Both Plymouth Argyle and Bradford drew a blank at Valley Parade as the two sides shared the spoils. The 0-0 draw maintains the five point gap between the sides, with the hosts sitting in 23rd and Argyle up in 15th.
Kyle Letheren – 8 Man of the Match
The keeper showed an assured performance in the game, making an excellent one-on-one save from Eoin Doyle when he looked certain to put the hosts into the lead. In addition to this, his kicking, a weak area in his game usually, was much more accurate than normal.
Ashley Smith-Brown – 6
The right back started the game brightly. He provided a good option for a ball out wide in the first half, and stuck well to his man when Bradford had the ball. His positional play slipped in the second half, as did his use of the ball.
Ryan Edwards – 7
Edwards has never been the best distributor of the ball, but he was certainly effective today at the core aspects of defending. His aerial ability was as efficient as ever and he put in some crucial blocks and tackles when it mattered most.
Niall Canavan – 7
Not perhaps his finest game for Argyle with some shaky distribution at times. However, his flaws were extinguished in the dying embers of the game when he made a superb block to prevent what looked for all the world to be an inevitable winning goal for Bradford.
Gary Sawyer – 5
In spite of being part of a defence that kept a clean sheet again, Sawyer’s personal form is a cause for concern. Whilst he was never an athletic player, he seems to have lost even more pace and agility this season leading to a lack of success when up against wingers and wide forwards. His distribution was also largely inaccurate at Valley Parade.
Yann Songo’o – 4
Another poor performance from Yann Songo’o during a game in which Argyle were unable to gain control over the midfield. Whilst there were some good tackles from the Cameroonian, too much went through the centre of the park on the whole for him to have had a good game.
David Fox – 5
Argyle’s languid playmaker had a mixed bag of a game, as he has so many times over the past year. His passing was composed and useful for helping Argyle gain control, but his lack of mobility and defensive acumen was exploited by the hosts. As often occurs, the veteran was good for chance creation but not for chance prevention.
Antoni Sarcevic – 6
A funny game from Argyle’s number seven. When he was involved, he did some good things such as picking the ball from the feet of Bradford midfielders and pressing to allow other players into play. However, there were also large spells where he was quiet and ineffectual. Perhaps he’s not yet up to full fitness?
Graham Carey – 6
A reasonable enough game from the Irish talisman but one that was far from replicating the magic of last week against Portsmouth. During Argyle’s only good spell of the game (minutes 30 to 45) he was at the heart of much of the play, but otherwise he was undeniably quiet.
Ruben Lameiras – 5
As has been the case in a few recent games, Lameiras tried a lot but not much of it came off. However, he’s certainly worth persevering with for those occasions when he pulls out a moment of pure magic such as the winning goal at Peterborough.
Freddie Ladapo – 3
Ladapo is a player who somewhat divides the fanbase but even his biggest supporters surely cannot argue with the fact that he had a poor game at Valley Parade. He had the first touch of a pinball machine and tended to jump for headers with enough time spare to make a cup of tea before the ball landed. On the occasions where he did have the ball at his feet, he was wasteful.
Ryan Taylor – 6
He was certainly an improvement on Ladapo but it certainly wasn’t the vintage Ryan Taylor of 2017/18 form either. He won some headers and linked up play but perhaps is not playing with a certain level of fitness or freshness. I’d still try starting him.
Oscar Threlkeld – 7
It took us so long to finally see the return of the ponytailed talisman signing to the first team, but it was refreshing to see his fearless approach to the team from full back once again. He burst down the line with aplomb and delivered some good crosses whilst on the pitch.