Good to see Bradford City getting up to speed at Valley Parade (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Good to see Bradford City getting up to speed at Valley Parade

8:50am Tuesday 31st January 2012 in Bantams By John Hendrie

James Hanson in action against Shrewsbury, when he epitomised the up tempo style of play you need to adopt for home games

The best thing about City’s recent home games has been the tempo of the side.

Football is a game of opposites. When you go to away grounds, the manager will tell the team the first job is to quieten the home fans.

But at home, you go at the opposition from the start and get the crowd behind you. Supporters can suss it out in the opening minutes if the team’s up for it.

The back-to-back home games against Crewe and Shrewsbury were the best I’ve seen at Valley Parade for a few years. The work-rate, pressing and tempo was exceptional.

I’ve played in teams when the boss has told you to bust a gut for an hour. We’ve got three subs so if you’re gone, we can make the changes.

Even 45 minutes like that can be enough. Play at a real tempo and it can be over by half-time.

The first line of defence is attack and the front two have to close things down. Looking back to those two games, Hanson and Wells were a pain in the backside to the defenders because they didn’t give them any time.

I made a living out of that. I couldn’t always guarantee that I’d play well every week but I would demand of myself that I worked my socks off.

Chase lost causes and balls into channels. A lot of people give them up but if you keep chasing, their defenders don’t have the time to get on the ball and play it around.

If you’re doing that, that enables your midfielders and backline to get pushed up. You’re moving up as a unit.

You can only do that if you’ve got a certain level of fitness. If players aren’t prepared to put a shift in, then forget it.

You watch teams at higher levels and even the top players work so hard.

I remember when Beckham and Scholes came down here and their work-rate was exceptional. People talk about their skill level but you’ve got to match the other team for effort first.

Fans can see that City are putting that work in now and it’s just a shame that the last few results haven’t reflected that. The performances have deserved more points.