By Adam Raj

This was a game that was lost before the first whistle. Collective disappointment and groans could be heard in both South London and West Yorkshire when the delayed team news got released. Five changes, none of which enforced and key men “rested” following two fantastic results and performances over the last week was certainly not what anyone would’ve wanted.

Optimism turned into pessimism. And they were right.

This was a dreadful City display, in which the first half recorded straight zeros across the board. Zero shots, zero shots on target, zero corners and zero touches in the opposition box. A performance that was worse than many of us anticipated.

Alexander’s five changes included bringing in Louie Sibley, Ciaran Kelly, Paul Mullin, Ibou Touray and Kayden Jackson.

Touray and Jackson’s return to the lineup were understandable given their influence and position in the squad. The others, less so.

Kelly and Sibley have been out in the cold for weeks, the latter not even making a squad since 24th January – six games ago.  Kelly seems to be wheeled out once in a blue moon to play against the ‘direct’ sides in the division – a move that worked well against Lincoln and Stevenage earlier in the season, but the Irishman’s last three starts have seen us concede three goals in each game. Not a good look, but how are players who feature once every six weeks meant to be match sharp and capable of performing to the levels required?

Arguably more concerning than the players who came in, were the players left out. Antoni Sarcevic, Aden Baldwin and Bobby Pointon benched, Tyreik Wright not even in the squad. No injuries, just ‘rotation’ according to Graham Alexander. Whilst I appreciate Sarcevic’s injury history, the statistics for when he starts/when he doesn’t are stark. If he’s available, he has to start.

City’s late arrival at the Cherry Red Records Stadium due to traffic meant kick off was delayed by half an hour. Whether that played any part in the performance is unknown although to Alexander’s credit, he dismissed the suggestion.

And whilst eleven men lined up in pink, City’s display looked like the Bantams were still very much on the bus. They found themselves behind after just eleven minutes as James Tilley’s cross from the right corner of the box went all the way in. Curtis Tilt seemed to pull his head away, leaving Sam Walker with no chance. What Tilt was thinking was anyone’s guess.

City could not deal with Wimbledon’s physicality. They lost too many duels. Midfield was too weak and they picked up very few second balls. Marcus Browne got the ball down and got the hosts playing, whilst Alistair Smith was the physically dominant midfielder who City could not compete with.

City had lined up initially in a 3-5-2 with Sibley in Central midfield. The on loan Oxford midfielder looked like a fish out of water, with no idea as to what was expected of him. Consistently out of position off the ball and contributing nothing on it. It was no surprise to see Alexander signal to Walker to go down for a tactical time-out. What followed was a return to a 3-4-3 but with no change of performance.

Wimbledon continued to dominate, and City were chasing shadows. When they did get the ball, it was a thoughtless lump forward to absolutely nobody, each met with a series of groans in the away end. There was no intention to get the ball down and play football.

A bad first half became even worse as the hosts doubled their lead just before half time. City had been caught up field from their own free kick when Myles Hippolyte took a quick throw to set Browne away and the midfielder made no mistake with the finish.

Lee Evans was covering for Tilt and Pennington who were still making their way back but had no idea where Browne was. Kelly was marking fresh air and failed to come across to cover and ultimately lacked the pace to keep up with the goalscorer. Bad all round.

Rather unsurprisingly a double change followed at half time. Pointon and Baldwin came on for Sibley and Tilt.

By that point, it was too late. The damage was done. Wimbledon, with only one home win since October were full of confidence and fully in control. There was not really any belief that City would work their way back into the game – they have failed to get any points from losing positions since October.

Just after the hour mark, Wimbledon made doubly sure of the three points. Tilley’s short corner was poorly cleared back into his path by Evans and Matt Stevens was on hand to cleverly flick in the hosts’ third of the afternoon.

Ethan Wheatley and Steven Humphrys were then introduced for Jackson and Mullin. Humphrys getting his first minutes as a City player on the left wing, probably going slightly under the radar given the circumstances. But Humphrys was City’s only bright spark on an otherwise miserable afternoon.

The number eleven had a care-free attitude as always and wasn’t scared to try things, take a risk and have a shot at goal. His consolation goal was a fine individual move, skipping past three players and striking low in the bottom corner. But it was too little too late.

Alexander wasn’t really having it in his post match interview – emphasising the necessity to make changes with eleven games in 44 days and the impossibility to name the same side week to week.

But let’s look at the stats over the last eight League One games:

Cardiff City – 17 different players used in the starting XI with 14 changes across those eight games.

Lincoln City – 14 different players used in the starting XI with 6 changes across those eight games. As a bonus stat, Lincoln City named the same side six games on the bounce in this period, winning four and drawing two.

Bradford City – 23 different players used in the starting XI with 20 changes across those eight games.

City’s ‘rotation’ is disproportionately heavier than the two best sides in this division. Two sides with greater budgets and greater squads than Bradford City, but choosing continuity in their team selections.

Alexander’s trust in his squad players and judgement of their ability is misguided. He cannot afford to leave his best centre half and best two attackers on the bench, especially when his captain is also unavailable. The Bantams do not boast a squad talented enough to cope without those four players at once.

I would’ve thought Alexander would have learnt from a similarly silly team selection at Mansfield where City were on the end of another heavy defeat. But whilst his obsession with rotation has won on this occasion, he must learn from this.

Play your best team, appreciate some players are indispensable and appreciate some players just aren’t good enough.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2025/26, AFC Wimbledon, BCAFC, League One