Should football clubs simply play to their strengths?

The Premier League is thought of as an overly physical division around Europe, but nobody can deny that it is by far the strongest and most competitive league in the world at the moment. With at least five teams believing they have genuine title chances and a whole host of clubs battling relegation down the bottom, it seems anyone can beat anyone on their day.

The Premier League is also host to many different styles of teams, so each side will face a different challenge to overcome each week, something that is completely engrossing about English football. Whether a team will park the bus or attack from the off, there is not one easy game in the top flight and to win this division should not be thought of lightly as a club will need a variety of skills to be consistently at the top.

Sir Alex Ferguson has dominated the Premier League era with 12 titles to his name; he has consistently used a mixture of youth and experience, new signings and academy players, to produce title winning sides on a regular basis. They have always been a good side to watch and have had some of the greatest players in the world pull on the famous shirt, including Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney.

Some Premier League clubs have been less attractive to watch and are often criticised by fans and press alike for playing a negative style of football and using boring tactics. If the clubs are getting results, then surely they should not change their ethos just to please outsiders, and perhaps affect their club’s Premier League position.

Under Sam Allardyce, Bolton Wanderers were a consistent top half side after promotion into the top flight, even with long ball tactics and physical play; they worked their way into Europe and earned some famous victories over Manchester United and Arsenal. The Reebok was a feared place to go for an away team and you would rarely bet against the Whites at home, no matter who their opponents were.

Allardyce did a fantastic job with a club on a small budget and with a relatively small fan base, which has meant the club have still not fully recovered from his departure. New manager Owen Coyle has changed the way the Trotters play, and the more attractive, attacking, big spending side has been praised by many as a more pleasant team to watch under the new regime.

However, it is not all good news for the fans of Bolton as since the departure of Allardyce their league positions have slowly slipped. The side currently sit in the relegation zone and have struggled for points this season, no matter what sort of style of play they set out with. The Wanderers fans would surely prefer to revert to the Allardyce time, with top 10 finishes, the odd European adventure and big-name players wanting to join the club.

Long gone are the days of Jay-Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo, Youri Djorkaeff and Nicolas Anelka, it’s now time for David N’Gog and Darren Pratley to lead the side out of the relegation trouble that they will almost certainly be in this season. If Bolton had stuck with what they knew best then it could have been a different story.

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