Matt Bloomfield has highlighted the need for struggling Luton Town to become more clinical in front of goal, but believes a season’s best statistic from the weekend shows they’re edging towards a net-bulging solution.
The Hatters have scored just 27 goals in as many Championship matches this term, but 14 of those have come from set-pieces, which was a fact recognised by Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom as part of his preparation for Saturday’s stalemate, which saw them drop into the relegation zone.
That was Bloomfield’s debut in the Luton dugout, and after just three days of training following his appointment, he drilled his side to secure only their second 0-0 of the season and first clean sheet in 12 games.
So, effective was that endeavour that Preston failed to register either of their two shots on target. If that was an early blueprint for fixing Luton’s leaky defence — the second worst in the league with 44 goals conceded — the manager’s next major task is to get his side scoring again, as they’ve only managed two goals in their last six appearances.
And on their travels, Town have drawn a blank six times on their 13 games so far, so in Bloomfield’s first Hatters road trip to Oxford tonight, it’s clear that his side need to sharpen up in front of goal if they are to climb out of the bottom three.
But though Luton were frustrated against Preston at the weekend, the manager highlighted one important statistic, which could be key in getting his side firing again.
“There’s been a heavy reliance on set-piece goals throughout the season so far. To pick up more wins, we have to improve our open play goals,” said Bloomfield.
“We have some really good forwards in the building, some really good attacking players. It’s about trying to create as many opportunities as we can for them to attack. We got to the final third 52 times on Saturday, which is the most in a home game this season, which we’re really pleased about. Now it’s about taking that next step and creating clear chances and executing them.”
In his favour, Bloomfield has a proven track record of fostering attacking football with his previous club Wycombe. Before he left to join Luton last week, the Chairboys were the first team in England’s top four divisions to score 50 goals this season, ahead of the likes of Liverpool and Leeds.
They led League One for non-penalty goals scored though, intriguingly, their xG (expected goals) ranked just 11th in the division, underscoring the Wanderers’ ability to make the most of their opportunities. It helps that their Luton-linked coveted top scorer Richard Kone bagged 13 under Bloomfield this term and another at the weekend, which is more than the combined total of Town’s two main strikers Carlton Morris (seven) and Elijah Adebayo (five).
Talking of instilling the ruthlessness of his Wycombe side to his Luton team, Bloomfield said: “There’s no magic formula that we can apply, but what we can do is try and create chances of high xG, if we can. At Wycombe, it was about the execution of those chances. That’s the part we can’t do as coaches — it’s down to the players.”
He also acknowledged the importance of tailoring his approach to the strengths and profiles of Luton’s squad, rather than imposing a rigid system.
“We also have to understand the profile of the footballers we’re working with right now — what are the similarities to the ones we’ve worked with before and what’s different,” the manager said. “There’s no point in trying to be a know-it-all saying, ‘This is my way and the only way.’ It’s about having clear ideas but building them around the nuances of the players we have.”
Naturally, confidence is a key ingredient in rediscovering Luton’s goalscoring touch, but Bloomfield knows it cannot be forced.
“Confidence isn’t something you can flick on and flick off,” he said. “It’s about doing it consistently and as many times as you can. If you look at some of the forwards we’ve got, they’ve played in the Premier League and scored goals there last year. We believe in their ability, and if we can help create chances for them, I’m sure the goals will come.”
The task ahead is significant, but Bloomfield’s belief in his squad, and their ability to rise to the challenge, is unwavering. With his insistence that the Hatters start “putting the ball at risk”, there’s a plan in place to try and increase their goalscoring output.
But he explained: “What we don’t want to do is put the ball at risk in our own half. In the defensive and middle third of the pitch, we shouldn’t be putting the ball at risk. We should be able to manipulate ways to play against our opposition, whether that’s however many which ways we can find to to manipulate our opposition and try and find our way to the top third, then we can put the ball at risk at the top third of the pitch. I think is really important.
“That’s how you create those chances. I want that creativity and freedom to be there for the players. I think at times on Saturday, we could have put the ball the risk of more. I said it after the game and watching it back, that’s absolutely the case.
“We got there 52 times. Top of the season. And then a couple of times we turned out and we could have really gone and put the ball at risk. It’s not always going to come off, but at the top of the pitch you can risk it and if it doesn’t quite work then you’re still a long way from your own goal.
“And if there’s a turnover in that moment, we should be in a shape behind the ball to try and regain it as quickly as we possibly can. There was a phase in the first half where we risked it and gave it away twice, but won it back quickly where Marv (Nakamba) was, and recycled the attacks. That’s fine.
“If the attack doesn’t quite work out, as long as our shape behind the ball is correct, we believe that we can now go and have a second phase of the attack. But we have to keep putting the ball at risk at the top of the pitch to create those opportunities.
“If we play safe in those areas and we’re not going to create a high chance or a high calibre chance. So I think that’s really important that we try and find that freedom and really try and go all out in that final third of the pitch.”
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