Bolton in Crisis!

Or so the Bolton Evening News will scream today.  I don't want to be quite that dramatic, but there do appear to be many problems, particularly in defense.  In my (possibly biased) mind, all of these problems can be traced back to Paul Robinson.  As I stated in my last entry, Robinson is clearly the worst player in any top flight league in Europe.  There is not a single football-related skill he possesses.  Worse, his mere presence forces the entire team to shift out of position in a vain attempt to cover up his inadequacies.  In the second half of Wanderers' game against Norwich, it reached the point where Zat Knight was just going all the way to the sideline and essentially playing left-back.  Unfortunately, this left a huge gap in the middle, which led to both Norwich goals.  I don't blame Knight though.  Big as he is, it is impossible for one player to cover the entire left side of the field.

Long story short, Owen Coyle needs to drop Paul Robinson.  Now.  I don't even care who replaces him, anybody would be better, and noone could possibly be worse.

Bolton's Starting XI vs. Queen's Park Rangers

And so it begins...

Owen Coyle's first line-up is posted, and there is no doubt the manager has been hamstrung by injuries to Stuart Holden, Lee Chung-yong, Sam Ricketts, and Tyrone Mears.  Tuncay will not be available as his work permit has not cleared.  Now I don't know Coyle's plans, but for me, all 5 of those players would be starting if they were fit.  So here is a look at what the gaffer has conjured up with our remaining squad players;

Owen Coyle Wants Goals!

Bolton's manager has put out an extremely attacking lineup for today's home match against West Ham.

It's a little unclear what the formation will be, but I will try and discern what I can.

Zat Knight partners Gary Cahill in his return from injury.  Consequently, there is not even a place on the bench for David Wheater.  Coyle has played our two most attack-minded fullbacks, Gretar Steinnson and Marcos Alonso.

Fabrice Muamba will hold in front of the back four, while Martin Petrov and Lee Chung-Yong will rampage up and down the wings.  Now this is where it gets confusing.  Kevins Davies and Daniel Sturridge are up top, but where is Johann Elmander playing?

David Wheater

I thought this deal was a bargain at twice the price for Bolton (I admit I was not alone), and approximately two appearances into his Wanderers career, it appears I was right.  Two games for Wheater, two clean sheets for Bolton.

To be fair, that is probably oversimplifying things.  He may be a more complementary partner though, for Zat Knight or Gary Cahill.  Cahill and Knight are both so big, it somewhat limits their mobility.  Don't get me wrong they both have good pace, and move pretty well for their size, but Wheater may be just a bit quicker.  I have yet to see any results from the scan on Zat Knight's knee, but I am hopeful that he will only miss a week or two.  Wheater is certainly an excellent replacement, but I will be happy when we have three healthy, classy central defenders on the roster.

The situation in defense aside, it was a fine performance against Everton, and hopefully it will herald a return to form for Bolton.

Bolton Wanderers v West Bromwich Albion (or That Damn Peter Odemwingie)

The Nigerian striker will be fit again to play Bolton on Boxing Day.  He is pivotal to what West Brom do, and will make things difficult for the Wanderers.  Not only does he score (6 goals in 11 matches), but his presence and intelligent movement creates space as well as opportunity for the Baggies' midfielders.

If I am honest, Odemwingie (pictured, right) is exactly the type of player Bolton tend to struggle against.  Of course, we have only kept one clean sheet all season, so I think it would be fair to say we struggle against most strikers.

These two clubs played to a draw a couple months ago, in a wide-open attacking match that was one of the finest spectacles of this season.  West Brom will have had two weeks to prepare for this match because of weather-related postponements, while Bolton are coming off an away loss in one of only three matches played last weekend.  Whether this provides an edge to either side on Sunday I am not sure, but going into a run of four matches in eleven days, we may see some squad rotation on both sides.

Wigan Athletic v Bolton Wanderers

The two Lancashire clubs split the points at the DW Stadium.  If only they were so gregarious with the meat pies and sausage rolls...

This was probably a fair result.  Wigan's goal was offside, but they did have a few other opportunities.  Bolton on the other hand barely sent in any shots, when you would think the instruction going out on to the pitch would have been to shoot early and often, from all distances and angles, to test the shaky and dropped in August goalkeeper Chris Kirkland.  I would say he played a good game, but he didn't, he just wasn't tested at all.

Carling Cup - Southampton vs Bolton

Bolton are through to the third round of the league cup after beating League One side Southampton 1-0. Ivan Klasnic (pictured) scored the goal for Bolton, who were not really recognizable from the team that beat West Ham on Saturday. Owen Coyle made nine changes, keeping only captain Kevin Davies and Zat Knight in the starting XI.

There were two notable debuts for the Wanderers. 21-year-old Hungarian goalkeeper Adam Bogdan has been with the club for several years made his first senior appearance in place of Jussi Jaaskelainen, who received a well-deserved rest after his heroics at Upton Park. But the player everyone who supports Bolton wanted to see was Marcos Alonso, the 18-year-old product of real Madrid's academy who made his Wanderers debut at left back.

The consensus seems to be that Alonso is an attack-minded fullback, and that it will take some time for him to acclimatize to his new country, as well as adapt to the Premier League style of play. Many thought he lacked positional sense against the Saints, but that may be more due to youthful exuberance than anything else. Bolton's current left back, Paul Robinson, is a hard worker, but very limited technically as well as athletically, and quite honestly, he is a red card waiting to happen who is lucky when a match passes without him conceding a penalty. My best estimate is that Alonso will win the starting job by Christmas. His presence and attacking flare will give Wanderers a whole new dimension on the left wing, and make it much more difficult for clubs to focus on Martin Petrov, as they have the last two weeks.

Gary Cahill

Will he play for England this summer? I don't know. A more important question for me is will he play for Bolton in September.

Owen Coyle has come out and stated that he does not need to sell players in order to buy. So Cahill could return next season. But if Arsenal offer £15 million AND another year of Jack Wilshere on loan, I don't see how Bolton can say no. Don't get me wrong, I think Cahill forms a very good partnership with Zat Knight, and they have a chance to be even better next season, but sometimes you have to sell 1 player when it means you can buy 2 or 3.

Here is the caveat; Owen Coyle must have those 2 or 3 players already lined up and confirmed before selling Gary Cahill. When Bolton sold Nicolas Anelka, we were left in a position where we had £15 million to spend and nothing to spend it on. So we ended up overpaying for Johann Elmander.

Now if Coyle has already secured the striker from Portsmouth for £3 million, a good left-back for £5 million, and a very good central defender for £7 million, plus Wilshere on a 12-month loan, then by all means snap Arsene Wenger's hand off.

It should be an interesting summer.

Bolton Back-line

Wayne Rooney will probably be on the bench today for Manchester United, but truth be told, it is often the players like Dimitar Berbatov that give Bolton the most trouble. Rooney is active and physical for 90 minutes, so the defenders are focused on him for 90 minutes. Berbatov on the other hand, often drifts in and out of a match, and is not a very physical player overall. But he is supremely talented, and is always only 1 deft touch away from creating a chance for himself or a teammate.

There is also some upheaval in the Bolton defense. Right-back Gretar Steinsson is suspended. Sam Ricketts, who can play anywhere along the back 4, is returning from suspension. Central defender Gary Cahill is returning from 2 months out because of a blood clot problem. And left-back Paul Robinson is nursing an injury, although he is likely to be available.

If I were to guess, I would say Ricketts will play at right-back, Cahill in the middle with Zat Knight, and Robinson at left-back. Will that group be able to handle the Manchester United attack, I don't know. But hopefully we will make it interesting, and if we can make the title race a bit more interesting, and the relegation race a bit less interesting, then so be it.

Wanderers Earn Replay

Bolton dominated the first half, but squandered several chances and were only up 1-0 at the half. Spurs really came into the match in the second half, although Bolton still created some chances. Sam Ricketts, again playing centre-half, gave away a stupid penalty, raising his arms over his head and blocking a pass in the box. Luckily, Huddlestone took the penalty quite poorly for Spurs and Jussi Jaaskelainen was able to save it. Overall, a draw was probably a fair result, and they will do it all over again at White Heart Lane.

As for individual players, a few stood out. Zat Knight played very well before going with some sort of injury, which has to be a huge concern for Owen Coyle.

Johann Elmander was outstanding in every aspect of the game except finishing, which is still a problem. He held the ball up well, ran at the defence when he could, and created chances for himself and others. In fact, his quick one-two with Lee Chung-Yong and excellent cutback set up Kevin Davies for Bolton's goal. This just showed that when he is able to play off another striker in a true 4-4-2 setup, he is a very dangerous player.

Fabrice Muamba was great in midfield, winning ball after ball and harassing Tottenham's creative players into mistake after mistake. His finishing was also poor, but he is still young, and if he can improve himself technically over the next year or two, he will really turn into a top class player. We have already seen him improve his passing this season through maturity. He doesn't panic as much, plays the simple pass, and gives the ball away far less than he did a year ago.

Paul Robinson was poor again. Nothing more to add really.

Bolton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs are looking really short on defenders, and don't have a great record at the Reebok, so there could be an upset brewing here. Given that Harry Redknapp may be planning an escape to a tax shelter in the Caribbean Sea, those chances are increasing every minute.

Owen Coyle claims he will put out his strongest team, but I am hoping to see a few squad players get an opportunity to show what they can do.

Stuart Holden may finally be fit enough to make his Wanderers debut, although I doubt he will feature from the start. As far as the rest of the attackers go, I would be pleased if Riga and Vaz Te were given a chance to do some damage. Lee Chung-Yong and Kevin Davies are both starting to look a little tired, I would like to see them rested as well.

I am not really optimistic though, chances are Coyle will make few changes. Here is my prediction of his starting XI on Sunday;

Jussi Jaaskelainen GK: I would like to see Al-Habsi get a start, and he well might.

Gretar Steinsson RB, Jlloyd Samuel LB: Please no Paul Robinson, please!!!

Zat Knight CB, Andy O'Brien CB: Not a lot of other options here, and Knight has been brilliant since Coyle arrived.

Fabrice Muamba CM, Chris Basham CM: This is a soft prediction, as it may well be Tamir Cohen with Basham, but I think Coyle might try a Liverpool style 4-2-3-1, and I would like to see Basham in the holding role, as his passing would complement Muamba's ball-winning.

Matt Taylor, LM, Ricardo Gardner RM, Mark Davies CM: As I mentioned earlier, I would like to see a bit more adventure in attack, but I don't think Coyle will take too many chances.

Johann Elmander F: I think Kevin Davies needs a rest, physically and mentally. Also, it will be really interesting to see how Coyle's system works without the hulking centre-forward present to give the ball away.

Gary Cahill For England!

In 2014 unfortunately. It looks as if the outstanding Bolton central defender, still only 24, will be out for "several months" according to Owen Coyle. It seems he has a blood clot in his arm. This is a serious condition, not football related, and we can only hope he makes full recovery.

This is a huge blow for the Wanderers, as Cahill is easily their best defender and possibly their best overall player. He has been called into the England squad by Fabio Cappello on the basis of his defensive prowess, but he has also scored 7 goals this season, which leads the club.

So yes, the relegation battle has just got more difficult for the Lancashire club, but we should still have enough to stay up.

Some combination of Zat Knight, Andy O'Brien, Danny Shittu, Sam Ricketts, and Chris Basham will cover the center of defense for the next few months, and hopefully Cahill will be back in August to help celebrate Bolton's 10th consecutive season in the Premier League.