it just gives a couple of different ways of dealing with if we want to go to a press and we get beat we have a second line and then of course a third line becomes about when the fullback takes over and takes it [Music] responsibility Bolton against Oxford the league one playoff final at Wembley to decide who goes up to the championship I arrived back at the club in mid November taken over from leam Manning the team had got off to a very good start the club had Ambitions to be a championship Club in the
next couple of years so to arrive back and to lead the team out at Wembley on that day against a very good Bolton side was a very special [Music] moment one change from the the semi-final games against Peter Bru for the final and it's a tough conversation to have we replaced Finn Stevens who was on loan to us from brenford with Sam long who's a player that I coached at 9 years old and has been on a playing Journey through the club as long as I've been on a coaching Journey so the thought in that
um we we' always spoken around only making change through two reasons one being performance is an obvious one but the second whether we felt we could take an advantage or prevent an opposition getting an advantage and with Sam knowing how strong Bolton were at set plays they were a team that were second in the league four goals scored from set pieces and um top for actually scoring from Corners very aggressive very big team we're very small team where we fight and we're aggressive in aerial Jewels but really we had Elliot Moore right side and Kieran
Brown um really the only two sizable people at those places so with Sam's uh physical abilities as well as his technical that matched fins we thought that would complement us as a team to be able to to take that on and same goalkeeper we've had for the back end of the year since he came in in January uh replaced James Beetle who went back in uh the window and we brought in Jamie coming from Chelsea the rest of the team was Joe Bennett as left back Cameron branagan as the holding six we played with two
10s with Ruben Rodriguez on the right and Tyler goodam on the left and then the front three led by Mark Harris and on the right hand side Owen Dale who was signed from blackpole in January and Josh Murphy on the [Music] left we'd played Bolton two months before and a score line that wasn't very flatter to us at all um but formation wise they had remained exactly the same in terms of a 352 a very sort of narrow back three um where we had Jones on the right um Santos and tol on the left um
shien as the single six operating with two 10 okay Thomasson and Moma and then two forwards in Collins and Charles supported very heavily by cogle on the right hand side and AA on the on the left hand [Music] side we looked at the the threats of Bolton and it was a couple of key things we felt were going to be so important to the game when I took over in November the team had had been very good at sitting in the Deep block and transitioning transitioning quickly um when I came in I wanted to try
and change that and to become a bit more aggressive and a bit more of a high pressing team is how I want to coach and how I want our teams to play from January to March we'd actually became statistically a team that become the most aggressive pressing team in the league and League one uh and as a result ended up turning over more of the ball and getting more opportunities on goal quicker because of that against Bolton we changed that approach we felt that the last time we played them by pressing too high too early
with Collins and with Charles and certainly with the two 10 it would pull wide but certainly with cogle and a better that they could end up pinning you and they'd utiliz the space in behind so we first spoke about a line of Engagement which for us was just around the top of the the de here uh and then we spoke about how we wanted to engage and what that looked like they play with the back three we will press with the front three we' done that for a reason of we didn't want be passive and
let them pin us with their two Wing backs obviously with the two forwards as well in the 10 it would split what had happened in the previous game was our wide players ended up tracking their wing backs and they allowed them to dictate a lot of the game so what we spoke about during the leadup to the game was how to address their back three in terms of the engagement and the trigger and what we said was we'd press from out to in so we'd almost let uh Santos have the board to an extent would
sit in a mid block because where we were going to engage would prevent a lot of the space behind so we didn't need need to worry too much about longer balls in behind because it would either be dealt with with our center backs or Jamie come and sweeping from there but what it allowed us to do is also address our press so we started with a narrow front three Mark Harris's job was to screen Shen a lot of Bolton's play shien's a a very good player but a lot of the play tended to operate and
go through uh shien so when Santos had the ball the idea for for Mark was to make sure that a direct pass Lane wasn't available to then force him to either Jones on the right hand side or to toll on the left we tried to encourage it to toll a little bit more just simply because he was a right footed Center back playing on the left of a three but either way the principles of what we did didn't really change and the idea was when it did come right to Jones we had Josh Murphy on
this side that would look depending upon the height of the wing back for here so cogle if he stepped on his job was to cut the pass and line to make sure that that pass couldn't find its way into here what was important behind was that Mark car continue to screen and stop that pass coming into to that Central Area into shien and then we spoke about the importance on this opposite side of Owen Dale not dropping down and dropping here because what we wanted to do is make sure that we threatened either this one
or this in two different ways what it did leave was see a passing Lane if we close this one off it left an opportunity to pass into here uh into mahoma but because of how we'd set up in behind rather than being a flat four like we may have been previously in the season we changed to a three so Tyler Good's job in this case was to front screen so not mark behind but make sure he tried where possible to front screen and stop passing Lane Central into here and because we had the extra man
in Midfield now in C Branan we could tuck across and we could also offer cover through here that allowed us to stop them playing um these passes which would either force them into longer balls or force them into these types of passes where we could steal it and be in good position so then quickly transition against that back three or it would force him to go back to the keeper off through the center back and we had a secondary trigger of Mark Harris then being able to release onto Santos and if and when that happened
C branagan releas him from the Central Area because we had the spare man here to be able to make sure Shen didn't get on the born it still gives the security of Ruben Rodriguez taking care of Thomasson and still Tyler goodam then taking care of mahoma we're recognized at times that when we did force it so we got the other side this time to to if the fullback had started high and they couldn't find them and that started to happen in the first half they start to drop a little bit deeper now what we didn't
want is fullbacks going too high too early because it would then leave the space for the either run of the 10 to make there or for the opposite nine to run our Center back so what we had to work on was the recognition of if they drop down and drop deep and it comes here the first line of the press changes and the rle on responsibility of our wide player in Owen Dale on this side would then be to take responsibility of that which would allow if the 10 wanted to run on which they tended
to do would allow the fullback to stay in his spot when we did play wide and we forced him them to play wide into the center back the opportunity for Owen down on this case if he did press and it didn't quite go right and they still managed to find this pass here because of the runs of either the center forward or the 10s what we found was they're still encouraging the wide forwards to get back but because we had this second line of our press which could now be a Midfield player if we needed
to go out we could send a Midfield player out allow cam Branan to slide across and deal with one of the 10 and allow the opposite Midfield player in this case in Tyler goodam to then slide across and make sure we have security centrally so it just gives a couple of different ways of dealing with if we want to go to a press and we get beat we have a second line and then of course ultimately third the third line becomes about when the fullback takes over and takes out [Music] responsibility so we spoke about
the game in three phases when we have possession we speak about buildup one which is generally has plan out from the back whether it's stationary from the goal kick or whether it's in in open play and what we noticed about Bolton's press it was a front two press so anytime the center back on this side Kieran Brown had it would' be very aggressive here the other one would lock off the other Center back so then it become about the importance of our goalkeeper making that that third man to make sure we had a 3v2 we
had one here in C Branigan even though it was under pressure one-on-one because it allowed their Midfield to go man for man here but the importance of if we could go in there was the lack of ability to go out this way because of that so the important in of if we couldn't play forwards the role of the goalkeeper to support and support underneath to still give us that 3v2 but the other one to that was once we did have it because of the shape of Bolton three but five the wing backs trying to work
out how aggressive both of these were going to be if we couldn't play through quickly in in buildup what we found was if we could position the fullbacks in a space where they could receive knowing full well that the fullback on this side was going to press and press aggressively what we'd seen in a lot of the games both from when we played them and and since was that with our Wingers and the pace that we have from deeper areas it left this which was three versus three so this was Josh Murphy up against Jones
Santos up against Mark Harris and obviously owale on the other side up against tol so what we spoke about was the importance of the fullbacks position to be able to get the ball and face forwards quickly and then it was about the position and understanding of what become a relationship with Josh Murphy or the Winger and the 10 because what we found was we could go back out and go back through but what we wanted to do was get and be effective playing forwards whether that was an opportunity to go straight into the 10 because
we knew that this one would have to come out and deal with Josh which would allow us opportunity to go through whether it was Joe Bennett getting the ball and looking for the run of the 10 to try and go over knowing full well that the center back would have to come and deal with murf or on the other case whether it was the 10 that got locked up and opportunities as they pressed for actually Josh to drop down slightly to get the ball knowing full well that center backs don't want to come too far
this way which would then but Josh's ability whether it be to face up or to go behind get the opportunity to link and get out quickly so there were a couple of the opportunities we looked at in build up one the last one I suppose was especially if we couldn't play and they put a real aggressive press and we couldn't play out and out we knew that with the 3v3 here if we needed to we speak about playing through playing around and the opportunity to play over wemble is a big pitch we have very good
Pace very good Pace two very good attack minded players here had a very smart Center forward that was able to try and exploit space but we've got a goalkeeper with a real good passing range as well so opportunities to recognize especially in deeper areas where we might just be able to go direct and beat for Pace 1 V [Music] one as we progressed up the pitch if it wasn't from Deep areas we speak about buildup 2 so almost operating in this Midfield area here and the idea was to either come from here into here to
arrive into the final third no and how we've got there um or come from here into there to know how we've got there but if we couldn't play around and couldn't play through what we recognized was two different ways that we wanted to try and try and get out of very good ball ins side and there was a couple of areas we found where it come through the center backs directly if they had time on the ball as we shifted what we found was if we could depending upon the position of the the nearest 10
that was marking our 10 if we could find whether it was in from the center back or from the fullback in this case in here with shim being a single six at times there was an ability for our opposite tend to run off the back so there was a couple of times certainly during the game that when we got it as we turn and we got our T into these spaces from the first phase if we couldn't find the Winger what we found was see a bol and back line that had to drop she in
that also had to try and recover but what we found was with Mark Harris running the center back there was always an opportunity for us to come out the other side and really try and exploit that space uh if we could have go direct and and Ruben Rodriguez I think in the first 20 minutes got a really good opportunity unfortunately his left foot to try and uh to try and exploit that but didn't come off what we'd also spotted was an opportunity that wherever Mark Harris tended to go Bolton were very aggressive in how they
want to Mark and what we found was wherever the center forward went Santos would follow um to be aggressive so if it did come in and this does happen a lot and it happened a lot in the game whether it come from the center back the six or the fullbacks if our T if it went to the fullback and our 10 pulled off and our Winger stayed wide what would happen there be opportunities to play into our nine what tends to happen Santos big aggressive and very good at what he does um and and physically
can muscle you off the ball so rather than actually try and get into a battle with him what we spoke about a lot leading into the week was can we use the smartness of Mark Harris to try and drag him out of those spaces knowing full well that because again when they come into a full press if we can get him out of these spaces whether we can go direct whether it be from the center backs the six into that space for the Run of our opposite 10 or if it's a little bit deeper if
the 10's Too Deep the opportunity for our Winger in this case Josh Murphy on the right hand side Owen Dale opportunities to come in and through here for the run of the Winger who we know has Pace to get inside and exploit actually dragging the central Defender out of that space to exploit that space and that's something that we worked on quite a lot during the [Music] week so looking at how we wanted to press with spoke around the line of Engagement where we wanted to press to try and negate the strengths of both the
the wing backs of Bolton and of course the two cent forwards and the Ts that want to pull you wide um we'd addressed i' like to think we addressed that that problem but then it was about how do we actually you know we've got a way we want to play with the ball but with the players that we have leading into this game what we had worked on is becoming a more aggressive team rather than sitting deep and pressing could we come from that mid block and be more aggressive in transition and try and get
opportunities on goal quicker because of that that engagement line was so important during this game because what we didn't want to do is press too high too early because if we did that regardless of whether we got it right or wrong if we were to win the ball we actually wanted to space behind Bolton's 3 as well as in front and the idea with that was if we can encourage them to our engagement line to the edge of the D here it would allow us that when we did win it so if it was Santos
that played wide and we could get Josh Murphy pressing and stealing here because we spoke about the aggressiveness of O down not dropping down Mark Harris was then if we were to win the ball was available to be played we had the opposite Winger able to come in and the 10 able to break so there was real opportunities that when we wanted to actually exploit the space in front if we couldn't get behind but also we wanted this space here to be able to really get at them in in there we spoke about again if
it comes to this side and it's Josh Murphy that presses because now we have the security of the Midfield who have to be brave we don't want the marking behind because it allows an opportunity to bounce in and come out which causes this problem so what we asked of them was even if we get a press can you mark in front and front screen because if you can do that and want to try and force that through and we steal it we still have one against one here we have one against one here one against
one here and the other 10 trying to get there as well so was the importance of the position of the player to try and front Mark or front screen that would stop the ball being able to come in to go out but also really set us up in a way that when we won it and with Tyler and ruin who were very attack-minded players in in this formation with a a very attack-minded six sitting behind them in C bran with an excellent passing range really allowed us to when we won the ball not only break
and break quickly but exploit space here either side of what we felt was the six but also getting behind a backline that was was high but a three versus three or in times four versus three in our [Music] favor the first goal just after the half hour mark uh it was a well workk goal come from a a throwin so Joe Bennett's got the ball and there comes a biting point we we spoke about Mark Harris being the player that could become free um there's going to be a point where he comes and the center
back doesn't want to come too far and too too much across to leave too much space but what we found was from the throw in Mark Harris freeze himself Bennett plays into Mark Harris it's an opportunity then for him to flick it around the corner on the opposite 10 to Tyler goodram and with the cover of shien again Mark makes the run again which opens up the space and the opportunity to play back to Ruben Rodriguez our opposite 10 either side and then because again we ask the importance of our wide players and how we
play to stay wide and keep the pitch as big as possible the passing range and the um ability of both Tyler and of ruin the first thought is to always find our Wingers if it's not the nine is definitely the Wingers to try and exploit that space and it was a wonderful first time pass in from ruin where Josh Murphy's got himself on the ball and even though there was a recovering fullback in cogle the Bolton Midfield three still defended and dropped it extremely well Shen of course made an effort to get back as did
everybody else but Josh 1 V one opportunity to then run inside and again because the two 10s make the runs that they do it opens up the space for Josh to continue coming in and he hits a wonderful ball across the the goal takes a small deflection off of Santos and and Loops up in and over the goalkeeper to make it one [Music] n second goal comes from a goal kick so we've chosen not to play out and Jamie cuming has decided to kick long Ball's gone long as a good battle but the the beauty
of this is because we've we've got almost a matched up Midfield we're able to at least compete we're not the biggest of teams but we've got some Brave players that will put themselves as best they can about to compete and that was so important in the first phase of this because it Loops up once and there's a second phase that we have to to compete for during the first phase ball does drop and what you see is Mark Harris has started to already drift down the pitch and he's attracted the attention of Santos who comes
with him and Josh Murphy goes to make a run because he thinks the pass is going to come on the first phase when it happens it doesn't it don't and on the second phase it does loop back up in the air again and Josh has already made a recovery run back in but Santos has stayed where he is with Mark Harris and as it has dropped Ruben Rodriguez has had a wonderful touch but what he's also recognized is the opportunity not to find the run but to find the space and the run and it's a
beautiful pass that he makes that plays into the space where has been vacated here and again the central back can't release too quickly too early got Owen Dale to worry about here but Josh recognizes the opp unity and the timing of both the pass to make the run into that space the pass from Ruben encourages the keeper to come it doesn't quite get there and Josh's first touch is fantastic takes it past the the outrun of the keeper takes it a little bit wide but it's finish from a very narrow angle puts the ball in
uh to make it 2-n and allow us to go into halftime with a a very well-deserved two-nil [Music] lead we spoke to the players about maybe dealing with a bit more directness um but not changing what we did because if we were to continue setting up our position the way we had there wasn't the space for them to uh to exploit going in behind so as long as even if it was whether it Santos or even if we we still wanted to put pressure here because we didn't want to be a team that started to
drop and then encourage opportunities on our goal but what we did say was the importance then of if it was on the other side we go to the other side if we was to say tall and we're still asking players to be brave and courage pressing here the real importance become then around the importance of the the two1 because we've been asking them to front screen what started to happen is when they got bypassed and again it became two versus two here Kieran Brown on the left and Elliot Moore were immense aerially but what was
so important was regardless of whether they won it or there was a flick on because we were asking our two 10s in this phase to be a little bit more aggressive as well as our wide players if that was to happen the importance of these two getting back and getting back either side to to make sure that if that did drop into an advantageous area that it didn't then become a two versus one or a three versus one in this space but the message very very much was until they make a change tactically we will
continue to do what we want to [Music] do so we tun all up and cam Branigan who had been having an excellent couple of months with us and is a very important player to what we do and how we do it fortunately been struggling with an ankle and he picked up a knock in the first half which he'd been trying to manage but then there was a tackle made in the second half where he felt it and it ended up going out for a corner he wasn't able to continue so we had a choice to
to make on who did we replace cam with and we've got two very good players in Marcus MCU and Josh mcran both of which had shared that role as a single six because the other Temptation was always to try and go to two sixes to try and negate those type of longer balls or try and shut the game up my issue with that was with it being around 60 Minutes there was still at least 30 of normal time and what ended up being 9 Minutes of added time if we went to two Sixers I felt
that we would concede a lot more possession a lot more ground so the change we chose to make was actually Marcus MCU and I think a lot of people would have expecting Josh mcran to come in there to calm it down and and manage it but Marcus had worked extremely hard to get himself back into the team and we just felt with the way the game was playing the ability for Marcus to really get around the pitch knowing full well that we were going to bring Josh on a little bit later and move Marcus higher
they would allow us to keep our energy in in this space whilst also make sure that when we won the ball we could start that attacking intent and Pace that we [Music] wanted for us to finish the game against Bolton side that finished 10 points above us in the league uh were a team that were there make promotions and possess so many threats across the pitch we come away from the game not just with the the score line and a plan that had almost gone to Perfection if you will as much as it possibly can
can um but we restricted such an attacking side with so many good attacking players to zero shots on Target on our goal and that was down to players being very clear on what they did executing it as well as they could and sticking together throughout the whole 9900 minutes that Wembley gave us to provide everyone associated with our football club one of the best days possible and to put us back into the championship after 25 years have actually been out of it so it's a fantastic achievement for the playing group for the club and it
was a wonderful experience to experience as a local boy as an ox boy from the sideline to now lead them to that level of competition [Music]
