In the last of our statistical reviews of the season, we point out some of the things individual Bolton players have done well, and not so well in the last 10 months. These stats only include players who have at least played the average number of Championship games.
Defence
In our last piece, you would have read that were statistically the dirtiest team in the league if you go by fouls given away. Anyone else actually feeling proud about that? The midfield duo of Karl Henry and Darren Pratley are a big reason for this, with 1.9 and 2.3 fouls per game respectively, they were both in the worst 10 offenders in the division, while Gary Madine, who spent the first half of the season with us, also committed 2.3 per game, but that figure includes his Cardiff appearances too. Our back line was kept busy last season too, with David Wheater and Mark Beevers (7.9 and 8.8 per game) both in the top six for clearances made. Both centre-backs were amongst a group of nine making at least a block a game on average too. While Antonee Robinson had a good season, he was beaten often, dribbled past 1.7 times per game, effectively the tenth most beatable player on the list.
Attack
You couldn’t accuse Gary Madine of trying to have a shot. He averaged 2.7 per game, tied for fifth in the league and the same as Wolves’ Diogo Jota. Sammy Ameobi could frustrate, but he was always keen to take people on, his 3.4 dribbles per game only bettered by Jeremie Boga of Birmingham and Adama Traore of Middlesbrough. On the other hand, he was dispossessed on average more than any other player. Ameobi and Madine were also in the worst ten for unsuccessful touches per game.
While Darren Pratley liked a foul, he took a few as well, in fact, no central/holding midfielder was fouled more often than him on average (2.1 per game).
Passing
Unsurprisingly, we aren’t winning any awards for our pass accuracy. No Bolton player in the division’s top 100 and Will Buckley has the best success rate with 77.3%. Josh Vela liked a cross, his 1.5 per game attempted the eighth highest in the league. Ben Alnwick 12.2 long balls per game was the Championship’s highest average, but if you don’t include goalkeepers, none of our outfield players make the top 10. Interestingly, Ruben Neves would top that chart.