Currently Sat second in League Two, Bradford City have been excelling in the league since they lost their Star man Andy Cook, but why is this?
Andy Cook’s impact
I want to highlight Cook’s impact in past seasons and this season and to show why it’s so surprising Bradford are doing so well without him. Especially since we’ve seen the drop off of Walsall after losing Starman. Nathan Lowe When you think of recent Bradford City you think of Andy Cook their talisman and main man, Cook has been the bantam’s top scorer for the past five seasons showing his crucial impact to the team and still sitting as the team’s top scorer at the time of writing. Cook is a traditional target man and goalscorer, think of players like Grant Holt and Glenn Murray. Cook’s statistics have been impressive this season with his percentile stats vs League Two attackers being:
• 96th percentile for shots on target
• 94th percentile for goals
• 93rd percentile for aerials won
• 96th percentile for shots inside the box
As well as 0.58 goals per 90 the 8th most in the league.
Certain players stepping up
One of the key reasons City have not missed Cook is other players being able to step up to higher levels than they have done before. This is shown in the likes of Bobby Pointon and Antoni Sarcevic, before Cook got injured Pointon recorded 3 goals and 2 assists in 26 games while after Cooks’s injury, the 21-year-old has registered 1 goal and 3 assists in 10 games showing a more creative role in Alexander’s system. Sarcevic meanwhile had 1 goal and 1 assist in 9 games before and 4 goals and 3 assists, in 11 games, after it is clear with the absence of Andy Cook both players have had to adapt play styles and it is working in the new year.
Both Pointon and Sarcevic have played as double attacking midfielders in the past 12 games with Sarcevic especially moving into a more attacking role as in the first half of the season the 32-year-old has played in a double pivot with players like Richie Smallwood or Alex Pattison. This allows Sarcevic more attacking freedom as seen in the 2-0 win over MK Dons grabbing 2 goals with Pointon assisting his second of the afternoon. Cook was the focal point of the Bantam’s attack, with many Bradford fans I have spoken to declaring that without Cook, they see the team as more cohesive rather than having to rely solely on getting the ball to him during the game.
System Shift
Graham Alexander has made adjustments to his tactical system, resulting in multiple players changing positions and an alteration in formation. Key changes include:
– Transitioning from a 5-3-2 formation to a 5-2-3
– Bobby Pointon taking up a larger role
– Pattison and Smallwood as a double-pivot
– CAMs / Wingers behind the striker
– Establishing a go-to formation
– Jack Shepperd’s form has been key to the recent success
– A more fluid approach attack
I mainly want to touch on the fluid attack, Cook was a key player so with that City had to play to his strengths with long balls. Now playing more football, Bradford doesn’t have to accommodate for Cook and can now bring in young talents like Pointon allowing him to thrive with his pace and passing.
Jack Shepard has greatly impressed me lately. While his performances before the new year were good, he has since improved to a new level. He has become a key player in the Bradford defence, contributing significantly to the Bantams’ record of 10 consecutive home wins.
Before losing Cook to a season-ending ACL injury, from what I have seen Alexander’s men didn’t have a go-to formation rotating from multiple different systems like a 532 for most of the season, a 5221 we have seen without Cook recently and occasionally even a 442. Now though it seems Alexander and his backroom staff have settled on 5221 with major success happening to push the side from BD8 up to second only 2 points off the top of the league Walsall. Some key parts to the formation are the CAMs/wingers behind the usually starting, Cook replacement, Michael Mellon. Pointon and Sarcevic have usually taken up these roles allowing tactical freedom with especially Pointon drifting wide.
Statistical breakdown
While we can look at the eye test what statistics can we see to back up the point of how the West Yorkshire side are thriving with the absence of their Number 9:
• 46.2% win percentage before cook’s injury
• 64.3% win percentage after Cook’s injury
• 2.08 points per game before Cook’s injury
• 1.78 points per game after Cook’s injury
• 1.35 goals per game before Cook’s injury
• 1.5 goals per game after Cook’s injury
This shows in the improvement of output and overall performance with Cook, with City winning more games scoring more goals and getting more points equalling their impressive form and league position. Bradford have a very high chance of promotion to League 1 if they maintain 2 points per game showing how well they are doing at the moment.
Many saw Cook’s injury as the end of Bradford’s promotion but with the excellence of Graham Alexander and certain players stepping up to fill in for the importance of Andy Cook, the Bantam’s have flipped the inconvenience of Cook’s ACL and turned into a way of improving the team’s performance. Bradford are in a very good place for automatic promotion and potentially winning the league, we have a very good title race on our hands and in my opinion I think they will get it over the line.
