Written by Lee Pasquariello

More Concerns as city lose three in a row

The last few games have been deeply concerning for Bradford City. Out of the last 5 games, 1 win, 4 losses. 3 points out of a possible 15. Form that is nowhere near good enough for a team that are supposedly fighting at the top end of the table, and watching the team crumble away from home against yet another promotion rival makes the overall feeling of frustration even worse. 

Team selection and a first half shambles 

The biggest issue right now is the quality up front, like I said yesterday. It’s clear and obvious to see, and seeing the team news tonight gave me a great deal of concern. Once again, Stephen Humphrys was playing up front on his own, and Calum Kavanagh the only recognised striker on the bench, and not having many attacking options on the bench didn’t fill anyone with any confidence whatsoever. 

We didn’t start this game well at all, and conceded the first goal in the 9th minute through Freddie Draper, and the goal was completely avoidable. A free kick came in from the left side and Draper found a totally free header to head it in. I definitely got the feeling that this would be a long night. 

It was easy to see the Lincoln team grow in confidence after the opener as they tried to extend their lead, and on another day it could have been 2 or 3-0 early on. The best chance for me was ex Doncaster man Rob Street coming pretty close around the half hour mark with a shot just past the bottom right corner. Street also came closer a few minutes after this, with a header that went just over the bar. 

You would think that after the Lincoln press and missed chances the City team would be more fired up, but once again we couldn’t get going, and were miles away. For example we were failing to do the basics right and were second to every single ball, so it wasn’t really a surprise when winger Jack Moylan made it 2-0 in the 41st minute. 

There wasn’t a single positive to note in the first half display for City. We were second best in every single part of the pitch, and should have been behind further. It was a thoroughly embarrassing display for a team that wants to be up there. 

The second half- changes made but more of the same 

Looking to change things up, Graham Alexander made a change at half time, bringing on Calum Kavanagh for Tyreik Wright. However, things were still somewhat the same, as we were still misplacing passes and our defenders were constantly hoofing it aimlessly.

What’s been going on with the tactics recently I dont know, but the last few weeks we haven’t looked the same team. For example the high press and fast starts that brought us some great early results, such as wins against Cardiff, Luton and Stockport, seems to have been replaced by a team that are slower, and too reliant on a long ball to strikers who never have been or never will be target men, something I pointed out yesterday. 

Lincoln on the other hand in the second half looked really comfortable all over the pitch. In fact, I can only remember City having one real chance and that was from Humphrys, but the Lincoln keeper got down to save it easily and put it out for a corner. 

The game was well and truly done and dusted on the 86th minute when Ben House scored his third of the season. It was actually a similar goal to the first, a cross would come in, and he would be completely free to head it in, meaning the entire night for City’s defence was a complete shambles. 

Fair play to Lincoln though as they thoroughly deserved this win. They were all over City right from the first minute, and with the way they go forward you can see exactly why they’re up there, and I feel they will be a very dangerous team in this promotion race. 

Opinion and final thoughts

Overall, 3 points from 15 is nowhere near good enough for a team that wants to be promoted this season and is currently sitting in 5th place. 

In my opinion, Graham Alexander needs to immediately return to the intense high press that brought us some great success earlier in the season, and to stop the team from going long at every single opportunity. Watching this team launch balls to no one a lot of the time gets us nowhere. In fact, we actually lose possession a lot of the time because when we do go long, there is no one to win the ball or hold it up.

With 7 days until transfer deadline day at the time of writing, it has to be the absolute number 1 priority to sign a goal scorer. If we do not do that then I really worry how this team will get on until the end of the season with such little options up front.