Evatt won't play blame game with attack after defeat

Ian Evatt says the blame for Wanderers’ recent lack of goals cannot be laid squarely on the shoulders of his attack.

Bolton have drawn a blank in seven of their last 15 games in all competitions and equalled a club record in Saturday’s defeat at Accrington by going a sixth straight away game without scoring.

The team’s fortunes in front of goal have fluctuated wildly this season but reviewing some of the big opportunities which were spurned in the first half at the Wham Stadium, Evatt has refused to put further pressure on his front line, where Dapo Afolayan, Eoin Doyle and Elias Kachunga have struggled to make an impact in the last few games.

Though Wanderers have suffered major injury issues elsewhere in the squad, their attacking options have remained relatively strong.

“I think they’ll be the first to say that we should be taking those chances,” Evatt said of the trio. “But I will say it wasn’t just the front three that had those chances.

“Adam Senior had a glorious chance from a corner, Declan John had a fantastic chance to score, Kieran Lee’s had a chance to score, so we can’t just label everything at the front three.

“Yes, it is their job and responsibility to score, but also we have to share the goals around the squad and we haven’t done that well enough, recently.”

One attacking option which has not been available to Wanderers is Amadou Bakayoko, whose physical presence has been missed in recent weeks.

The Whites put just one shot on goal in the second half at Accrington after failing to break down their hosts – but Evatt claimed after the game that the lack of incision had more to do with Bakayoko’s absence than the lack of a recognised number 10.

Some Bolton supporters questioned the decision to sever ties with Antoni Sarcevic in October, and injuries to key men like Josh Sheehan have left Evatt short of attack-minded midfielders.

But it was the lack of physicality up front, rather than a creative outlet behind the attack, which the Bolton boss believes was pivotal at the weekend.

“It is a really small and tight pitch and when they are sitting so deep, there aren’t any pockets there for a number 10 to play in,” he explained.

“When they’re banked up, it is more you need the physicality at the top end of the pitch that will make the ball stick.

“Bakayoko’s not there so we have to try and build and be patient because the minute we start kicking long, as you saw from their centre backs, that’s exactly what they want.

“For the fans that were criticising us second half for doing that, there is method in the madness because if we do kick it long, it’s coming straight back, so we have to try and play through them our way. We’re not built for that without Bakayoko, simple as that.

“It’s tough at the moment, it’s heavy criticism for everybody and we have to just keep our belief and focus and keep fighting.”

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Evans wrote:Ian Evatt says the blame for Wanderers’ recent lack of goals cannot be laid squarely on the shoulders of his attack.

This is the sort of nonsense that turns fans against managers.

They've been terrible, everyone can see it, so why try and suggest otherwise?

I actually agree with Evatt, but not for the same reasons. It's true some of the finishing hasn't been good, but that's what happens if a decent chance comes along every blue moon.
When we start playing a system that allows us to attack without giving them time to set up two banks of four between us and their goal we'll see how the attackers fare, but right now with all this backwards and sideways passing in the build up, you'd need a worldie to score.