BFTG - Bradford

[genome]

The replay is pointless now, as according to Villa's fans they have won the FA Cup.

[urz13]

I thought we played the hoofball game reasonably well - long balls into the channel or in behind the defence which forced them to stick it out for a throw/corner etc. We should've probably put one of our few chances away and won, but I'm happy with a replay. It was great to see the desire in both sides.

Federici - 7 slowed the game down well at times.
Kelly - 6 solid defensively, helped out in attack, lost his man for Davies' header
Pearce - 8 dominant and fully committed
Hector - 8 put in some excellent challenges, didn't mess with it, very solid
Obita - 6 worked hard
Chalobah - 8 a couple of mis-kicks but I thought today was his best Reading performance
Norwood - 7 dealt with the pitch well, won lots of tackles
Williams - 6 faded in the second half
HRK - 5 did very little, sadly. I'm usually one of his big fans
Mackie - 8 tireless and relished every tackle
Pogrebynak - 8 chased everything and won many free kicks + throw ins as a result

Yak - 7
Akpan - 6 mis-kicked a great chance

Amazing atmosphere. If we can get close to it for the replay it'll give us a real boost.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Local derby or not, they've won nothing yet. Pathetic pitch invasion scenes.

Not so sure that I would want to face Villa on tonight's performance tho'

[genome]

Local derby or not, they've won nothing yet. Pathetic pitch invasion scenes.

Not so sure that I would want to face Villa on tonight's performance tho'

I would rather face them than United Liverpool or Arsenal.

Best case scenario... Beat Bradford, Blackburn in the Semi's, Villa in the final, Pearcey lifts the cup. Surely not...

[AthleticoSpizz]

I think the key thing is " on tonight's performance"

Man U's recent performances have been sterile compared to some of the play tonight

[Gunny Fishcake]

450 miles 8 hours driving and well chuffed , we're still in the cup and have a wonderful chance to reach the semi at Wembley, it was like Sunday league game but I was very proud of my team today , we fought and battled for every ball and of course it wasn't pretty but we got a result in a cauldron like atmosphere and away from home . Tremendous support from the 4500 loyal Royals and all the team put in a shift for the fans, bring on the replay

[The Goat was fed]

Just got back - funny game to call.

Overall
- We had them on the back foot without really doing much in the first half, they did the same to us in the second half.
- The pitch really was that bad. It just goes to show how important advances in pitch maintenance over the years has been for football. Completely nullifies doing anything "cute".
- That said, it was entertaining, just in a really old fashioned way. Not much quality, but full-blooded and the atmosphere was impressive before both sets of fans got a bit tense/nervous.
- MOTD did a great bit of analysis on Bradford after they beat Sunderland that demonstrated how quickly they win the ball back. That was so evident today and it's nothing special - they just put you under heaps of pressure with numbers.
- We simply don't have the players with the skill set, nor desire to do this - that must change. Remember an almost laughable scene when Mackie was running down the left surrounded by 5 maybe 6 Bradford players. I think this comes unstuck when you're playing a team who love playing quick ball, we don't - so it was highly effective.
- Draw absolutely the fair result.

Individuals
Feds 7 - commanding and assured, but didn't have to make a save all game.

Kelly 6 - Defensively sound, but offers nothing going forward. On the rare occasion Mackie did find some space, he was crowed out and Kelly has to take some responsibility for that.

Obita 6 - Sort of the opposite. Has a bad habit of almost "allowing" crosses in when the other option would be to concede a corner. Has to fix that if his future is at LB. Made some good tackles though and offered a bit going forward.

Pearce 7.5 - bit like refs, if you don't notice him - he's had a good game. Solid, had the measure of Stead - no nonsense.

Hector 6.5 - Can't slate a CB when you've not allowed a shot on target all game and got a clean sheet, but I do wish he'd stop scaring the bejesus out of us. There are times when he looks like a young Rio Ferdinand, nonchalantly dispossesing people and being athletically commanding. There are other times when he looks like old Titus Bramble. Boots made of toblerone, far too frequently misjudges the high ball. There's enough good stuff to think he could be a great player for us - as long as the "clangers" are ironed out with maturity.

Mackie 8 - perfect game for him. Right little grafter, one of the only likeable players in this overwhelmingly unlikeable set of players...and he's only on loan. Work-rate far outweighs quality, but if you're a constant pain in the opposition's bum, you are valuable and he was today.

Norwood 5 - Pitch was completely anti-Norwood's style, but even with that - he was poor. His set-pieces are consistently woeful and he just has no presence/stature in the middle. For me, he needs not one (as in Chalobah today) but two central partners who are high intensity and/or ball-winners to be effective. "Norwood bossed the middle of the park" said nobody, ever.

Chalobah 7 - If (due to pitch) we're "letting players off" with their distribution today, a 7 is fair. Broke up possession really well, was as responsible as the defenders and keeper for keeping a clean sheet today. It's no coincidence our results with either him or Akpan in the team are better than without.

Williams 6.5 - I'm never quite sure how to define him as a player, but was one of the few to show a bit of quality and play it on the deck in the first half. Worked hard with little reward in the second.

HRK - So anonymous, I can't actually give him a mark.

Pogrebnyak 7.5 - Tireless from the BFR and deserved a goal for the effort that hit the post. I'd love to know how many goals he'd have scored for us if he was playing for a team with an ounce of creativity.

CBA with subs, but I'm going to throw it out there and say that I get the impression Clarke doesn't like GMac. This is hardly Sherlock Holmes stuff, but his body language/attitude appears to have changed under Clarke and that's worrying as, on his day, he's our best player.

We have to beat Brad at the Mad or else I'll be sad.

[Ian Royal]

A lot of criticism I've seen previously of Chalobah is that he has quality but he makes stupid mistakes in possession to gift the ball away with sloppy passes. Given his much better performance, did the pitch perhaps help with that by being such poor quality he had to concentrate hard on his passing all game and didn't try anything casual as a result?

[floyd__streete]

Christ that was pretty dreadful to watch wasn't it. We defended well and would have taken a draw before kick off. Mackie's work ethic was fabulous. Good that we all got to stand up. 2 goals in 7 games is an abject effort from us. Good to see Dylan Kerr turned up to watch us, what a legend

[Davezk]

Poor game. Shame not much excitement.

Fan infront told me to stop swearing in front of his 16 year old son. Only swore twice in annoyance at aimless hoofballs that kept giving Bradford the ball.

Idiots all round.

[Kitsondinho]

Loving the fact so many of us enjoyed it today, despite the fact it was a truly awful game of football. The players really worked themselves in to the ground for the team today. I do hope the replay is a better quality game, because the few bits of football we played today caused them trouble!

[Armadillo Roadkill]

It was a dreadful game, but an enjoyable event. I'm often not too bothered about atmosphere per se, but today it really did make for an enjoyable occasion.

The groundsmen at Victoria Rec in Tilehurst are apparently celebrating tonight, as they have produced a much better playing surface than Valley Parade's. Again, I don't really give much credence to blaming the playing surface as it is always the same for both teams, but on this occasion, I would have to admit it probably hampered us more than it did them.

Pog by far and away my MOTM, although I though Obita was excellent, Kelly solid in defence, and Mackie's enthusiasm and work rate were just fantastic.

Overall, a real battle, a 400 mile round trip, a hoarse growl instead of my usual speaking voice, and the chance to go out and (maybe) win a semi final place on home turf.

[Mr.Swainey]

Great day out. Good session in the Bradford Arms, and a great following as well.

[Bob1871]

Overall a good day out! Thought our fans were quite good today, don't think there is any need to make a huge thing out of the flare, it was just some immature kids. Was some trouble downstairs during the second half with some 'lads' wanting to fight the police.

Individuals

Feds - 7 Didn't have a great deal to do but looked to have a much better control of his area from crosses than I've seen from him before. Distribution was average
Kelly - 7 Dont understand some of the flack he is getting, had to mark Hanson which he did well and made a great last ditch challenge on Stead in the second half, distribution was average but he kept it tight.
Pearce - 7 A couple of times got caught out of position but other than that was very solid, I think his whole attitude in wanting to get back on the pitch asap shows how much he wants to play
Hector - 9 Superb, looked in control on a difficult pitch. Cleared everything up and won a lot in the air.
Obita -6 Wasn't the right pitch for Jordan, a couple of time's you wanted to see him beat his man and get a cross in but it just wasn't happening for him
Mackie - 8 Was Superb in the first half down the right, he weakened when asked to play down the left in the 2nd half. He gave is all.
Norwood - 7 How anybody can expect his range of passing on that pitch needs to be sectioned. Was clean and tidy and wasn't afraid of putting his foot in.
Chalobah - 8 Did all the ugly things well, sat in front of the back 4 and cleared up and won headers. Distribution wasn't great but I think that was tactical in playing long rather than him choosing the wrong options
Williams - 8 See above for Chalobah, he showed a great change of pace a couple of times to make himself space
HRK - 1 Was a statue the whole game with a couple of pathetic dives. Not good enough and shouldn't be playing let alone starting.
Pog - 8 We know he's not blessed with a great amount of pace, but he made up for that today with his pure fight and determination.

[Z175]

Still not back but.. Not an awful game of football for me. That's what I like to see, two teams going 100%, the ball going out of the stadium, lots of punting it down field. Good first half where we looked the better side. Second half when we were defending in front of their massive half stadium was always going to be hard but we survived and even nearly won it late on... bring on the replay - but we'll need to score in the first half or go for pens.

[Winchester Royal]

Had all the vibes of a playoff game - more important not to concede than to score, a big away following at a place we'd normal take 500, two cagey teams and few chances in a game of little quality.

Having said that, to get them back at the Madejski will give us an opportunity to play football on a pitch that is in better quality than the cabbage patch today's game was played on. We just need to run at them and they'll come apart, I'm sure of it.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Lol, but as things are, they have the away advantage

[bobby1413]

I really don't get you lot on here saying rubbish game and we were awful etc. It was a monumental result. They set the pitch up for them. Their home record in the cup is amazing. Premier league clubs like Arsenal have gone there and lost. We kept a clean sheet and hit the woodwork twice. Feds really wasn't troubled apart from a cross that beat everyone. Hector and Pearce were rock steady. I just don't get you lot sometime.

This. This. This. This. This.

No part of that performance should be snubbed in my opinion. It was ugly, pretty dull to watch as a neutral or if you're a fan watching on TV.

But we got a draw at a ground with a horrible pitch, good atmosphere, who wanted to show us up like they did to the "big sides".

We have won a home reply.

[leon]

Game was pretty shite. But I didn't at any point think that we would lose.

I've slagged off Chalobah in the past but thought he was good today. Got stuck in.

The pitch was terrible.

[Esteban]

I was concerned we'd be 433 when I heard the team, but we came out as 4141. Have to give Clark a lot of credit though, he got the defensive side of the game spot on. When you consider Bradford's home record, especially in the cups, it was probably sensible to set up not to lose. I enjoyed the game, despite the poor quality.

Bradford worked so hard to close us down, Mackie and HRK had to work even harder to get into the game. Mackie achieved it, HRK didn't. He did his defensive duties ok, but we had no threat from the left.

Chalobah has his best game for us, sat in front of the defence. Given our squad and his performance in that position, I wouldn't mind seeing how we didn't in a 343 formation. Hector was excellent. Pog worked tirelessly from the first minute to the last, often chasing aimless balls thumped to no one in particular. Was unlucky to hit the post with the only moment of real quality in the match.

Best element of a dire game was the passion and commitment shown today. Steve Clark needs to get his teams showing more of that between now and the end of the season.