Bradford City experience “different test” as they play out goalless draw with Chorley

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Daniel Wales reports as Bradford City draw 0-0 with Chorley in their second pre-season outing ahead of the League One season to come.

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00:00For Bradford City, their second game in pre-season ended in a 0-0 draw against Chorley.

00:06It perhaps wasn't as positive as their first game had been against FC United of Manchester,

00:10in which they won by one goal to nil, but I think it's fair to say that for all associated with Bradford,

00:16things are still very positive in terms of their preparations going into their League One season,

00:21following their promotion at the end of last season's League Two campaign.

00:25Certainly they've done a lot of business so far during this transfer window,

00:28and I think a lot of the players are still starting to gel a little bit,

00:31certainly at the end of their previous game, Curtis Tilt, one of the new recruits,

00:35said players are starting to gel and the squad's starting to come together,

00:38but I think this game against Chorley perhaps showed that, whilst that may be true,

00:42there is still work to do as well, and I think Green Alexander, he reflected that in his post-match thoughts as well.

00:47He said it was a different sort of a test compared to what they'd had previously against FC United of Manchester.

00:53So I think for Bradford, they just need to keep going the way they're going.

00:56It's certainly not the end of pre-season yet, still a lot of work and time still to go into things

01:02before the season does get underway in mid-August, but overall they'll be happy with what they've done so far.

01:08Obviously no goals and no victory to show for it in this game,

01:11but let's not forget that pre-season isn't really about results, especially at this stage.

01:16It's about determining styles of play and gelling the team together

01:20and making sure that new signings are all bedded in to the squad.

01:25Certainly for Bradford, given the signings that they've made and the amount of signings that they've made,

01:29that'll take some time and some work to make sure that everyone is understanding of their philosophy

01:35and play and style that Green Alexander wants to implement at the club.

01:38But I think also the signings that they've made also show that they're a serious side

01:43and serious about competing well in League One next year

01:46and not just being content with surviving in England's third tier.

01:51Obviously, as I say, this game against Chorley, perhaps not the outcome they would have wanted it to be

01:55in terms of result, but as Green Alexander quite clearly pointed out at the end of the game,

02:00it was a different challenge for them, something completely new to what they'd experienced so far

02:04in their pre-season ahead of the new campaign,

02:07and one that they'll have lots of things to learn from

02:09and that there'll still be lots of work to do after it as well.

02:13Positives certainly to come, but overall for Bradford,

02:16still work in progress ahead of the new campaign.

02:21Different test for us today to last week.

02:25A lot more physical.

02:28They're a good team from...

02:29Did well last year in the National League, I thought.

02:31First half, we didn't really get our game going in either the press.

02:36There were some good bits, but there's other things that we definitely have to...

02:39improve on.

02:40I thought their front two causes too many problems for my liking,

02:44but second half, we were better.

02:47We were more aggressive.

02:48We played in their half a lot more.

02:50So there's things that we were looking at, a little bit of analysis at half-time,

02:53so there's lots to take from there to obviously sort of strengthen the ideas

02:59that we want to play, both on a positive and negative side.

03:02But the players put in a real tough physical shift for both 45 minutes,

03:09which we were looking to get out of the game.

03:10And seeing those improvements in pre-season, whether it's day on day, week on week,

03:13it's what this period's all about really, isn't it?

03:16Yeah, it's similar to...

03:18The same as last pre-season, what we looked to get.

03:22So we want to have different opponents, different types of games.

03:25I don't think we handled that game as well as we should have in the first half,

03:30especially.

03:31And I think we just needed to show a little bit more composure in possession there.

03:37Certainly in the final third, I thought we had some real good opportunities today to score,

03:41but we didn't take them.

03:43We ran offside probably five or six times,

03:46which cost us another opportunity to attack.

03:49But this is what it is.

03:51It's a work in progress.

03:52It's only our second game.

03:54We'd have liked to have had another one in there, but couldn't quite get one.

03:57But we've got another three before the big kick-off.

04:00We've had four different captains now in these four halves of football.

04:03And to have leaders all over pitch where you can rely on so many people must be really pleasing.

04:07Yeah, I think it's important for us to sort of establish a senior group

04:12that can lead the whole squad.

04:15I think it's never been a one-man job, in my opinion.

04:21I think the squad and the role are too big.

04:25So I think it's important.

04:27In my own time as a captain and Chris's,

04:29we were surrounded by good leaders as well.

04:32We weren't just the one from the armband.

04:34So I just want to make sure everyone knows who I believe

04:39can sort of spread their influence on the team and the squad.

04:42We were surrounded by good leaders as well.

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