Bolton Wanderers’ evolving attack suggests a different priority for Steven Schumacher | OneFootball

Strikers remain required for Bolton Wanderers, but their evolved shape and style should lessen the pressure on goals from the forward.

A 20-goal-a-season striker is something of a cliché in the EFL for supporters of clubs to demand in order to ensure promotion, or at least a promotion challenge, but they are so rare.

Last year, for example, only two players in the entirety of the EFL reached that figure, with Charlie Kelman of Leyton Orient notching 21 goals in League One and Michael Cheek at Bromley scoring 25 in his debut season in League Two.

Neither of those sides actually gained promotion either, albeit Leyton Orient did reach the play-off final, thus proving that the mythical 20-goal striker is not necessarily a guarantee of everything, or anything.

Bolton Wanderers supporters have become increasingly irritated over the course of the summer because, whilst incoming and outgoing business appears very good and efficient, they have been unable to fill the hole at the top end of the pitch.

Mason Burstow has arrived on loan from Hull City, whilst Sam Dalby joined earlier this summer on a free transfer from Wrexham, with their pursuit of Celtic striker Johnny Kenny still ongoing.

None of those three strikers have remotely proven themselves at EFL level in terms of goal scoring just yet, and the fact that a striker has seemingly not been prioritised above all else by Schumacher would indicate that the former Stoke City and Plymouth Argyle boss is confident of Bolton finally finding goals from elsewhere.

The change of shape at Bolton can bring goals from all over the pitch

Under the management of Ian Evatt, Wanderers played almost exclusively with a three-at-the-back system in League One, which, whilst often effective over the course of a campaign, often left them with very little variation in attack, blunting them to the point of stagnation, prompting Evatt’s eventual departure mid-way through the campaign.

Schumacher discussed his desire to recruit for a different shape this summer and, at long last, the Trotters have brought in out-and-out wide players to use for the first time since they gained automatic promotion from League Two in the second-half of the 2020/21 campaign.

Charlie Warren was the first wide man through the door from Felixstowe and Walton United before the now very exciting additions of Amario Cozier-Duberry and Thierry Gale from Brighton and Hove Albion and Rapid Vienna respectively.

The latter two have shone in pre-season for Wanderers, with some spectacular strikes and showing an ability, as well as having been allowed to play with an abandon and aggression on the ball that hasn’t been seen at the Toughsheet Community Stadium for a while.

Wanderers have often been stifled in the final third of the pitch because, whilst often dominant and in control of possession, they have struggled to get fairly complex patterns of play to work with ease, whilst also becoming majorly predictable.

The unpredictability of Cozier-Duberry and Gale in a 4-2-3-1 system allows for Bolton to have, simply, more bodies pouring forward that can score goals from a variety of positions, rather than the process-driven get to the by-line and cut-back approach previously religiously followed.

That change in shape is also likely to allow more players from deeper positions to find themselves with more space and opportunity to pounce on chances that may come their way, such as John McAtee and Joel Randall.

Change in shape makes sense, but Bolton will still follow a process

The previous playing style saw Wanderers dominate the ball to try and get into positions to maximise their shots; it was a modern-day version of basic percentage football, disguised as being easy on the eye, when it was actually often quite easy to defend against, especially when there was such a lack of flexibility in their approach.

It made several players get crammed into positions that they were either not familiar with, or simply didn’t suit their skillsets, but that should change this season.

Two players that should thrive should be McAtee and Randall, who will be vying for the so-called ‘number ten’ spot in the 4-2-3-1, behind the striker. McAtee has spoken of his desire to play there to link the play having struggled as an out-and-out forward last year, whilst Randall has had good scoring seasons from that position with Peterborough United.

Getting a more front-foot platform from a back four and two central midfielders to operate should give more space and chance for the forward players to know clear attacks will come again, and that allows more risk to be taken – which was a major blight on previous campaigns.

Increased clarity of their roles, and more freedom to express their talents appears to suit the squad that Bolton have now cultivated, leaving the actual striker position less of a pressing issue.

The striker is still an important piece for Schumacher’s Bolton, but with the foundations now laid, it has become clear that the role could be more of a facilitating job to allow more goals from all over the pitch to be scored next season.