Written by Jason McKeown (images John Dewhirst)

Stephen Humphrys does not look like an easy player to manage. That’s not a reflection of his attitude or behaviour, but of how best to harness a forward with unconventional strengths – especially within a structured Bradford City system.

You can imagine Humphrys has occupied more of Graham Alexander’s thinking than most of the squad he has assembled. Is Humphrys an effective centre-forward, or better out wide? And if it’s the latter, does that fit the overall set-up, and allow the manager to maximise the other talent at his disposal? The evidence has rarely been conclusive. Getting the very best out of Humphrys has tended to be fleeting.

And perhaps that’s on the player as much as the manager. Humphrys is 28. Bradford City are already his ninth different club (plus he’s had two spells at Rochdale). The longest he has spent anywhere is three seasons at Wigan. Although even then, his second year saw him loaned to Hearts. The most league starts he’s made for a single club is just 36 (again at Wigan, where he also made 42 sub appearances). Humphrys’ nomadic history suggests he struggles to find a true home, and he might not see out the two-year deal he signed at Valley Parade last summer.

There’s no question Humphrys has a big impact at the clubs he’s turned out for. We saw that first-hand back in January 2019, when Humphrys marked his Southend debut with a spectacular brace in a 4-0 win at Valley Parade. And yet, there’s a familiar pattern of the player struggling to consistently unlock his ceiling potential. Despite that explosive start, he scored only three more league goals for Southend that season.

Humphrys remains something of an enigma. Last season, he was an underachieving striker at Barnsley, with just four goals from 36 appearances. Then suddenly, he was a flourishing wide player at Barnsley, ending the season with five goals in five games in his new position.

And yet, Graham Alexander signed him as a striker.

Humphrys the number 9

We recently explored what Alexander wants from the central striker of his 3-4-3. The role is clear: act as a target in transition, compete physically for long balls, and disrupt defenders to bring second balls into play. Press, press, press. It demands pace, athleticism and movement.

These are all boxes Humphrys ticks. Physically strong, quick and intelligent, he has the attributes to lead the line. As a bonus, he’s what you call a False 9. That means a striker who will drop back from a high attacking position into midfield or wide areas, with the aim of dragging centre backs out of position to create space for others.

It’s a new dynamic in City’s attacking play this season, a clear evolution from the likes of Andy Cook and Calum Kavanagh. It complements the playmaking strengths of Antoni Sarcevic and Bobby Pointon, who thrive when others link closely with them and are adept at making runs into the box – taking advantage of the space Humphrys creates. There is a compelling argument that the very best version of Bradford City this season has Sarcevic and Pointon wide forwards, and Humphrys through the middle.

With City’s system spreading goals across the team, the fact Humphrys is not a prolific scorer is not necessarily an issue. Humphrys typically averages 9-12 goals a season; he has nine for City so far this campaign, broadly in line with expectations.

And at times it’s looked very promising. On the opening day against Wycombe, he led the line superbly and was unlucky not to score on his debut – prompting Alexander to describe him as “unplayable”.

On other occasions, the fit has been less convincing. He does not always dominate aerially, can struggle with limited space, and has found it difficult to nail down a consistent place – at times behind Will Swan, and later Kayden Jackson and Ethan Wheatley.

After scoring the Good Friday winner over Northampton, Humphrys even admitted he found running the channels “boring”. There have also been spells where he has drifted out of games and faced accusations of looking disinterested.

If the very best version of Bradford City features Humphrys up front, he’s possibly also part of the very worst version of Bradford City this season. That is when the team resorts to hoofing it forward, often after wing-backs have been doubled up and central midfield has been overrun.

Humphrys is not a conventional target man who can consistently win headers or hold the ball up. When City retreat into that more direct approach, he becomes ineffective – and, somewhat inevitably, the focus of an agitated crowd.

That’s why Alexander tried deploying Wheatley up top instead. If the 19-year-old had built on his early promise with goals and confidence, City might look a very different side now, and Humphrys may not be starting. But as Wheatley’s form dipped, Humphrys was handed another chance through the middle, before injuries disrupted everything.

He remains the best of a mixed group of performers at centre-forward. And when City play in a way that suits his more fluid, link-up strengths, they look a far more cohesive side.

Humphrys the wide player

For the first half of the season, Humphrys either played through the middle or not at all. But there were moments when he drifted wide and offered a glimpse of something different.

Against Wimbledon in August, with City trailing 2-1, he picked the ball up out wide, beat his man and delivered a low cross that Pointon converted. Away at Plymouth in December, he again moved wide, drove into the box and won the penalty that Sarcevic converted for the game’s only goal.

The question persisted. Would he be better out wide?

Alexander, however, was clear. Over the summer, he told Humphrys he saw his future down the middle, and that Bradford City would help him unlock that potential. It was a key factor in the player choosing the club.

Like a rock band ditching guitars for an experimental record, Humphrys was trying to be something different. The problem was his new audience still wanted the hits.

During the second half of the season, we got treated to hints of the potential of Humphrys the wide player. A February cameo at Wimbledon brought a goal from out wide. A month later, against Leyton Orient, he produced one of the assists of the season on the wing – weighting the ball brilliantly for Sarcevic to score. It was all very tantalising.

But they were only glimpses. A peep of sunlight through heavy cloud. Alexander was reluctant to trust him there from the start, citing concerns over defensive work and physical output. It always came back to the demands of the system.

Humphrys was not seen as the answer.

That began to shift more recently. Starting wide at Barnsley, Humphrys set up Nick Powell’s equaliser at Oakwell. Three days later, he created Will Swan’s goal in a 1-1 draw with Plymouth, again producing a moment of real quality from the flank. On Saturday against Bolton, the system was changed to 4-2-3-1 which put Humphrys on the left wing.

And yet, for all this recent end product, something still feels missing.

Why it doesn’t quite work

The race for Bradford City’s player of the season is wide open, but Pointon and Sarcevic are central to the conversation. Both have excelled in the wide forward roles, driving the team’s attacking play. They are wide forwards but not true wide players. They do not play on the touchline. They do not get chalk on their boots.

Wing-backs are equally critical. Ibou Touray, Josh Neufville and Tyreik Wright have all had spells of strong form, providing the width that underpins the 3-4-3 system.

And that is where the challenge lies for Humphrys.

He may be at his best out wide – but City do not play with traditional wingers. Their width comes from wing-backs, while the wide forwards operate inside, linking play and combining in tight spaces.

No one at the club performs those roles better than Pointon and Sarcevic.

Humphrys included.

With recent injuries to Pointon and Sarcevic opening the door for Humphrys to play wide in the last few games, the limitations have been evident. On the left, he has not linked play as effectively as Pointon. His movement has not consistently supported Touray, leaving the wing-back isolated. Midfielders have struggled to find him, and the central striker has often been left disconnected.

These are not solely his failings – but they underline the issue.

What’s interesting is that, in the Barnsley and Plymouth games, City were losing and Alexander made significant tactical shuffles that put Humphrys into a truer wide position, chiefly because wing backs were abandoned for a flat back four. In a 4-1-4-1 set-up at Barnsley and 4-2-4 against Plymouth, Humphrys became a touchline hugging winger. And, wow, did he thrive.

Change the system to suit him, and the results can be spectacular.

But that raises a bigger question.

The team vs player dilemma

The Bolton game saw a shift of formation that was partly due to injuries and finding a way to combat the visitors’ obvious strengths out wide. It was a massive opportunity for Humphrys to prove he could play on the left wing, but ultimately he didn’t take it. There was some flashes of really good play and exciting dribbling, undermined by poor decision-making. Sadly, he didn’t offer enough to put a compelling argument forward that the team set-up should be changed to let him play this role.

Even if he had, it’s unlikely Alexander was going fully abandon the 3-4-3 that has served Bradford City so well for 18 months. He’s built the squad to play a certain way, and when everyone’s fit and firing it’s mightily effective. Exhibit A: promotion last season. Exhibit B: the current League One table.

Which leaves Humphrys in a difficult position. He may be most effective out wide, but less so in 3-4-3 a system. He lacks the link-up play of Pointon and Sarcevic. He’s brilliant, but individualistically brilliant.

Of course, it could work. But it would require that shift in shape. The 4-2-3-1 or a 4-1-4-1, perhaps, with a full-back providing cover behind a wide-left Humphrys. But with everyone fit, that likely means no place for Pointon and Sarcevic. And who plays on the right wing? And who leads the line?

Finding a role for Humphrys as a wide forward in this set up is difficult.

Not without making the rest of the team less effective.

Which brings us back to Humphrys the number 9

Recent team performances have made it clearer why Alexander persisted with Humphrys through the middle. The attributes are there for him to succeed at it. The attitude is largely sound. He has contributed, and overall his season has been solid. His has 10 league goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) which is the third-highest of the City squad (Pointon and Sarcevic have 13 goal contributions, made up of 10 goals and three assists each).

And yet, like Radiohead’s Kid A era, Humphrys tries to become something new while the audience still craves Creep on repeat.[i] The version of him that felt simplest and most effective.

Ultimately, Humphrys’ best position may be one this system does not fully accommodate. And unless Alexander has reason to move away from what has brought City success, the forward risks becoming exactly what he has been elsewhere: effective on his day, but never fully settled.

[i] Personally I love the Kid A album, but I also love Creep, which probably tells you everything about my indecision over Humphrys’ best position.

Categories: Opinion, Uncategorized

Tags: BCAFC, Stephen Humphrys