Head coach Steven Schumacher talks to Sky Sports about Bolton Wanderers' start to the season and expectations for their League One campaign; watch Bolton v Wimbledon live on Sky Sports+ and the Sky Sports app on Saturday; kick-off 3pm.
Simeon Golam
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Steven Schumacher has told Sky Sports that Bolton Wanderers need to strengthen their squad to make them more competitive in League One this season.
Bolton's League One season has started confidently, if unspectacularly, and Steven Schumacher knows there is still much to do.
“Overall it was a positive performance,” Wanderers manager Schumacher told Sky Sports. “We were very strong defensively in some areas.”
We also created good chances and had a lot of shots on goal. However, like any team, we would like to be more calm in the decisive moments.
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Schumacher, 41, joined the club in January, but the team failed to make the playoffs in May and had to undergo a restructuring in the summer. In total, 14 new faces have joined the team this season.
He felt it was important to breathe new life into a team that had lost in the League One play-off final to Oxford United the previous season.
“Some players left and we brought in new players who added energy and freshness,” explains Schumacher. “Last season, not reaching the Wembley final had a big impact on the team and they didn't start the season as well as they could have.”
“For a club of this size, not making the playoffs was disappointing. When I arrived, we were trying to get into those zones, but we couldn't get past them. So this season, we've been focused on identifying what we need to improve.”
The plan is based on defensive solidity. Bolton finished eighth in the league table last season but finished the season with a negative goal difference.
“The main problem was conceding too many goals,” says Schumacher. “Creating or scoring goals was not a problem, but conceding 70 goals in 46 games was too many.”
We focused on playing better defense, becoming more organized, and appreciating the importance of team defense. The first few games have been good, but we still have room to improve.
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Bolton have seven points from six games this season and have kept just one clean sheet, scoring six goals and conceding six.
Schumacher knows he has a lot of work to do to shape his squad and team into the way he wants them to be.
“The best way to get players to buy into this approach is to show them the benefits,” he says. “When everyone understands that conceding fewer goals helps you stay in the game even if you’re not playing brilliantly, they see how it helps the whole team.”
“The fewer goals you concede, the less pressure you have to score multiple times to win the game. The best teams concede the fewest goals, and we need to follow their example.”
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In Schumacher’s final full season at this level, he won the title for Plymouth Argyle with 101 points. That was just over two years ago, but he feels he has come a long way since then, especially after leaving Stoke City last year, his next stop after the Pilgrims.
“Personally, I think I've improved by being more patient,” he says. “At Argyle we were very open, always playing ahead and running forward whenever we could, and it worked because we had players who could do it.”
“In the Championship you realise you can't play like that all the time because the level of the opposition is higher and you get punished if you lose the ball in bad areas.”
“I'm now more aware of what's going on in transition and a bit more organised on the ball. It's about finding balance, being patient and trying to stay in attacking mode.”
Pictured: Bolton have seven points from their first six games.
His aim now is to rebuild Bolton's squad to suit his strategies. It will take some patience, but he is under no illusions about the expectations at the club.
“You can’t do everything in one transfer window because of contracts and other factors,” he says. “My experience at Argyle was that it took us a couple of seasons to really get the style of play and the squad we wanted before we won the league and got promoted.”
“There is a great need to achieve success quickly here, and we do not have that much time. But we are moving in the right direction.
“I see a lot of similarities in this group with successful teams I've had before. They are goal-oriented, work hard and are well-coordinated.
But there is no escaping the expectations. This club has been in League One for too long. Under Ian [Evatt], the team came close a couple of times, reaching the semi-finals and play-off final, but last season did not go to plan.
“We know we need to be looking to get promoted and at least fight for a playoff spot this season.”
Sourse: skysports.com
