Preston North End took on Bolton Wanderers at the Toughsheet Community Stadium today. The 2-0 defeat seems worrying on the surface, but as a pre-season outing there were positives alongside the obvious negatives.
Bolton impressed thoroughly in the second half this afternoon with Brighton and Hove Albion loanee, Amario Cozier-Duberry, highlighting his pace and trickery while the League One outfit dictated most of the latter 45. The 20-year-old scored in the 74th minute, before Joel Randall doubled Bolton’s lead just two minutes later.
New Roles In Fluid Midfield
The Preston lineup, for the majority of the game’s first hour, consisted of a midfield three – captain Ben Whiteman anchored a pairing of Brad Potts and Mads Frøkjær-Jensen. Potts, who traditionally adopted the wing-back position under Ryan Lowe, looked far more comfortable with the Danish midfielder contributing offensively but particularly in tracking back.
Whiteman was fairly poor in giving away possession, however the North End skipper made some important blocks and recoveries as Bolton piled on tremendous pressure. Wanderers looked the far more physically-dominant outfit for the most part. Ali McCann and Stefán Thórdarson were introduced in the second half, but the Bolton midfield largely overran the two.
A key indication that Paul Heckingbottom needs to demand a ‘workhorse’ midfield could potentially lead to the combination of McCann, Frokjaer and Potts in important counter-attacking matches. Whiteman will likely be relied on as a deep-lying and ball-winning defensive midfielder, while Thórdarson will look to dictate the play in possession-dominant games.
Desperate Formation Change Needed
The second half was unlike anything seen in the first from Preston. The team looked full of cohesion from minutes 25-40, but as soon as the whistle blew for the second commencing, North End were pressed exceptionally by Wanderers, who in turn dictated play from that point on.
Thierry Small is a brilliant addition to North End, with the 20-year-old joining this summer on a long-term deal. However, the imbalance on the wings was particularly noticeable as Robbie Brady adopted a more defensive role, but rarely tested the opposing full-back like Small repeatedly did.
Under both Lowe and Heckingbottom, a mould of a five-back system has been the go-to tactic. However, Bolton displayed far more attacking threat down the wings as they utilised specialist wingers to progress up the pitch creatively.
Preston will need to reflect on this performance, as well as the tactical set-up used in the Championship, ahead of their opening day trip to Queens Park Rangers on the 9th August. Of course, this result is entirely insignificant as it is a pre-season outing, but question marks will undoubtedly have been raised on the Lilywhites’ current attacking capabilities with last season still fresh in their mind.
