"Bolton get battered" matchday thread | Page 10 | Vital Football

"Bolton get battered" matchday thread

moonay said:
Much is often said on here about Maloney's substitutions ... but tonight, it seems the consensus is he did well.

As for Evatt, taking off their number 8 was what lost him the game. Without him, they had close to zero creativity.

Still buzzing' 😎
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and im as gulty as the next mon. but. i think he did make subs in the past just for the sake of it as it were in his game plan before the game to do so. that i think is were it got on peeple paps. using subs cos its on his sheet insted of using subs as the game pans out.
last nite was a good example of using them corectly. like someone sed before (th10). santos had magenis in his pocket. for me that ment that magenis was doing a good job as it took santos out of the game much of the time. subbing him gave santos a hedache as he looked as if he didnt no what to do next. was that the game instructeon from evatt. if it were then bolton are fooked if they go up and keep him (evatt)
so yeah. pleesed with the subs last neet. one for ones without messing with the formateon much.
 
king_dezeeuw06 said:
It wasn't a vintage or sexy display but even if we'd have lost that 1-0 I was really happy with the performance.

We may have been under heavy pressure for large spells of the game and there are plenty of things you could pick out to do better but they showed us the intensity, urgency, work rate and battling attitude - if they give us that I'm always pleased.

I've really disliked so many of our performances this season for lacking those attributes but tonight they did themselves and us proud. It's hard to believe that is the same side that was so lacklustre against Cheltenham, Exeter, etc.

We really had to work hard to earn that win and I think when we talk about 'our DNA' I think that it's never been the passing it around from Martinez era, our DNA is the hard work and fighting spirit like tonight.

I thought everyone played their part but some of the players who've taken a lot of critasism lately in Goode, Godo and Humphrys were excellent. Humps has been accused of not caring but you could tell how much it meant to him by the way he celebrated. He can be frustrating at times but he's got so much talent.

We weren't anywhere near as aggressive in our press as we were in the previous fixture but we were very organised and did a pretty good job blocking the passing lanes and limiting their options. We were also much quicker to shut down space and stop long shots which was previously a big weakness that cost us the Oxford game. So credit to Maloney on that.

Special mention to Scott Smith who did very well considering he was out of position and at times outnumbered at right back. I think I'd play him there ahead of Clare.

I liked having a back 4 again as it helps us get more men in midfield and I hope we stick with it.

We all know what we are like by now - we turn it on for the better sides, but I wish we could show that level of endeavour and energy against the weaker sides. I hope we don't follow the same pattern and can follow up this excellent result and strong performance with another on Saturday.
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Another good assessment KDZ. But IMO, whilst we played with a great fight & determined spirit, I felt that quite a few times we didn't close down early enough therefore encouraging Bolton to shoot. That is perhaps my only criticism of last night & I feel is something that could be worked on. Am I right in thinking that we've faced the most shots against us than any other side?

The other thing I want to pick up on is when you mention our style of play against the so called weaker teams. They are a so called weaker team for a reason & as such come to park the bus & not just at The DW. Last night, we were the weaker opposition & once we scored, we in effect parked the bus. And from what I was hearing on my way home last night on BBC Manchester, many Bolton fans aren't happy with Evatt's style of play.

I suppose when a team comes to park the bus, it is a case of being patient & trying to work out an opening. We could try to up the tempo I guess, but would that come at a cost?

But what I will agree on is I myself liked having the 4 at the back. This is something I'd like to see myself between now & the rest of the season.
 
Great win, we did sit off them a lot particularly the first half but as much as it pains me they've been a better team than us this season or at least more consistent and if we had taken them on and let them get an early goal it would have been a completely different story. We did have a fair bit of joy down the right with Cal Mac in that first half.

Man for man we matched them, the patience paid off and was a great goal to catch them out. It did rattle them with the chances coming in after it, Thelo was unlucky not to score.

Overall great night to continue the run against Horwich. MOTM for me has to be Kerr, was solid as a rock at the back.

Only thing missing was having McClean, he would have finally laid that clown Evatt out during the handbags at full time.
 
im convinced now that ether sean or th'owd trout reed this bord to get a feel for what the fans are thinking. and there nicking our ideas. 😉
a lot of the tippy tappy pleying out from the back were gone. not all. but a lot.
more and more i saw the midfeeld carry the ball a good 10 yards before the pass. this had 2 efects.. 1. it created that space we all talk about and 2. it got the crowd up. and the louder we got the more confedent/beter they seemed to pley.
tickles long balls out were steying inside the pley area and not going strate to there goaly.
we got are shithouse back with cal mac by starting him and leting him get in there faces. his wing pley was good and i thot that we mite just get on the end of one of them in balls. leting him pley well into the second half was a bonus for us and for him.
humps. i sed it the last time when he made the assist. his face. his atitude. and his look all sed. look this is what i do. let me do it. he dont take or receve short corners. or take throw ins in there half. hes not a midfeelder. its up to sean now to keep that confedence up in the lad.
i dont care what others think but goode and kerr did what they needed to do at the rite time. put there size 10 thru the ball. its efective and lets the teem reset and your goaly breeth out. all this pising around trying to pley football in your own 6 yard box leeds to mistakes.
good derby neet. nervy to start but the lads rose up to it. and it ment a lot to them as you culd see it in there faces when they came across at the end. humps being the first.
six more points.
two wins.
job done.
 
That's a textbook lesson in how to design a gameplan and execute it. Man for man we weren't necessarily the better team, the league table shows that, but Shaun outsmarted Evatt, and our players out competed Bolton.

One key difference is that Bolton are capable of moving the ball very quickly and showed in the first 20 mins that they are dangerous at getting into 1v1s, in particular that was against Scott and Jonny and also Chambers, and this did peg us back a bit and not allow us to press so high because they were finding it quite easy to get to the edge of our box uncontested.

However, once we nullified their early threat we grew into the game and Bolton were clearly worried about Cal Mac and Jonny breaking at speed. The early (deserved) yellow cards played in our favour as well.

Shaun has admitted that the subs were premeditated and the game plan worked perfectly. Cal Mac was our most threatening player, got 2 of their players booked, but was always going to manage a hour max. Josh worked hard although not much came off for him, but it's better we start with him as per Shrewsbury away, rather than leave him on the bench as per Cheltenham. Shaun was clearly playing for the clean sheet in the first 60 mins to enable us to try and attack more when Godo and Humps came on.

Both subs made an instant impact, and Humps took his goal really well. Shout out to Chambers for a brilliant assist - he's such a talent. Godo still doesn't look completely match sharp, but grew into the game as he looked to be an outlet and keep possession. How it wasn't a red card for the rugby tackle, I'll never know.

I thought the ref was finneky and Josh got nothing out of him, but we also did a very good job of keeping our heads and staying aggressive but not going beyond that.

Very difficult to pick a MOTM, maybe Tickle or Scott Smith for me.

Tickle - 8 - handled well, kicked well (mostly), and some excellent saves.
Scott Smith - 8 - very assured in defense, but also was always looking to receive the ball and play progressively. RB could well be his long term position
Kerr - 7 - Still have some concerns about his defensive qualities in the box from corners and crosses, but he was excellent on the ball and limited Bolton to very little
Goode - 7 - Very solid performance considering he's playing through an injury
Chambers - 8 - Clean sheet and an assist for a 19 year old wonderkid.
Jonny Smith - 6 - struggled positionally in an unfamiliar LWB position, but lots of energy and effort
Baba - 8 - Best game for a while, as he was much more progressive on the ball. Keep working on that half turn and play the ball forward and he'll be such a better player for it.
M Smith - 7 - I thought it was a bit too easy to play through and around him at times in the first half, but he got better as the game went on
Cal Mac - 8 - Always positive and Bolton had little option but to constantly chop him down. A brilliant option for these types of games, and I think he should be starting more matches going forward until Godo finds a bit more form
Thelo - 8 - Perhaps a quite game but he was always the one playing the smart and fast ball to get us into 1v1 positions, and his workrate at pressing and covering was unbelievable
Josh - 7 - A typical Josh performance, and it set the game up perfectly for the subs


Subs:
Humps - 8 - well taken goal
Godo - 7 - positive and up for it
Morrison/Pearce N/A
 
runcornfan1978 said:
Another good assessment KDZ. But IMO, whilst we played with a great fight & determined spirit, I felt that quite a few times we didn't close down early enough therefore encouraging Bolton to shoot. That is perhaps my only criticism of last night & I feel is something that could be worked on. Am I right in thinking that we've faced the most shots against us than any other side?

The other thing I want to pick up on is when you mention our style of play against the so called weaker teams. They are a so called weaker team for a reason & as such come to park the bus & not just at The DW. Last night, we were the weaker opposition & once we scored, we in effect parked the bus. And from what I was hearing on my way home last night on BBC Manchester, many Bolton fans aren't happy with Evatt's style of play.

I suppose when a team comes to park the bus, it is a case of being patient & trying to work out an opening. We could try to up the tempo I guess, but would that come at a cost?

But what I will agree on is I myself liked having the 4 at the back. This is something I'd like to see myself between now & the rest of the season.
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There were absolutely times I'd have liked us to press harder and higher but I think we were a lot more cautious of over committing men and leaving space behind us that they'd exploit as they were committing so many men forward. We are at our best when we press higher than we did yesterday but I think there aren't many sides as good at passing through you as Bolton or will be getting that many men in your final third, so I think Bolton kind of forced us back more than we'd have liked.

As you say the weaker teams do tend to be more defensive and harder to break down, but for me that shouldn't stop us fighting and working just as hard, pressing, moving the ball quickly or moving like we do against the better sides. It seems a massive drop off in all aspects of our own performance than us doing the same but it being less effective against a team set up more defensively. I think against lesser teams we've been out competed but not so much because the opposition put in a herculean effort but more we didn't look that up for it.
 
runcornfan1978 said:
Were it eckers like. It was hard fought & had a good derby feel to it. Backs to the wall in the 2nd half especially after the goal. But tonight was one of those well earned wins against a decent Bolton side.
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There are a few different takes on the first half performance, but I'm entirely with you, Runcorn. It was a masterclass in stopping a very well drilled opponent from doing what they wanted to do. We've seen teams do it to us simply by sitting back, but we were far more active in giving them no outlet and forcing them to shoot from 40 plus yards (and if not for a stunning save by Tickle then it would have been the kind of goal you just throw your hands up and accept).
The way Thelo worked was also brilliant. Very few touches of the ball in the first half but kept moving and dragging players with him. When he did get a touch, it was positive and effective.
Fantastic from an out of position Scott Smith and Goode put on an incredible display, but it was a full team performance last night from those on the pitch, in the dugout and the stands. Great to see a decent crowd at the DW too
 
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AND YOU THINK FRANK IS BAD

WestStandUpper101 7 hrs ago


User ID: 646511
Can’t play Guardiola football with league 2 players. Evatt won the league at barrow and signed Santos from 11th placed Barnet. Maybe we are expecting too much. Santos - signed from non league Barnet at the age of 25. There’s a reason why he was playing non league football at 25. Cogley - signed from newly promoted to league 2 Tranmere.Toal - signed from league of Ireland Dempsey - signed from league 2 Gillingham Sheehan (as much as I rate him) - signed from league 2 Newport Thomason - signed from long ridge town in the northwest counties Adeboyejo - signed from league 1 / 2 Burton Morley - signed from league 2 Rochdale Charles - signed from league 2 Accrington Jones - signed from league 2 Carlisle Utd Williams - signed from bottom of championship reserves hull Gomes - signed from Luton town (on back of a good season with bottom of league 1 Fleetwood town)I’m not saying these players don’t deserve a chance and can’t better themselves but ultimately, there’s a reason they’re playing lowest league football.
 
ZAKKY said:
AND YOU THINK FRANK IS BAD

WestStandUpper101 7 hrs ago


User ID: 646511
Can’t play Guardiola football with league 2 players. Evatt won the league at barrow and signed Santos from 11th placed Barnet. Maybe we are expecting too much. Santos - signed from non league Barnet at the age of 25. There’s a reason why he was playing non league football at 25. Cogley - signed from newly promoted to league 2 Tranmere.Toal - signed from league of Ireland Dempsey - signed from league 2 Gillingham Sheehan (as much as I rate him) - signed from league 2 Newport Thomason - signed from long ridge town in the northwest counties Adeboyejo - signed from league 1 / 2 Burton Morley - signed from league 2 Rochdale Charles - signed from league 2 Accrington Jones - signed from league 2 Carlisle Utd Williams - signed from bottom of championship reserves hull Gomes - signed from Luton town (on back of a good season with bottom of league 1 Fleetwood town)I’m not saying these players don’t deserve a chance and can’t better themselves but ultimately, there’s a reason they’re playing lowest league football.
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I didn't think they were bad, they gave us one the toughest games of our season and on another day could've easily won.

But I do think Bolton have always lacked a bit of physicality in these type of games. They play the ball very well but haven't got the ability to bully you.
 
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