By Jason McKeown

Finding the right balance between attackingly courageous and being defensively solid is never easy. Here, in a game of few chances, was a reminder that as strong as Bradford City’s form is proving, Mark Hughes is still a few percentage points off getting that balance entirely correct.

The Bantams were characteristically tough to beat here at Walsall, picking up a fourth clean sheet in a row without any great anxiety. Harry Lewis did what Harry Lewis always does – producing two excellent saves. Matty Platt and Sam Stubbs are forging a very strong centre back partnership. Brad Halliday is in excellent form and Liam Ridehalgh has slotted back in after injury with real assurance. Just ahead of the back four, Adam Clayton is doing a sound job providing protection and setting up attacks.

But as unlikely as a Walsall goal seemed for much of the night, the same was true at the other end of the pitch. City attacked when they could, but always under the tight framework of their conservative approach. It’s a philosophy that relies on being resourceful with the infrequent occasions that sufficient bodies can get forward.

It works in the main because City have such a clinical striker. Once again, the best attacking moment of the night came from Andy Cook, who in the first half was desperately unlucky with a powerful looping header that crashed back off the crossbar. On another night, Cook’s attempt would have been a few inches lower, City would have scored and they’d have won the game. And there’s been plenty of occasions this season where that is exactly what’s happened, especially of late.

These are the small margins, and tonight they just didn’t quite go Cook and City’s way.

But when the level of your attacking risk approach is somewhat restricted, it’s putting a heavy reliance on the small margins of the limited opportunities that City create over the 90 minutes. They did not manage a single shot on target here. And over the course of the season, are averaging 11.6 attempts on goal per game – that’s only the 12th highest in the division. City are also the lowest goalscorers in the current top eight.

The question is: can Hughes shift the dial slightly without tilting the balance too far the other way, so they don’t become defensively vulnerable? After all, their goals conceded record is the joint second-best in the division, with only runaway leaders Leyton Orient shipping in fewer than City’s 29.

(And the side who are joint second with City for fewest goals conceded? Walsall. We really should have seen this 0-0 coming.)

You suspect this risk vs reward dilemma is very much in Hughes’ thoughts right now. In the second half against Colchester, he really went for it against opposition who for an hour looked the better side. The reward was those two memorable late goals and three huge points.

The Colchester success also came from the mid-game move from the diamond to a 4-2-3-1 – a switch that Hughes repeated here early in the second half, again when the opposition were getting on top. Alex Gilliead and Clayton operated as deep-lying midfielders (later swapped to substitute Ryan East and Smallwood), with Dara Costelloe moved out wide. Just like on Saturday, it had a positive effect in giving City more control. Prior to the swap, City were shading possession (52%). Over the 20 minutes that followed, this shot up to 64%.

City began the season with a diamond before Hughes quickly switched to 4-2-3-1 after a slow start. It led to improved results, before a drop off in December persuaded the manager to go back to the diamond just after Christmas. After the success of the tactical reshuffle on Saturday, and improvement to the performance at the Bescot, it must be in Hughes’ thoughts to start with it once again. Especially with Scott Banks back in his plans – it was the August arrival of the on loan Crystal Palace winger that originally prompted Hughes to move to the 4-2-3-1 (the cup game vs Hull) with encouraging results.

You can completely understand why Hughes kept with the diamond – and same XI – going into this game. City’s away form has been exceptional, with no losses on the road since Boxing Day. Yet the diamond’s limitations were unfortunately on show again here. In Richie Smallwood, Hughes doesn’t have a wide player with the capability to run at opposition players, create space for others and link up with Ridehalgh. That leaves City too unbalanced when they have possession. The trade off, as ever, is Smallwood is clearly having a positive defensive impact in this role.

With Costelloe failing to hit the heights of his performances at Doncaster and Gillingham, City couldn’t stretch the game in a way that enabled Jamie Walker to have sufficient freedom to do damage. Like Colchester on Saturday, Walsall lined up with three centre backs and they played too deep to give Costelloe room to get in behind them, whilst also denying Walker space in front. Gillingham made the mistake of giving City’s front three the freedom to link up with devastating results. Colchester and now Walsall have clearly been wiser to it.

There were chances in the first half. Aside from Cook hitting the woodwork, Walker twice found a yard of space that invited the Scot to get a shot towards goal. Both efforts flew well over the bar. For the second chance, Smallwood was in a great position and Walker really should have picked out his captain rather than gone for the shot. Again it comes down to those margins. When you don’t create a lot, the chances you fail to grasp are felt that more keenly.

As much as the early second half 4-2-3-1 shift curbed the enthusiasm of Walsall – who looked the absolute definition of a solid, mid-table League Two side – City still didn’t offer enough attacking intent. And that led to a third, and perhaps most curious of all, Hughes tactical reshuffle in the closing stages.

For despite having Harry Chapman to call on from the bench, Hughes raised everyone’s eyebrows by introducing central defender Romoney Crichlow to replace forward Costelloe.

You can’t dress this up as anything but a cautious move – or can you? Crichlow’s presence was cue to go 3-5-2, with Halliday and Ridehalgh pushed up as wing backs. And in those closing moments, City produced a small flurry of pressure that betrayed any idea they were merely trying to hold on for a 0-0.

Was Hughes experimenting here? Is this actually a more attacking approach? Hmmm.

Over the last few years of City managers trying and ultimately failing to get the attacking/defensive balance right, the most gung ho approach was Stuart McCall’s 3-5-2 of 2020/21. A style that was a direct copy of the one Chris Wilder had pioneered with great initial aplomb at Sheffield United. McCall’s 3-5-2 looked good when Reece Staunton played, but struggled badly when the ball playing centre half was injured.

Crichlow offers the qualities to make 3-5-2 work (and more than how it was used at Gillingham last week to see out a winning margin). As good a player as he is, you’re not dropping Stubbs or Platt on current form to make way for him if you stick to four at the back. So how else do you get Crichlow back in the team?

Hmmm indeed!

Ultimately, the game will be quickly forgotten. It’s a point that keeps City very much in the mix, and after three straight victories it would be wrong to be too upset that they couldn’t chalk up another win. Not at their best, City still demonstrated their overall quality. With 12 games to go, we’re up there on merit and on track for a very exciting run-in. After season upon season of watching us fall away long before this point, to be where we are right now is something to savour.

And it means the biggest area of interest, going back up the M6 to West Yorkshire, is what happens next. Will Hughes now try and get City playing with more attacking potency, perhaps sacrificing some of their solidity? Has the diamond lost its sparkle? Is it time to find a starting place for Banks – and if so, who do you sacrifice? Is the 3-5-2 a small preview of a totally different formation to come – one that might actually unlock a more effective level of balance?

It’s a tricky call to make, but it’s one that could ultimately define the Bantams season.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2022/23, BCAFC, League Two, Walsall