Dean Moxey appears to be suffering from the unusual condition known as Thinking he can see into the future! This is otherwise known as a lack of determination, lack of discipline or lack of effort. And Ben Amos is starting to notice.
Furiamos! On the precious few highlights we have available to us on the new, and mostly appalling, Channel 5 football league show we can see the Bolton defence are guilty of "switching off", on several occasions, before the ball is dead or safe. This is a cardinal sin in defending and something which yo never (or very rarely see) from the top clubs - it's simply not acceptable.
In the photos below we will try to portray the problem, but you will get a better idea if you look out for the YouTube highlights when they become available...
Example one. As the shot comes in from the edge of the box Moxey stops running, stops anticipating. He assumes that either the ball will go in or over the bar - he believes in his assumption strongly enough that he thinks it is ok to stop defending. It is NEVER ok to stop defending until the ball is "safe". A defender at this level should always, ALWAYS, be anticipating the unexpected - in this case he should anticipate that his keeper will make the save and there may be some clearing up to do. He doesn't anticipate the save and it leads to a goal! No wonder Amos is furious after such a great attempt at a save - he is right to expect more commitment from his defenders. This isn't the only time Moxey switched off too early either (see below).
In the photos below we will try to portray the problem, but you will get a better idea if you look out for the YouTube highlights when they become available...
Example one. As the shot comes in from the edge of the box Moxey stops running, stops anticipating. He assumes that either the ball will go in or over the bar - he believes in his assumption strongly enough that he thinks it is ok to stop defending. It is NEVER ok to stop defending until the ball is "safe". A defender at this level should always, ALWAYS, be anticipating the unexpected - in this case he should anticipate that his keeper will make the save and there may be some clearing up to do. He doesn't anticipate the save and it leads to a goal! No wonder Amos is furious after such a great attempt at a save - he is right to expect more commitment from his defenders. This isn't the only time Moxey switched off too early either (see below).
Example two. Moxey starts off only a yard or two behind the player who eventually scores. But when the final shot is taken, 12 yards from the goal line, Moxey is jogging back and is still 5.5 yards outside his own box (23.5 yards from the goal line) despite the fact that a Middlesbrough attacker is ahead of him anticipating a rebound.
These are by no means isolated incidents in a Bolton Wanderers defence, and nor have they been in recent years. If you watch full highlights or look out for sluggish defending while watching the games live you will see that this is an all too common theme within our camp.
This has nothing to do with ability! It all comes down to mentality! Ben Amos is a key player when it comes to mentality and you can clearly see his Manchester United ethos is ingrained within him. There is something slack about the effort of too many Wanderers players and they need to buck up their ideas. Fast!
This has nothing to do with ability! It all comes down to mentality! Ben Amos is a key player when it comes to mentality and you can clearly see his Manchester United ethos is ingrained within him. There is something slack about the effort of too many Wanderers players and they need to buck up their ideas. Fast!
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