Home
As Wanderers put a topsy-turvy October behind them, Ian Evatt is convinced some time on the training ground will now make all the difference.
Eight games in all competitions last month left the Bolton boss less time to work with his players – and he claims it has shown in their inconsistent results, especially in front of goal.
The Whites have scored 19 times this season, improving their return significantly in victories against Accrington Stanley and Burton Albion. But their tally is low considering the amount of possession they have had in the final third of the pitch this season.
Only Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe Wanderers have had more touches of the ball in the penalty box per 90 minutes than Bolton (18.55 per game). But Bolton’s efficiency in the penalty box has come into question, with Evatt admitting after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat against Oxford United that his side are too often “getting things wrong” in the final third.
Wanderers face Barnsley in the FA Cup this weekend, their next league game at Cambridge United a week on Saturday. And Evatt hopes to see some improvement as he vowed to work on his team’s decision making around the penalty area.
“I think we’ve got loads of work to do the next two weeks,” he said. “I think we’ve really got an opportunity now to drill some rules into the players.
“Training loads have been difficult this month because of the amount of games, so we have not had time on the grass and I think we get really affected when we don’t have it.
“I think our detail gets affected and we just need to remind the players of when we are in certain positions, what is required and what’s expected, especially in the final third, it is a numbers game.”
Evatt feels one of the issues his side has suffered from most is a lack of supporting players in the box when the ball arrives from wide positions.
Of the 24 teams in League One, Wanderers are ranked 20th on crossing accuracy, which will be one of the areas the Whites boss is looking to correct as quickly as possible.
“I don’t think at times we play the numbers game well enough,” he explained. “We have players that want to come short to feet and want to build around the box and then when we get into great crossing positions, we have not got enough numbers or bodies in the box.
“We need to really drill down into some detail about what is required, where we are around that box, what type of cross is needed and then the positions making sure we have got all areas of the box covered - near, middle, far and someone for the cutback.
“At the moment, we are not in the positions we should be and we can give them all the video and data we want to but sometimes you need to physically show them on the training pitch, have the time to do that and move people around to work on things.
“October has been play and recover and the whole group in particular together has been challenging.”
Source
