absolutely won’t run through brick walls for you anymore.
So fetching them back on a Sunday would most likely backfire and cause further resentment amongst the squad, especially that little clique that live in the North East.

 

Speaking to a Crewe fan outside and he said the man to look out for is Nevitt who has been outstanding I think we defended a lot better today and kept him quietl

 

That was pretty shit today and a step back on where we finished last season.

Noticeably the Mark Hughes Bradford army chant materialised only in extra time in the second half today.

Slowly but surely appears to be hanging himself. Won't make Xmas IMHO. If I am wrong we are top three and all guns blazing. But on today's fare we are so far off its quite concerning.

 

I thought they passed the ball better than we did and got the ball to the final third well. Tabiner easily the best player on the pitch and Long also had a decent game. For us I thought Richards showed up very well, early signs but looks good going forward and would look far better in a solid back four, as would Stubbs. Pattison far too deep first half which negated all his attributes but more like himself. Worrying signs with Cooky though, he looks way off the pace in this new formation line up which creates very little in terms of chances.
Still think we need a busy midfielder alongside either MacDonald or Smallwood. Hoping we drop the 3 at the back but I won't hold my breath.

 

Jamie Walker I thought deserved the M.O.M scoring on his return from injury . Crewe controlled most of the first half City rather fortunate to take the lead rather unsettled first half. Much improved second half putting more pressure on Crewe also thought Harry Lewis played ok 1-0 three points I’ll take that .

 

A decent points or decent to get three points?
Very much the latter for me. Give Crewe credit, first half the pressed with 5-6 outfield players in our half when we played out from the back, which we didn’t deal with. However Pattinson, Cook, Smith offered very little with only Walker offering marginally more. We looked stagnant, clueless and useless.

Better End product from Crewe would have seen us out of the game after not much after 30mins. So for me, the three points are decent but it wasn’t a decent three points. We were lucky today.

 

We looked so much better when Halliday came on and when we went to a back four.
Hughes needs to stop pratting around with this three CBs rubbish.