Rochdale struggled to find their footing in their season opener against Bradford City, losing 2-0 at Valley Parade. The match marked a promising start to the new season for the Bantams, who eased their way into the new campaign with another home win. The evolving nature of football was on display in City’s starting line-up boasting four new faces. No Max Power and Jenson Metcalfe as the midfield rudder, of course, nor Sam Walker in goal. That takes some getting used to for a player whose only absences since rocking up in West Yorkshire as one of Graham Alexander’s earliest signings two-and-a-half years ago have been limited to the EFL Trophy. The sight of Walker stood among the Rochdale players during the warm-ups fielding long kicks from his replacement Jon McCracken was a strange one. By the sound of Alexander’s post-match comments, Walker has gone about the interest from Watford in a professional manner. You would expect nothing less from someone who has done everything correctly in City colours. He smiled at the club’s cameras on arrival and provided a positive back-up from the bench as McCracken made his first attempt to fill some considerable shoes. A clean sheet on debut marked an ideal start for the Scot, who was hardly overburdened. For a team that bagged goals for fun on their way to three figures in points in the National League, Rochdale offered minimal attacking threat. Goals this season: 88 scored, 41 conceded (+47 goal difference). League standing (final 2025 table -- new season not yet under way): 2nd in England National League, 106 pts, 33W-7D-6L from 46 games, recent form DWWDL. Title race: 2 points behind leaders York. Next fixture: vs Port Vale (at home, 2027-01-30). A central midfield minus two players who clocked up 100 games between them last season was another stand-out feature for those who had not attended the pre-season friendlies. Callum Connolly is a different number six to predecessors Power and Richie Smallwood. For one, he’s not sporting the armband. A quieter figure, he seems happy to go about his business with the minimum of fanfare. No shouting or arm-waving histrionics as he frequently regained possession to shield the back three. He had the captain alongside as Antoni Sarcevic began his new era in the role where he started right at the beginning for Alexander at Fleetwood. With Connolly happy to sit, Sarcevic is still encouraged into the attacking areas where he excelled as a 10. A push further forward to ramp up the press as the game wore on certainly made a difference in City’s control on proceedings. They took a while to get a grip on a pitch that looks to be feeling the effects of the exceptionally dry weather. Rochdale had a reasonable penalty shout early on against Tyreik Wright, who had a quiet game on the left flank. The boisterous away following had been dreaming of enjoying venues like City again after three years scrabbling around non-league and were determined to make the most of their day out. But any fears of a flashback to one of “those” League Two days should have been put to rest by the first half.