Bradford City philosophy clear from first team to academy

You are far more likely to hear the term used in a footballing sense nowadays.

You may be a student of Pep Guardiola’s ‘Tiki-Taka’ which led to his Barcelona team arguably becoming the greatest club side in history.

Perhaps you’re a loyal disciple of Jurgen Klopp’s ‘Gegenpressing’, which turned Liverpool from a fading domestic force into Champions League and Premier League winners in less than five years.

Or you could simply prefer the high line, full throttle and vibes of ‘Angeball’ at Tottenham.

But having a philosophy is not just the domain of top teams any more.

Mark Bower and Danny Whitaker have both talked in the past about the need to implement a quick passing at Bradford (Park Avenue), across every age group.

That makes sense, as all of their teams play on the artificial pitch at Horsfall Stadium, which lends itself to slick build up play along the ground.

Bradford City do not have that luxury, and their Valley Parade pitch, especially during the gruelling winter months, can be unpredictable at best, and borderline-unplayable at worst.

But current first-team boss Graham Alexander established a clear plan midway through his second game in charge last November, and it was interesting to see the club’s scholars follow that to a tee at Horsfall on Tuesday night.

City’s boys beating Avenue’s men 3-0 was an eye-catching result by itself, but it was the way in which they managed to reclaim the Tom Banks Memorial Trophy that really stood out.

From the moment Bilal Hussain came inches away from hassling Avenue keeper Craig Ellison into losing the ball and gifting the visitors the opening goal after only five minutes, it was clear that the young Bantams had come to press.

Starting from the front with Hussain and his fellow forward Kieron Mboma, backed up by widemen Joel Martin and Mahmoud Mohamed, City’s front four did not give the home defence a moment’s peace.

City's fab front four celebrate the opening goal on Tuesday night against Bradford (Park Avenue). (Image: Tom Pearson.)

It brought back vivid memories of my trip to Meadow Lane last season, where the Bantams produced a ragged, error-strewn, confused display in the first half to trail Notts County 4-0 at the break.

Having already lost his opening game in charge at home to Barrow then overseeing that 45-minute debacle in the East Midlands, manager Alexander was threatening to come under pressure even earlier than by City’s usual standards over the last six years.

The formation change to a 3-5-2 at the interval that day received a lot of attention, especially as it soon became clear that the set-up was there to stay, but it was not just the sight of Brad Halliday and Lewis Richards flying down the flanks which caught the eye.

City’s pressing was genuinely a sight to behold, led by the tireless Halliday and Alex Gilliead, and if you squinted enough from the stands in the second half that day, you could have confused the players with Klopp’s greatest iteration between 2018 and 2020.

Notts County did not have time to breathe, and were just caught by wave after wave of City attacks, often coming about as a result of the hosts being hassled into ceding possession inside their own half.

It is a philosophy Alexander prides himself on, even if it has never quite been as dramatically on display as it was that day in Nottingham.

It requires incredible energy levels to pull it off effectively, so it is no surprise that Alexander prides himself on high-intensity pre-season training camps like the one City have just returned from in Austria.

By putting in that exhausting graft now, the Bantams should have the fitness to effectively execute that style of play by the time they visit MK Dons on the opening day of the new League Two season on August 10.

It is one thing to harass your opponents into gifting you possession, but what City did so well at Notts County last November was fashion great chances straight off the back of that.

Graham Alexander talks tactics on the sidelines at Meadow Lane last November, in the quintessential game of two halves. (Image: PA.)

And the scholars showed how to make the ‘press and flood’ work with their glorious first goal at Horsfall on Tuesday.

They won the ball on halfway, fed it wide to left-back Lewis Boney, he slipped in Martin down the line, whose low drilled ball across was turned home by Hussain, all in the space of a few seconds.

It was interesting to hear academy coach Matt Maslak tell the T&A after the game that he had no issue with his players getting it wrong at times.

That applied to their playing out from the back mantra, with Franklin Denison and keeper George Lord both caught in possession in extremely dangerous positions in the first half and lucky not to concede.

It also applied to the press, as Avenue posed a threat on more than one counter-attack or when the visitors found themselves short at the back when they were broken through after pushing up.

But these scholars all have one ultimate goal at City, to get into the first team, and if the pressing philosophy is the name of the game for Alexander, it makes sense to implement that at every age group.

Better to get it wrong now than in the 2030 Championship play-off final ey?