Man up if you wanna go up. Bradford City (H). EFL League 2. 7pm KO

[BWFC_Insane]

Thought about what the score would have been in the first half if Doyle had been on. They would have been dead and buried. 1-0 gives them hope and thanks to Crellin he's got us the 2 points he lost us on Saturday.

Look at the cross after he saved that penalty, he actually caught it. His confidence was booming. The lad isn't terrible just not up to the level we need. If he can get better with every game he'll be fine.

Crellin is a long way from being our worst player or even biggest problem.

61j4bBPYN1L._AC_SY400_-1.jpg

Nah - Crawford we know can play. He's showing signs of getting some form back but is still short IMHO. But again not our biggest issue.

I'd like Sarcevic to get the attacking midfield gig though as I think he looks like he's got goals in him. Crawford IMHO should be deeper but he needs his old dynamism back and to put a tackle in now and again.

[officer_dibble]

Great Evatt-ism
“This is our house, and to be honest, too many people have come and burgled our house this season”

[Worthy4England]

Thought about what the score would have been in the first half if Doyle had been on. They would have been dead and buried. 1-0 gives them hope and thanks to Crellin he's got us the 2 points he lost us on Saturday.

Look at the cross after he saved that penalty, he actually caught it. His confidence was booming. The lad isn't terrible just not up to the level we need. If he can get better with every game he'll be fine.

Crellin is a long way from being our worst player or even biggest problem.

61j4bBPYN1L._AC_SY400_-1.jpg

Nah - Crawford we know can play. He's showing signs of getting some form back but is still short IMHO. But again not our biggest issue.

I'd like Sarcevic to get the attacking midfield gig though as I think he looks like he's got goals in him. Crawford IMHO should be deeper but he needs his old dynamism back and to put a tackle in now and again.

I don't think Crawford has the tackling in him, to swap them around to be honest. He's not really a "tackler" he's more of a "hold-upper"...So what's our biggest issue then?

[Harry Genshaw]

Some thoughts the morning after the night before:
We won!
With better finishing we could have been out of sight yet we could just as easily have lost that.
Delfounso has been a great signing.
Oddly, I became more worried about Crellin after his penalty save. His aerial game needs to improve very quickly.
Delaney and Santos are looking solid and Baptiste had his best game for us.
Our choices in the final 3rd need to be much better but we do look a lot more of a threat going forward.
Mascoll and Gordon have been a disappointment so far and are behind an ever improving Brockbank now.
Gnouha looks decent running with the ball but needs to improve his hold up play. Evatt should have subbed him about 10 minutes earlier imo.
Tutte - does loads of unselfish graft and has been a pleasant surprise. Notwithstanding Ghost's comments - I'll watch him a bit closer next time. Comley was fine when he came on.
Kioso - A great signing. I hope we can keep him fit.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

What are people’s thoughts on Gnouha? I thought he worked hard without ever actually looking useful. He wins the ball in the air but seemed to flick it back and up to nobody a lot of the time? Played some neat passes in and around the box but he was never in a position to score.

I mean he doesn't look like a striker to me. More like a forward who'd do well in the Delfouneso role but less well leading the line. When he's looked good is when he's running with the ball.

So yeah up front right now - we've got a problem!

Bit weird considering you were consistently saying Doyler was stealing a living

[BWFC_Insane]

Thought about what the score would have been in the first half if Doyle had been on. They would have been dead and buried. 1-0 gives them hope and thanks to Crellin he's got us the 2 points he lost us on Saturday.

Look at the cross after he saved that penalty, he actually caught it. His confidence was booming. The lad isn't terrible just not up to the level we need. If he can get better with every game he'll be fine.

Crellin is a long way from being our worst player or even biggest problem.

61j4bBPYN1L._AC_SY400_-1.jpg

Nah - Crawford we know can play. He's showing signs of getting some form back but is still short IMHO. But again not our biggest issue.

I'd like Sarcevic to get the attacking midfield gig though as I think he looks like he's got goals in him. Crawford IMHO should be deeper but he needs his old dynamism back and to put a tackle in now and again.

I don't think Crawford has the tackling in him, to swap them around to be honest. He's not really a "tackler" he's more of a "hold-upper"...So what's our biggest issue then?

I'd say - back three whilst better I still have some concerns about them. We're often too easy to get in behind in the channels. Up front we were a bit non existent for most of last night and in reality have been for much of the season, Doyle will score goals so I guess we can live with that but it means we have no outlet when under pressure - Delfouneso is our best outlet but is having to play a different role. Kioso has fixed our RWB problems (not sure how good he is defensively but I think going forward he's the best I've seen for us this season) and Brockbank is playing well at LWB for my money - it still does leave us a little unbalanced at times with more down the right than the left and Mascoll and Gordon the two specialists looking a bit 'shaky'.

Midfield balance for me is our major issue - we really need to sort out how wide open we are at times in there - and some of that needs fixing on the training ground. It is a tough one because I feel Sarce and Crawford want to play in the same areas - albeit very different games. Sarce has caught my eye the past couple of games. But we're lacking for me a presence in there alongside Tutte at times. And not sure we've got one in the squad. Comley hasn't shone yet at all and looks a weak link when he plays. Tutte is good - busy and active but as noted leaves gaps at times. Sarce seems to tire a little from his lung busting runs and Crawford doesn't seem as dynamic as last season (and yes he's never been a tough tackling type but to me he was busier and more effective off the ball last season).

Those to me are our issues that need fixing one way or another.

[officer_dibble]

What about a midfield three of Tutte, White and Sarcevic? For games we are worried about being overrun in?

[GhostoftheBok]

Mascoll and Gordon the two specialists looking a bit 'shaky'.

Gordon has struggled with the step up in quality. Mascoll's attitude has been shocking, to be honest. If you keep an eye on him in terms of his moaning at other players for his own mistakes and his body language it's just not good enough. Evatt took aim at the character and attitude of some of the players and I'd be shocked is Mascoll wasn't one of them. You can see other players losing their rag with him over his lack of basic effort.

[Worthy4England]

Mascoll and Gordon the two specialists looking a bit 'shaky'.

Gordon has struggled with the step up in quality. Mascoll's attitude has been shocking, to be honest. If you keep an eye on him in terms of his moaning at other players for his own mistakes and his body language it's just not good enough. Evatt took aim at the character and attitude of some of the players and I'd be shocked is Mascoll wasn't one of them. You can see other players losing their rag with him over his lack of basic effort.

Mascoll thing was very apparent for the short time he was on yesterday. Clear some of the team (and they looked like a team albeit a bit ragged second half), took issue with him not moving his arse and putting in the shift.

[Worthy4England]

I'd say - back three whilst better I still have some concerns about them. We're often too easy to get in behind in the channels. Up front we were a bit non existent for most of last night and in reality have been for much of the season, Doyle will score goals so I guess we can live with that but it means we have no outlet when under pressure - Delfouneso is our best outlet but is having to play a different role. Kioso has fixed our RWB problems (not sure how good he is defensively but I think going forward he's the best I've seen for us this season) and Brockbank is playing well at LWB for my money - it still does leave us a little unbalanced at times with more down the right than the left and Mascoll and Gordon the two specialists looking a bit 'shaky'.

Midfield balance for me is our major issue - we really need to sort out how wide open we are at times in there - and some of that needs fixing on the training ground. It is a tough one because I feel Sarce and Crawford want to play in the same areas - albeit very different games. Sarce has caught my eye the past couple of games. But we're lacking for me a presence in there alongside Tutte at times. And not sure we've got one in the squad. Comley hasn't shone yet at all and looks a weak link when he plays. Tutte is good - busy and active but as noted leaves gaps at times. Sarce seems to tire a little from his lung busting runs and Crawford doesn't seem as dynamic as last season (and yes he's never been a tough tackling type but to me he was busier and more effective off the ball last season).

Those to me are our issues that need fixing one way or another.

They certainly got at us second half - some of that was deffo down to where we were starting to defend. 10 yards inside our own half rather than on the edge of their area. So they weren't getting as much opportunity first half. We did create quite a lot yesterday in terms of having 15 shots, but realistically we didn't test the keeper much with them. And Crawford certainly didn't have his shooting boots on.

I think Brocky as emergency LWB has started to make us look better balanced between right and left - we're certainly doing more down the left than when Gordon or Mascoll have played there. When we're talking midfield balance, we shouldn't just focus on Sarce, Tutte and Crawford. Brocky and Kioso are as much a part of the MF as they are defenders or attackers.

I'm not seeing (like you seem to be) Crawford being lazy and not trying hard. His end product isn't at last season's best fo sho. Looking at last night's "where people were when Kennedy was shot" maps. Tutte seems to have been given the slightly deeper role

TutteBradford.jpg (65.6 KiB) Viewed 1459 times

It also looks correct to suggest that Sarce and Crawford are playing in "similar places" - but that appears to be "all over the park" rather than in one similar place.

SarceBradford.jpg (68.78 KiB) Viewed 1459 times

CrawfordBradford.jpg (71.19 KiB) Viewed 1459 times

[The_Gun]

I think based on the last few performances it looks like our starting XI (with Doyle) is beginning to resemble a side who can be pushing at least for the playoffs. However, I do think we have some serious issues with squad depth, which were exposed in the second half last night and which I would imagine will continue to hold us back if they are not fixed.

Hopefully the return of White, Isgrove and Miller will go a long way to filling some of the gaps we've seen going forward and in the centre of the park. I would also say that it already looks likely we'll have to try and do some re-jigging come January if we want to be proper title contenders.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Some people might hate this, and I understand that, but here's some heavy-dooty statting from someone or other (via BWFC Analysis)
.

.
Certainly backs up the idea that Ali and Sarce are (on average) in similar positions, and I still wonder if it'd be better if they roughly sliced the pitch in half vertically - Ali takes the left (and combines with Brocky), Sarce the right (with Peter K). Surely less running.

[Worthy4England]

I think based on the last few performances it looks like our starting XI (with Doyle) is beginning to resemble a side who can be pushing at least for the playoffs. However, I do think we have some serious issues with squad depth, which were exposed in the second half last night and which I would imagine will continue to hold us back if they are not fixed.

Hopefully the return of White, Isgrove and Miller will go a long way to filling some of the gaps we've seen going forward and in the centre of the park. I would also say that it already looks likely we'll have to try and do some re-jigging come January if we want to be proper title contenders.

I'm not sure I've moved the expectation lever up to "Playoffs" or "Title Contenders" yet. We've shown improvement the last few games from our woeful performances against Grimsby and Oldham, bearing in mind we let three in against Barrer. I'm more confident we could hit upper mid table. Last three games we probably deserved LWL. We got DDW, so fair play for sticking at it. On another day we could've been out of sight last night, but putting teams to the sword rather than just looking good in approach play is two different things and whilst we're seeing signs of the former, I'm not sure we're seeing much evidence of the latter.

[Worthy4England]

Some people might hate this, and I understand that, but here's some heavy-dooty statting from someone or other (via BWFC Analysis)

Certainly backs up the idea that Ali and Sarce are (on average) in similar positions, and I still wonder if it'd be better if they roughly sliced the pitch in half vertically - Ali takes the left (and combines with Brocky), Sarce the right (with Peter K). Surely less running.

That's pretty reflective and supports that Tutte was playing deeper. It feels like a better solution to half it. It did feel to me last night that the two of them (not just the two of them) ran themselves ragged in that first half especially - I think they looked a lot more shagged (unsurprisingly) second half.

Whilst they look to be "in the same place" - what that doesn't show is that they often weren't in the same place, at the same time

[BWFC_Insane]

@W4E I don't think Crawford was lazy last night he did a lot of running. I do think he has less conviction generally than at his peak last season. But I guess he had two minders for his best period then in Bridcutt and Lowe. Now we're a bit open in midfield for me. Crawford has good delivery generally from set pieces but needs IMO to find a way to play with Sarce...from what I've seen Sarce is more effective because he's going to bag goals whereas Ali is more of a creator but is misfiring a bit. And possibly protecting himself from injury.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Certainly backs up the idea that Ali and Sarce are (on average) in similar positions, and I still wonder if it'd be better if they roughly sliced the pitch in half vertically - Ali takes the left (and combines with Brocky), Sarce the right (with Peter K). Surely less running.

Whilst they look to be "in the same place" - what that doesn't show is that they often weren't in the same place, at the same time

Yep, that's the problem of averages - on average every human has one testicle... the WhoScored "involvement maps" you posted show they ranged far and wide. And yes, intelligent players can make sure they don't clash and coincide.

[Worthy4England]

@W4E I don't think Crawford was lazy last night he did a lot of running. I do think he has less conviction generally than at his peak last season. But I guess he had two minders for his best period then in Bridcutt and Lowe. Now we're a bit open in midfield for me. Crawford has good delivery generally from set pieces but needs IMO to find a way to play with Sarce...from what I've seen Sarce is more effective because he's going to bag goals whereas Ali is more of a creator but is misfiring a bit. And possibly protecting himself from injury.

It's not long since past, when neither were looking at all effective, we're 9 games in and for 5 of them people were wondering how many pies Sarce was eating a week. Sarce has really stepped up in the last couple of games, surprisingly Crawford at the same time has started to look better and has stepped up too, as has our attacking build up. I blame Tutte!

[Worthy4England]

Certainly backs up the idea that Ali and Sarce are (on average) in similar positions, and I still wonder if it'd be better if they roughly sliced the pitch in half vertically - Ali takes the left (and combines with Brocky), Sarce the right (with Peter K). Surely less running.

Whilst they look to be "in the same place" - what that doesn't show is that they often weren't in the same place, at the same time

Yep, that's the problem of averages - on average every human has one testicle... the WhoScored "involvement maps" you posted show they ranged far and wide. And yes, intelligent players can make sure they don't clash and coincide.

Good point, I've not proudly declared my higher number of testicles than the average for ages!

[GhostoftheBok]

What the stats show is how Evatt has tweaked his system to offer us a bit more solidity. Sacrificing his usual rotating midfield 3 to allow for a shielding midfielder in front of his centre backs was a good move and has helped us a lot. All the options we have for that role have flaws, but they are all better than not having that cover to prevent pressure on the defence.

The "in the same place" thing shows that the forward-looking two still played in a rotational system. Depending on which side of the pitch we attacked down each mid would take up various mirrored positions, meaning that we saw reasonable passing options and runs regardless of the attacking "vectors" we went with. It also means that we attacked pretty evenly, rather than obviously favouring the right as we have been previously. Given that Brockbank is far from ideal on the left side, Mascoll and Gordon should be ashamed of themselves. Both fit and being kept out of the side by a right-sided centre half. Well done to Brocky, whose attitude continues to impress.

There are lots of signs that we are gradually dragging ourselves towards being competent.

[irie Cee Bee]

Massive win. We fought and that's the big difference for me. We seemed willing to run through walls to get those 3 pts. The team is more balanced with each player bringing something different. Batiste, Santos and Dulaney were rocks. Kieso has transformed our team into an attacking threat. Brocky a new find on the left. Our midfield trio worked hard and unlike the Comley/White combination who are too similar, each one bring something different to the table. For me, we didn't lose much playing without Doyle. Arthur, comes for it, takes it and carries it forward in a dangerous manner and will pass. If only he could shoot! Fonzo.. what can I say..outstanding player.

Which leaves Crellin. Commentators said poor penalty, I say brilliant save to get down so low, so quickly from 6'9". It was a better performance from him. He is very unnerved about physicality when crosses come in, but there is a keeper in there. He will get better now that we know his weakness and can work on it in training. I am impressed with his quick distribution with hands and feet. Pity he is not ours.

The Manager is getting things together restoring some confidence in him. Lets now go on an unbeaten run. The players now seem to be willing to fight! If they continue to do so each game, there is hope that its not too late to get into the top six by season end.