'Gutted' Bolton boss made tactical tweak to try and expose Northampton's playing style
Bolton manager Steven Schumacher admitted he was ‘gutted’ to lose Saturday’s game at Sixfields after revealing he made a ‘tactical change’ in an attempt to try and exploit the way Northampton defend.
Wanderers rank second in League One for possession this season while Cobblers are down in 17th, and as a result Schumacher made one change for the trip to Sixfields, swapping Josh Sheehan for Ethan Erhahon in midfield.
However, whilst the visitors finished with over 60 per cent of the ball, they were blunted effectively by Town and failed to score for the first time since the opening day of the season, eventually beaten 2-0 by goals from Cameron McGeehan and Sam Hoskins.
"It was a frustrating afternoon and I'm gutted that we've lost because I felt we went into the game with huge confidence and we started really well,” said Schumacher. “We were on the front foot, we played with energy and we had one massive chance, but we missed it and the game went against us in a way we didn't really expect.
"We made a tactical change with our team because they don’t have loads of possession in their games. We knew we would have a lot of the ball and we felt we could get Josh Sheehan on the ball and commit with an extra attacking midfield player rather than play two deeper midfielders.
"But they made it difficult for us with how deep they defended and it gave us no space behind them. Northampton don't concede many goals and many chances because of how they defend and that's why we made a tactical change, but credit to them and how hard they worked.
"I just felt we were a bit scruffy with the ball and we turned it over more than we would have liked. But you get games like that. We’re 10 games in now and that was probably the first game where we properly haven't been at our best. We will have bumps in the road this season and today is one.”
Schumacher also gave his view on the penalty incident, adding: “He (Amario Cozier-Duberry) didn't see him (Michael Forbes) coming. The lad had taken the long throw and he just arrived on his blindside. I don't know how many times we’ve seen penalties given for that. It's just one of them, it's a mistake. But that thing happens.”