Minority Report - Bradford City

Usually I focus on the systems in these reports. However, since my last report, I have tried to select my own teams, from the available players, in 5 different formations and I have found myself 3 players short for each formation. When a manager is short of players, the first thing to do is find a system that best suits the available players and their mix of skills. If the first solution fails, the second thing he does is start filling round holes with square pegs. Given that I can find only 8 players to fit any given formation, I am forced to conclude that the team today contained three square pegs.
We began the game in a 4-5-1 formation (or 4-1-4-1 for those who like that extra line of players in the middle of the park). Pearson started as the defensive midfield player but his inability to control the ball and move it forward quickly resulted in him and Scowen exchanging positions half way through the first half, with no great improvement, it has to be said. The problem as I saw it was that it was taking upwards of 8 passes to get the ball out of our half. By this time the City defence was set and ready. They were quite happy to play us on the break, quite happy to wait for a mistake, and it was Scowen who eventually made it. Nevertheless, we were caught on 2 or 3 occasions by City breaks when they outnumbered us 4 to 3. It is credit to our excellent central defenders and also to very poor finishing that we retained our clean sheet. However, it must be said that the City system worked far better than ours.
At the start of the second half we stayed with 4-5-1, but now it was arranged as 4-4-1-1 with Crowley just behind Winnall. Unfortunately, Crowley saw less of the ball in the second half and was even less effective than he had been in the first half. Crowley might have the potential to be a good player, but today we saw why he is gaining experience in the third tier rather than the second. His decision-making is still very poor. He always tries to beat one player too many or pass the ball once too often. He is here to learn of course, but it might be time to give him a rest to let him think about it.
Harris’ introduction brought early promise as he beat the City full back to the outside and crossed dangerously, but he soon faded out of the game leaving decisions about his potential for another day. Even though Pearson was not at his best and was the one most responsible for the slow transference of the ball forward, I was still surprised that he was the one to make way first (my choice would have been Crowley) and it was this decision that led to Wilkinson replacing Winnall rather than Hourihane later in the half.
So who were the square pegs today?
Well, I have never been a fan of playing centre backs at full back. Defensively they are fine, but attacks are built from the back and part of the reason our build up play was so lethargic was that it was routed via Nyatanga. In fairness, as the game wore on Wabara tired and he too became ineffective going forward. I guess that we will see Bree restored to full back on Wednesday after having a rest.
However, I did not chose Nyatanga or Wabara at full back when I picked a 4-5-1 team and I was still three players short. No, the square pegs are on both wings and at striker. The 4-5-1 system is supposed to become 4-3-3 when in possession and Crowley and Watkins are not able to do the work load needed up and down the wings. There is even a doubt in my mind whether either is a winger in the true sense of the meaning. Neither can beat a full back to the outside and cross from near the goal line.
However, both are ideally suited in comparison to Winnall playing as a solo forward. He shows absolutely no aptitude for the role and I said the same when Danny Wilson tried him there last season. It is important that the front player maintains his position on the shoulder of the two centre backs because by doing so he creates space that others can use which otherwise becomes condensed. I grew very frustrated as Winnall constantly went in search of the ball, dropping deeper and deeper into an already congested midfield and leaving no target up front in the position that he should have been occupying. I accept that it is very frustrating for a player like Winnall who wants to be involved all the time, and in fairness, Wilkinson was no better when he came on, but it is a sacrifice that a genuine targetman is willing to make.
I must confess that I was expecting us to go to 4-4-2 when I saw Wilkinson on the touchline and I spent a few moments wondering why it had not happened when he replaced Winnall to stay at 4-5-1. The only thing that I could come up with was that replacing Crowley with Wilkinson would have left Hourihane in the centre of a four man midfield, and Johnson, like me is not confident of Hourihane’s defensive abilities in that formation. And of course Crowley at the heart of a defensive midfield structure is what keeps managers awake at night.
To summarise, without further additions, particularly up front, this team will struggle to score goals at home, when teams set up to attack us on the break.

 

I get frustrated at the fact we've some incredibly talented midfielders and a great forward in Winnall but they never seem to attack as a unit. Winnall has to come short every time for the ball and then has no-one to turn and pass to because no-one's overlapped and there isn't another forward wanting the ball from him. And he obviously can't shoot as he's just had to turn and move away from goal to receive the ball. In summary: play two up front and get Hourihane/Crowley/Scowen to overlap from time to time. Also maybe think about shooting every now and again.

 

Good read. I couldn't go yesterday but I trust your report far more than than anything else I've read on here.

 

Good report.

Far too much is being asked of Winnall. We can't honestly expect our lone striker to both bring others into play as well as score goals. There was a discussion on football heaven similar last night, as a Wednesday fan was slating their striker Nuhiu (or Nayooee as they all seem to call him?). There was one particular fan saying that he needed dropping cos although he's a good player for holding the ball up and bringing the midfield into play, he doesn't score goals and that is a strikers job. As Rob Staton (I think it was) pointed out, unless you sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic, you're going to struggle to find a lone striker that does both. We either need more goals from midfield or start playing with two strikers which would mean dropping Hourihane.

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Good points but re Pearson moving the ball slowly; it is hard to move it quickly when there is no movement in front of you...

 

Some very good observations and comments.
Think we can see that houihane as good as he is .....is truly more effective in 5 man midfield.
The reds midfield movement at times made Bradford looked very clumbersome and laboured but we didn't elaborate the advantage and Bradford muscled their way into the match.
They were very lucky to finish the 1st half with 11 men but even so thought we were bright in patches and agree with most of your comments.
Like last season Bradford represent 90% of the teams in this division teams...we need effective ways to do that and I'm sure we will but we need to utilise the better players we have into a more effective unit.

 

I have read the contributions of many other posters since I made my original post. The general consensus is that the game was boring and that the reason was that we were playing a lone striker/targetman.

Some of the best football in the Premier League is played at Arsenal, who always play one up top. Sometimes that player is Giroud, who could be classed as a targetman in the traditional sense, but at other times it is Walcott, who is definitely not. They do not have wide players who attack the full backs either. A second team who I love to watch is Manchester City. Although they are not as rigid in their use of the 4-5-1 system, it is not unusual to see Aguero up top on his own. The system can produce lots of goals and it can produce very entertaining football.

Others have countered this argument by saying that the Premiership has a better quality of midfield player. It also has a better quality of defender and defensive systems. This does not explain why the system can be entertaining in the Premier League but not in the 3rd tier.

The system tends to be used by the better teams because it offers more control in midfield where it places more players closer to the centre of the action. In this way a team playing 4-5-1 playing against a team playing 4-4-2 would dominate possession. It is still possible to win games without dominating possession, but it is less likely.

So why is it not working at Barnsley?

First of all, the players are still getting used to each other. They played 3-5-2 throughout preseason and for a match and a half of the season proper. Patience is required whilst they come to terms with each other, and the system.

Secondly, as I pointed out in my opening post, we are three players short of a first team eleven if we are to play any system. Would 4-4-2 have worked with Winnall and Wilkinson up top and just four in midfield. We will never know of course, but I can think of a couple of reasons why it would not, but suffice it to say that we are 3 players short of an effective team in that formation and at least one of the players that I would use had been substituted earlier.

As my examples of Arsenal and Manchester City show, it is not absolutely necessary to have a big man up front to play 4-5-1. Both those teams play entertaining and positive football using pace, movement and accurate passing ability. At the moment, all Barnsley lack is pace, movement and accurate passing ability to be as effective as Arsenal. Better movement and passing will come as understanding develops as the players play more games together, but pace is a rarity in the lower divisions.

The question is, should the manager abandon his attempts to get the players playing in the right way, sign a 6 foot 5 centre forward and knock the ball from back to front with the midfield hoping to pick up rebounds and knock downs. Or should he persevere, hope to sign the missing 3 players, and try to develop an understanding. I guess the answer to that question depends upon the individual. For the fans, it is a matter of patience and belief in the manager in spite of the evidence to the contrary. I know that changing the manager costs a fortune, because not only do you have to change the manager, you have to change his staff and most of the players. It has not worked in the past, and the odds are firmly stacked against it working the next time that we try it. A far better policy would be that we give this guy time to work through the problems. The answer, as always, is patience.

 

You are right that the key is patience but in some respects a team cannot be built as any player that is good enough to make us effective in the terms you say we need to be effective will be hard to hold on to and we have to build again. The only antidote is promotion where we may keep better players.

 

I'm currently on holiday so your match report and the post report post comment summary are a real bonus. As always, very insightful. A pleasure to read and whilst not always agreeing with your opinion, it provokes much thought.
It does seems that many agree with your opinion of the match. However, what is more important is that many more start to agree with the philosophy which demands we show more patience. Less of the "we want it and we want it now".
I still maintain my view that the modern day footballer (indeed any professional footballer....modern day or otherwise) should be able to play in different formations, but I take your point on maybe us being 3 short. I totally agree with your view on Sam Winnall also.
Personally I would like to see a 3412 with the wing backs operating as proper up and down the touch line wing backs; and btw your comments re the promotion winning 532 formation are noted, understood and well made. I think if he stuck by the 352 aka 532 aka 3412 (you decide whether the lines are needed ) then we could progress with this squad.
Pace movement and passing accuracy! A touch of humour also. Oh to be a league 1 Arsenal! Could be that LJ is aspiring to that very same thing. From what I have seen so far I am impressed by the hunger and commitment of the players. At times we have demonstrated the attributes you refer to. I have been accused of happy clapping but I prefer to think of myself as an optimist who has faith in the current set up to re-install some pride and confidence in the club. After all the essence of supporting a club is dreaming that we can be successful and entertaining and winning.
The point of this post is to state that I am with you 100% on the most important thing at the minute for our club.
PATIENCE IS KEY.
Font size 72 in bold.

 

But other than that, it is working a treat!

 

Hourihane finally on the edge of their box in the 2nd half, refusing to shoot, summed it up for me yesterday. Tried walking it in all game. Oh and play him behind Winnall, not just in front of the back 4. It's not rocket science, LJ is over complicating a very simple game.

 

Top contributions as always RR and fair play for having the patience to read some of the less analytical views posted on here.
I think you've pretty much nailed it and I agree that patience is the key. I'm convinced that we have better players than most sides in this division and that they'll grow into a winning, and at the same time, entertaining system.

 

Thank-you for your kind comments. The purpose of my postings is as you say, " to provoke much thought". I do not count myself as an expert, and indeed on the rare occasions that I come into contact with ex-professionals, I cannot get enough of their experience and insight. They see things that I do not and I learn something from each conversation. As many have said before me, the game is all about opinions.

 

I'll add my thanks to those previously offered. Like some on here, I enjoy reading lucid, well thought out contributions but, as it is a board for everyone, it is impossible to get everyone thinking (or writing) the same way - no reason why we should of course!

Many have said they were bored yesterday. Maybe some of those belong to the Playstation Generation who, unless something is happening RIGHT NOW, will switch to another game. Well, all I can say about that is that if you expect to be excited and entertained for most of a football match then you're following the wrong sport. Maybe try basketball - they "score" every ten seconds or so, don't they?

There was some terrific football played yesterday - really skillful passing of the ball and there were a few attempts on goal as well. Not as many as there should have been, but to say it was a "boring game" makes no sense. It ebbed and flowed, there was plenty of Yorkshire derby aggression in there and a pantomime villain with the whistle to add to all that.

I don't expect everybody to agree with you, or me, or anyone else who writes more than one sentence and uses punctuation and paragraphs. I don't even expect everyone to read every word. It would be nice though if a few thousand in the crowd could show a bit of patience with what is being built. It might take all season, it might never happen. I, for one though, am prepared to give this manager and these players the time to get things right. I expect to see us winning more games than we lose this season. If that gets us in the top six then fine. If it doesn't, so what. There's always another season to look forward to.

 

It may get harder to defend the position that we should be patient and give the manager time. The team will undoubtedly go through a bad spell during the season, they all do, and this is when fan pressure mounts on the decision-makers, who sadly fail repeatedly to resist that pressure when gate revenue begins to fall. However, they seem to be spending the money a little bit more wisely this time. There is evidence that they are resisting the temptation to panic and either buy the wrong player or pay too much for the right one. Clearly, we have missed many of our targets and the team is not as strong as we had all hoped, but frankly, I would prefer that we got it right, even if it takes us 3 or 4 transfer windows to put a team together. The alternative is to pay off another handful of players before the end of their contracts because they have not been good enough. Patience is the key.

 

Red Rain and The Prince.
Two of my favourite contributors for no other reason than they think before they write. They show more objectivity than most and they offer constructive criticism. They want the club to rebuild on solid foundations and are willing to place trust and faith in the current set up on condition that we, ultimately, perform in an entertaining fashion. I believe they recognise that some weeks we will win, some weeks we will lose and some weeks we will draw. Supporting a football club is having the patience to stick with it.
Don't know why I'm posting this really. Just sat here thinking about the fact that the above views might be considered old fashioned these days because we are prepared to wait for any success which might come our away. Having seen the Reds play Workington Town with about 1700 other fans I, for one am prepared to see this one through.
Keep on keeping on. Play that funky football LJ.

 

fair comments, but I don't see why just because you had a big bloke up front you would naturally resort to just hitting long balls from the back, you could still work the ball forward and having done so have an extra target to concern the defence

 

Thanks 55- much appreciated. Some would say I don't always think before I write, but I try to and I do have plenty of years behind me following this crazy obsession we call Barnsley Football Club.

I think I might have even been in a lower crowd than that at Oakwell - my scrapbooks are packed away at the moment so I can't check! The point is well made though. Those who have only been going to Oakwell since that famous day in 1997, many much more recently of course, will have no idea of the concept of PROPER suffering!

At the risk of sounding like one of "The Four Yorkshiremen", they are LUCKY!!

When I were a lad we used to shuffle up t'shale covered car park, not really looking forward to t'match. Even if it were a big derby, like Halifax Town or somebody, you knew things were going to go badly. That Willie Carlin feller was always turning us inside out (imagine a 1960s version of Josh Scowen). Always a great feeling when we could beat teams like that, or Lincoln, or Carlisle, or Workington Town. Then we could shuffle back home, always raining, up Oakwell Lane, thinking about t'next match. Bliss!

Eeehh, ther dunt know ther born!!

 

I think that the difference in attitudes arises from expectations, and expectations are dependent upon when you started watching, and what your initial experience was.

I started watching BFC seriously from our first season in the 4th division. The season after, we were rock bottom of the league after a poor start and attendances fell to less than 2000. We were rescued by Ernst Dennis and Geoff Buckle, who invested their own money to sign Barry Thomas and Johnny Evans. The path back to second tier football was not straight forward and involved a second visit to the 4th tier, but I think those early days have affected my thinking. Many say that our natural position is as a member of the 2nd tier because we have played there longer than any other team. However, my early watching experiences have conditioned me to believe that our natural position is in the 3rd tier, and I am grateful for every season we play above the 3rd tier.

However, there are many younger posters whose initial experience of things BFC was the long period that we spent in the 2nd tier following promotion under Norman Hunter. To them, the team is playing below their natural position, and it is just not good enough. I have sympathy for their position and am unwilling to pick a fight with them for their views. It is, like most things football, all about opinion.

 

I'm just ahead of you. I can remember the jubilant scenes on the pitch when we avoided relegation to the Fourth Division at the end of the last match of the season - 2nd May 1962. We beat the mighty Torquay United 4-2 and players were hoisted on supporters shoulders, and no one minded. Not a selfie in sight.
Pitch "invasion" can you believe it?

We finished 20th, one place above relegation. 18th the following year, then 20th again before finally succumbing to relegation to Division Four for the first time. I suppose I think of us as more of a Third Division club as well, along with teams like Bournemouth and the like. Years spent above that level are just a bonus for me.

All about expectations I suppose - mine are realistically lower than some