A warm summers evening on Teesside greeted Burton Albion to their first ever Riverside experience. Even the constabulary turned out in greater numbers than on Saturday to greet them adorned in the same colour as the Burton shirts. The three Police Transit vans at the rear of the South stand however could have been the mode of transport for the travelling Brewers army as there were more rioters on Saturday than travelling fans tonight. I think the official figure was around 230 or thereabouts. We needn’t have worried about an atmosphere though as the South and North stands combined to keep it going all night.
The line-up was unchanged from Saturday, still no Braithwaite or Ayala despite “fake news” from a local paper to the contrary about the former’s fitness. That wasn’t the only thing that was unchanged from Saturday, like Sheffield United the Brewers came at us from the off and for the first 5 to 10 minutes we were pretty much camped in our own half with the Midfield yet again looking irrelevant. Fortunately Monk saw the same game and changed his Diamond before the quarter hour mark before things got worse. Up until the formation change to what looked like a straight three in the middle we looked lost. Things didn’t that get much better but it seemed to steady the ship. Christie was very quiet and seemed to be under instruction to keep back although to be fair everything Burton threw at us came down our left side so inevitably that was the side were we eventually regained possession and broke from.
Burton had signalled intent from the off and Palmer came close before he blasted it high wide and over in a let off but early warning to Boro. They played with a big unit up top in Lucas Akins who was chasing onto long balls with Gibson comfortably dealing with them although sometimes via a throw in or a corner. It was from a corner that Randolph miss punched in his only nervous moment from which the ball seemed to take an eternity to clear before Clayton eventually got it up field. For the rest of the game Randolph looked comfortable, coming out for balls and catching them cleanly and with confidence reassuring his defenders in front of him in marked contrast to the early stages of last season.
As we approached the quarter hour Boro settled and started to play some neat stuff but again some unnecessary and nonsense passes put us back in trouble on occasions. Then Clayts was booked for a tackle that was even later than Saturdays Police reinforcements. This wasn’t going entirely to plan and it has to be said that Burton looked the more up for it. Clayton was committed to sweeping everything up but now had to be careful after his yellow. Howson seemed a bit better connected with his team mates but Forshaw would go from a brilliant piece of footwork to misplaced or just plain poor passes. This was almost déjà vu from the last game on Saturday but worse. Christie wasn’t getting down the flanks and delivering balls into the box at all. We were trying to play it though the middle but it wasn’t really coming off despite some clever and deft touches from Bamford who is carving out a role for himself in the team as the No.10 we have all been looking for.
Then as on Saturday a breakthrough when Assombalonga latched onto a ball played through by Gestede on the left hand side of the Burton box, cuts into a really tight angle and instead of passing it into the middle his left foot unleashed an unstoppable shot past his marker and between the Keeper Bywater and the near post, 1-0 Boro and you could see the Brewers droop. Again as on Saturday we revelled in the one goal cushion coming at almost the same time on 23 minutes (instead of 20) and then started to play some good football creating serious opportunities including one which saw a Bamford header flash wide from the middle of the box. During our purple patch Gestede also had a header in on target from a Christie cross who seemed to have sprung to life after the goal but Burton also came too close for comfort to an equaliser with a fierce cross come shot that fizzed wide of Randolph’s goal at the other end.
Assombalonga was everywhere and chasing everything, holding the ball up, twisting and turning defenders and linking up play, this was more like it but it didn’t last. Yet again we seemed to suffer from over confidence (or maybe a lack of belief) and Burton started creeping back in with some good build up play themselves. While Clough’s men could look pleasing on the eye they never really looked like getting the better of Gibson and Fry who again were solid and dependable at the back. I’m sure Garry Monk now sees Fry as a serious member of his side and not just a third or fourth choice back up CB. The injury to Ayala could not have come at a better time for young Dael as once again he put in a sterling and confident performance with well-timed challenges and good awareness around him. He also seems to have earned the trust and respect from Randolph who regularly played the ball out to him.
The half time whistle went and we went in one up but it should have been two and if we are going to break this league let alone smash it we need to make these spells of pressure and classy football count. The second half started with no changes from either bench but again like Saturday we just didn’t start as well as our opponents and again the middle of the park looked disconnected, scrappy and disjointed. George then had an Ayala moment as he short changed Randolph with a ridiculous back pass (remember a similar one at home early last season?) which had the ROI Keeper sprinting off his line to clear taking a clattering from man mountain Akins for his troubles. He was clearly winded and Dimi was sent out to warm up as a precaution and the applause and cheers were almost as loud as when Assombalonga had scored. The almost calamitous error seemed to be a wake-up call to our Friend George as he then played the rest of the half with renewed vigour and determination going on those old familiar mazy George runs and turning the Burton RB inside out and pinging crosses in. It was good to see him back to his best and maybe the back pass was the slap in the face he needed to give himself.
Boro then started to put another show together with Bamford again playing delightful balls and linking the play up between midfield and attack. The lad looks an even better player than his first time here and is starting to look a snip at the rumoured £5m or £6m we paid for him. Gestede also looked more effective by having other players to link up with presumably and losing the Donkey tag in the process, maybe not quite a thoroughbred but certainly a far more useful pack horse. Back to Bamford and he played a real peach of a ball through to Assombalonga and I’m talking the real Ferrero Rocher of balls here. Britt was clean through, twelve yards out with only Bywater in goal to beat and that’s where his shot almost ended up, by the water behind the back of the North Stand in the Tees. It was easier to score than miss. In fact I would go as far as to say that even Dong Gook Lee would have buried it, Britt will never have a better chance for the rest of his career. It should have been two up and the game out of sight much to the relief and incredulous looks on the faces of those in Yellow shirts.
Five minutes later Assombalonga collected the ball outside of the Burton box, he tried to muscle his way through three or four defenders who wouldn’t yield but he wouldn’t give up, he managed to get a half shot away which was blocked but it spun to Gestede unmarked from ten yards out who shot cleanly but straight at Bywater whom it bounced off but Assombalonga was still charging through only this time to despatch it into the middle of the net to make it 2-0. Not long after we thought Friend would nick the third as he ran through the Burton defence, turning the RB yet again, cutting inside beating three men only to see his efforts come to a crunching end as it took twenty men to stop him (OK it was probably only three who simultaneously body checked him), our Tails were up!
Boro were once again in the ascendancy and started to play clever football with neat pass and go movements. A ball played into the box to the newly arrived Baker (on as sub for Forshaw) saw him unselfishly leave the ball for Bamford who shot and scored but in his eager determination had strayed offside, a real shame as Paddy deserved his goal. Boro weren’t quite showboating but offering tantalising glimpses of what this side could really do once they all click. You got a feeling that this was a set of players really enjoying their football and whilst the belief seems to ebb and flow when it flows it really flows with clever dummies and back heels much to the despair of Burton who feared an avalanche I suspect but it just didn’t come. We reverted to safe balls played out from the back and building up slowly, trying to coax and tease the Burton Defence out but sometimes so slowly it was easily read or intercepted. Watching Boro at the moment is a bit like the Foxtrot, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. The quick bits are tantalising but the slow bits at times were like a throwback to last season. Patience and time will be the key elements.
With about thirteen minutes plus stoppage time to go Burton found themselves down to 10 men after Baker was scythed down by Akpan who hadn’t been on the pitch long himself. For ourselves Traore had just been sent on for Bamford who was taken off to a standing ovation, how things must feel so much better for the lad after his Burnley sojourn. Adama’s arrival of course raised expectations; this was now his chance against tired and weary defenders in a lower league. Well Adama does what Adama does, some amazing headless runs and then standing and watching without anticipating and making movement into space. At one point Clayts had the ball and he literally walked over to him and stood about two feet away instead of making an opening. Despite that every time he got the ball he had everyone off their seats and did actually play a few decent balls and one in particular was a Malteser (not quite as flash as Ferroro Rocher you understand) for both Fletcher (who had come on for Gestede) and Assombalonga to chase. Fletcher arrived on it first with only the keeper to beat, lined up his shot but placed it perfectly into the outstretched arms of Bywater. Tellingly though Adama had taken the ball out of defence after a spell of pressure and burst up the pitch. I’m not sure what Monk would have made of him other than the lad has blistering pace, gets the fans going, some great but eclectic technique but what do I do with him and where to play him?
Overall you do get the feeling that one day these opportunities are all going to start going in and when that happens we will see six or seven in a game. It feels like there have been more attempts on and off target in these opening three games than I witnessed all last season. It finished 2-0 but could and should have been 4 or 5 nil, it is nice however to have a moan about us only winning 2-0, Typical Boro!
A splendid review RR, I almost feel I was there.
I followed BBC and anything else that would work and the Boss said I had St Vitus’ dance all evening. A great report and great result, now I’m going to read it again with a cup of tea.
Yorkshire of course.
UTB,
John
Thanks RR, great report and a relief after no commentary.
Great report pal.
Nice one!
Your usual high standards revealed again, RR.
At this rate in a few weeks we’ll be purring not moaning. Still, as you say, we are Smoggies and it is in our blood to ave a whinge 😉
Question – how many out there think we may now have got Britt at a price well below his value given the current market?
I for one, no doubt many more, am thrilled to see Dael and Ben working together as a CB partnership. Anyone dare to suggest they could make the foundations of the same for Eng-ger-lund in the next three or four seasons?
Is it only me or is there truely a bright shine of honest optimism shining over the Riverside?
What a very pleasent change! Still, it’s a long season and players/teams do tire and get injured. Feet firmly on the ground then and take each game as it comes.
🙂
UTB
Who is missing BoroPhil if Spartak is on song? Just sayin’ like.
Up the Boro!
Sparta
Although I love watching Bamford in his present incarnation(i wonder what caused his great dip in form?) it never made sense to me.
But still, back to the subject of this blog,
Watching the back four ( and the keeper ain’t bad) I get the feeling that we might have cracked it defensively, Christy, Ben, Fry, and Friend are not at all bad.
For once there is not an unspoken “but” in there, which frightens me, because with the Boro there is always a “but”
Spartak,
I agree with you about Ben and Dael but that would be a very none FA arrangement unless they play to the same standard for a ‘bigger’ club.
Keep injury free and they will both both shine and dominate in this league, anyway now on to the ‘tricky trees’. Three points there would be a fantastic result but Boro being Boro, well, you know …
UTB,
John
Loved the match and agree with the general opinion,
Great watching Bamford, no need to elaborate on that, just great.
The two goal man, same as, smiled at my reaction to his miss, if you’re scoring plenty then you’re missing plenty, the two things go together.
The defence. What a pair of centre backs, there’s no going back for Fry, this is his time, and about time too.
Full backs, great pair.
Brilliant report RR….I am frightened we will lose you to a bigger audience…. Stay with Dias Boro !
Shhhhhh – for heavens sake!!!!
😉
A great report RR, there is a strong feeling of optimism in the Teesside air which is great.
Not only have we won a couple but the style of play has the fans excited at the prospects once the team settles down and clicks into place.
During the whole of AK’s tenure I don’t think I once felt Boro at some point would give a team a good pasting, where as now you know its coming.
Good to read the Paddy is getting back into some top form and that Fry has settled in nicely.
Here’s hoping this is a special season to remember.
We could always have Premium Diasboro.
🙂
As always an enjoyable read from RR, especially considering it was completed and delivered just before midnight – which was long after I’d gone to bed as I’m one hour ahead and need to be up at 5am BST!
It was also good to read about the first half as I saw only 2-3 seconds of play followed by 57-58 seconds of a blank buffering screen every minute – my iFollow feed must have taken the scenic route to northern Germany from the Riverside via the Burton server and even reducing it to minimum resolution and swearing at the laptop couldn’t fix the problem. At least the I saw the whole second half display in all it’s HD glory.
I thought Boro were very good in parts, particularly up front and looked calm and comfortable in defence, passing it out quite well. I still think central midfield needs an upgrade – although Baker needs time to settle in, Forshaw looks short on ideas and Howson hasn’t really shown much yet – perhaps one more addition could make the whole engine purr and then we may really see a team firing on all cylinders.
Have been impressed by new improved Bamford this season playing like Gaston of old and Fry looks the real deal to me and can see no reason why he shouldn’t continue all term.
So still room for improvement but we are getting better with each game!
16 shots with 6 on target, no that wasn’t last seasons stats those were just the stats from last nights game!
There were some troubling inconsistent patches in the match and indeed more so on Saturday but I genuinely believe it is just teething trouble and as each game comes, understanding will build and eventually we will do it for the full 90 minutes. Howson is still getting used to his surroundings, Baker hasn’t unpacked his suitcase yet and I believe there is much more to come from those two so momentum is building.
Clayts is playing the best I have seen and would probably be MOM in most games if it wasn’t for others like Christie or Bamford or Assombalonga or even Fry that keep catching the eye. George’s second half after his close blunder when Randolph saved his blushes was back to the old George, gregarious and with his mojo back. It has to be said Randolph looks the keeper we have needed and after my scathing criticism of both Valdes and Guzan that is praise indeed.
There is one very important aspect however that I think we should not overlook. Defensively we have only let one goal in and that only after an individual unforced error. The defence has looked solid no doubt helped by having a confident and trusted Keeper behind you. The core of that defence however is Ben, Dael and George with only Christie being new and right in front of them is Clayts. That clean sheet mentality and organisation that comes with it was a result of ruthless indoctrination by AK.
Those rearguard foundations were laid down almost as a parting gift from Aitor. As much as his negativity drove me to despair the discipline and mental frugality instilled in Clayts, Ben, George and Dael is there to see. Garry Monk has added the zest and zip further upfield and importantly players with genuine smiles who really look to be enjoying their football. Mix those ingredients together and we have the recipe for winning games and entertaining but it all starts with clean sheets and for that we thank you Aitor.
Another Premium Report RR
I thought Forshaw drifted back into his old ways of side to side back bit I do think he has some ability which needs coaching
Did we change formation? Clayton was pretty much playing as a sweeper to begin with, if he did push himself further forward that would make sense as we did improve markedly in the second quarter.
The front three really impressed – three totally different types of player. Bamford is excelling in the slightly withdrawn role, he seems to have an extra few seconds of time to make his decisions. And then we have Braithwaite to come back and Fletcher/Traore on the bench. If we are to continue with the 4-3-3 it makes you wonder why we are chasing another forward – though I still wouldn’t be surprised if Traore left before the window shuts.
Agree with RR’s comments on Fry – I accept we need some cover at CB but I hope this doesn’t limit Fry’s chances. How good would it be if we could have a regular Academy partnership at CB.
Christie was quieter than Saturday, but Friend was a lot more involved (lets ignore the back pass) – he still very rarely delivers from the good positions he gets into though…
All looks good at the moment.
Boro
Loved friend’s display, had a great view over his shoulder of the entire run and dribble into the box and up to the goal line(no, I do not know what goes wrong at the vital moment) the sheer weight of numbers stopped the ball crossing the line
Young Fletcher looked a bit overwhelmed last night and obviously as a young lad is going to take some time to find his feet moving to the area and a new life.
Should have scored though !
It was interesting talking to Pally last night he was very vocal about Stewy Downing amd thinks he should be given another chance at the Boro and could bring something more to the team.
As Pally said he is our best dead ball kicker for free kicks and corners
Interesting……….
Christie played well last night and seems to be making that right back slot his own.
He said he didn’t know any of the Boro lads when he came here but they had made him welcome amd he thought the team was improving game by game and they could all see a difference
I suppose the thing with Downing is where does he fit into this system? He wouldn’t fit into the attacking 3 (I suppose he could play Bamford’s role but is he mobile enough now?) and I don’t think he could play as one of the deeper 3.
At best he would be a bit part player and that’s no good for us (wages-wise) and for him (playing time-wise). I’m assuming he will be going to Birmingham but the negotiations on who pays what will go down to the wire.
I didn’t think Clayton’s set pieces were too bad – but presumably Baker will be on them if and when he gets into the team.
I agree with what you have posted
Remember they were not my comments about Downing but the thoughts of Pally who is suppose is a mate
OFB
Clayton’s set pieces were unrecognisable from a few games ago, not outstanding admittedly but a massive improvement. It would appear that he has been practicing with the Coaches at Rockliffe and worked on them. Hopefully Baker will be an even better option going forwards.
Excellent report RR.
And thank you for giving Aitor the credit he deserves – for laying the foundations. How often is it said that good teams are built from the back?
I never forgot the first time I saw Fry, in the 0-0 away to Preston in 2015-16. A nondescript game, with Leadbitter’s miss the only attacking “highlight” – more on that in a moment – but what struck me was how filled with confidence and composure Fry was that day. I knew he was one to watch from that moment on.
Now, the Leadbitter miss. As Len later said, it would have been more reasonable for Aitor to praise Leads for taking the initiative, getting forward to create a chance. We could have built on that.
Instead, because he didn’t score, the miss stuck out like a sore thumb. It was reminiscent of Adam Reach’s misses against Bournemouth and Blackburn, with – funnily enough – the score at 0-0 in both games at the time. I think it was Aitor’s way of getting off the hook – the “if they had actually put the ball in the net we would have won. It’s not my fault they can’t finish, what am I supposed to do?”
Unfortunately for Aitor, Leads and Reachy are not Xavi and David Silva. They’re not good enough to be as clinical with the few opportunities that present themselves as his nation were in Euro 2012. Just because it worked for Spain doesn’t mean it’ll work for AKBoro – and the former were eventually found out too.
Interesting De Roon interview from his homeland
http://sportwitness.co.uk/not-fun-year-de-roon-speaks-spanish-english-split-middlesbrough/
Stewies role at Villa was in a 4312 formation. Admittedly that was a few years ago but West Ham under Sam were very much a sit back and break team with players getting forward. Stewie’s job was to use his range of passing.
He is still quite quick but doesn’t have the deftness of touch Bamford is showing, Paddy is benefiting from all the extra work he put in early in the summer to up his physicality and speed.
It is interesting that paddy played rugby at school, I am sure you will astonished to learn that he didn’t play in the forwards but at full back. It would suit his natural eye for movement and positioning.
De roon is having a pop at us on Sport Witness.
Said there was friction between the Spanish and English lads.
Also, better coffee and weather in Italy.
You just can,t please some people.
Obviously he’s never been to Rea’s cafe in summer.
Does it still exist I wonder.
UTB
Obviously we’ll never really know what the dressing room was like last season. But De Roon’s statements have some credence. My quote of the day, from Buddy on FMTTM, suggested things were uneasy even as far back as April 2015.
“…There’s a fine line between asserting your authority and surrounding yourself with ‘yes men’. And if you watch the players on Twitter sometimes it looks like they’ve joined a cult with a particularly charismatic leader.
“It’s all fine while it’s going well*, but I bet it could unravel particularly quickly when it’s not.”
*which is why I supported it as long as I did.
Does anyone read the Gazette for a Boro match report? This is not a rhetorical question, I’m deadly serious.
Let’s start with Dominic Shaw. He heads the video, which I admit I haven’t watched as I can’t be bothered to watch a 30 second advert preceding something that has already been written, with the heading “A real strong display from front to back”. Fair enough, but try reading Adam Steel’s report which is back to front.
Ah yes, Adam Steel who starts his recap article with an introduction of what might be in store, and then one has to scroll down to the end where he says “Good morning” and one has to scroll backwards and sometimes forwards again to make sense of his utterances. I’m not Chinese, but wait a minute, they write right to left, don’t they? Well even that might make as much sense. I’ve stopped reading the BBC and Sky text reports because they too do the same. Surely in this age of modern technology someone can devise a system to rewrite it in the correct order!
Now Jonathon Taylor with his views on what should be the starting eleven, and inviting readers to submit votes as to whether they agree with him, and after the match giving his opinion on what we have learned. I know what I have learned, and that is that I haven’t yet read an intelligible report of the match.
Then Anthony Vickers, who used to give us his ratings for each individual player. Now we get 3-2-1 which reminds me of Ted Rogers and Dusty Bin. Are you still with me, because I still haven’t read a full report of the match. Cliff Mitchell must be turning in his grave.
What about “The Tripe Supper”. Here we have Philip Tallentire not only starting most sentences with “you know “, but actually using these two words frequently in midsentance also which I find so irritating. I’m sick of hearing about how Boro are a work in progress and must be given time to gel with all their new acquisitions. What about Wolves with all their new acquisitions? They’ve already had two good away wins against Derby County and Hull City. I can’t say I’m worried (“worry” is a too emotive word; one worries about health, poverty, terrorism,etc), but I am concerned that only three teams in the Championship have scored fewer goals than Boro so far, and we have had the luxury of having played two home matches against poorish opposition.The fact that under Garry Monk last season Leeds United reportedly had the lowest shots per game in the Championship also concerns me.
All in all it’s hardly surprising that MFC have banned two reporters from entering their inner sanctums. It would appear also MFC have banned them from giving a comprehensive report of matches!
I’ve mentioned before that the Gazette have too many reporters chasing too little news, but not one of them reports a match in detail, and to not even interview Garry Monk shows piqueness at its worst and unworthy of professional reporters.
Nowhere in the press, local or national, can one find a lengthy factual report of Boro’s matches (not even I might add on the new Boro website). Thank God we have Redcar Red on this forum to give us such an intelligent chronological and often witty report of Boro’s matches, especially for those of us unable to attend, and thanks also for those who give their opinions that to my mind make the views of the Gazette reporters redundant.
Rant over for now.
I agree to some extent, Ken, but I do value most of what the EG lads write. I come from a position of being an ‘ex-pat’, mind, as I live in deepest Lancashire. I remember the dark days of the eighties and nineties all too well, when I couldn’t attend home games much for various reasons and getting reports on Boro in the national media was almost unheard of. We are well and truly spoiled by the internet these days.
I must admit that I have to get my daily Boro fix from the Gazette site, and whilst some of the articles are undoubtedly trite, they are mostly nonetheless a good source of information. I don’t subscribe to the Premium service, and I do think there is overkill from 4 reporters all technically doing the same job, but I also feel that some of the stuff is really valuable as an objective view of what’s happening at the club. And I won’t hear a word said against Anthony Vickers, who I think is a brilliant writer. His regular articles often provide a different view or a wider insight into all things Boro. And let us never forget that we wouldn’t have this blog at all were it not for his fantastic, entirely voluntary efforts over many years.
(Following on from my post about Fry and Leadbitter…)
The lesson learned, for both me and AK, is that it is a limited manager who dwells and relies on the if onlys as a means of glossing over bigger issues.
It is a stronger manager – hopefully, Monk – who builds on a near miss by continuing to encourage his team to create, knowing that although, say, Assombalonga erred in missing a sitter, he at least erred in trying to do the right thing.
And if at first you don’t succeed, then try again. Which is what Assombalonga did. And succeeded.
I think this mentality – and not just dropping down a division – has made a difference to Gestede too. Whereas in the past we dwelled on the late, late headers against Everton and Swansea that “would have meant three points had they gone in”, here he is working and trying hard to score and create every game.
Putting past misdemeanours aside – that’s for another discussion – I don’t believe Gestede is the sort to call attention to himself as a footballer. He’s like a Championship Heskey – the sort of forward no one can fully warm to, whose gifts do not seem obvious, but puts in a good shift every time.
I especially appreciated his determination to win the ball in the air for the winning goal against the Blades, and his pass for Assombalonga’s first. Braithwaite’s injury has opened the door for him and he’s grabbed it with both hands.
As has Fry. It makes such a change from the “Forshaw’s doing well but only playing due to De Roon’s injury” mentality of last season. This season appears more about appreciating what members of a squad – because it is a squad game, after all – can do when they have the chance. We’re not RhodesBoro, AssombalongaBoro etc – we’re Boro, and we must at least try and bond. That’s how it should be.
Ken
Here is a thought, the well crafted, illuminating, interesting and comprehensive articles by RR, Werder and Simon along with well informed contributions from Diasboro are produced by amateurs without the huge resources and archives of a professional paper.
Simon is a professional journalist !
Although he does tend to report on the stage and the arts
Perhaps the Boro stage and the art of scoring goals inspires him
We also have Mr Hunneysut Clive in our ranks the former blogger called People Movies who is the Daily Mirror film and arts columnist
Werder has obviously some writing background as his blogs are well crafted and arguments reasoned
In conclusion our own Redcar Red puts many a young journo to shame with his Witt and insight into the game
I’d say we are a pretty professional outfit
OFB
Ian,I agree, and that what puts the Gazette reporters as professionals to shame. Like everyone else I like to hear factual news about the Boro, but because I don’t see the games live I want to read a factual chronological match report that always used to be available under Cliff Mitchell and David Jack before him; and that is where in my opinion the Gazette now fails. If it wasn’t for Redcar Red (and sometimes Radio Tees commentaries) I would not be able to visualise the progress of the match,
I hadn’t appreciated they had gone back to the 3-2-1. Years ago the Gazette used to rate players individually and I’m sure one of the reasons for the move to the 3-2-1 first time round was players didn’t like being criticised. I wonder if that is one of the things that has upset the club.
No
Ok! What has then?
Can’t say I’m afraid but all I will say is no one at MFC wil talk face to face with Gazette
Shame really it is in the interest of both parties to make up for the good of the common cause
such a tease, bob
Ah but I don’t strip!
Ken – I’ve never been a big fan of match reports, I know the result by then so the detail to me is neither here nor there. What I want to read is opinion on why we won/drew/lost, who played well/didn’t etc.
After a match my first port of call is the Gazette and Sky websites then I drop in here. It works for me.
Ken – Unless I’m mistaken there are 12 teams who have scored less than the Boro in the Championship so far this season, although I think three games is a bit early to be drawing any inference from the stats.
Sorry Nigel, you are mistaken.
After Wednesday’s matches 3 teams have scored only once, and 5 teams have scored twice. Now only 8 teams have scored less than Boro’s 3 goals, although several more have equalled Boro’s.
Good report RR
I was both pleased and disappointed with last nights result
Pleased with the win but disappointed we sat back too much playing the ball around the back instead of putting pressure on Burton. Now we have three attacking players on the pitch and not just one isolated forward we should be making better use of them especially against poorer opposition.
Midfield still a work in progress,nothing out of the ordinary from Howson yet and Forshaw giving the ball away far too much.
As for Traore same old same old,you could never trust him to play against good opposition. A twenty minute cameo when we are two or three up is the best he can hope for,he’s too much of a risk. I lost count of how many times he lost the ball or stood in the wrong position,all he can do is run with the ball til he’s upended with an occasional rare pass!
The BBC, Britt Bamford and Christie all put in good performances once again
Britt will be chomping at the bit for his return to Forest on Saturday
Thanks everyone for their positive responses, very humbling!
I see that Birmingham now have an injury crisis and that Shotton is needed for the time being by Harry so the deal with Boro is at least temporarily off or on hold. We still need reinforcing in that area with only 3 recognised CB’s but I suspect that we were looking for two but with Dael excelling I wonder if that may reduce now to one?
My main worry is that Ayala has always had an indifferent injury record and should we be down to the bare bones its not inconceivable that he breaks down again. I reckon that George or Christie could fill in with Fabio covering but in an attritional season we could be left short. Not that I’m saying Shotton is the answer to the original question.
The Euphoria of back to back wins has understandably been the subject of recent comments.
Some questions remain unanswered.
Is Downing still going to Brum?
Is Shotton due at tontine?
Are the makems serious about Leadbetter?
Fabio to anywhere in Brazil?
Traore, is he staying?
Gibbo, ditto?
Where the hell is Agnew and are we still paying him?
Does anyone know the answers, someone must know a friend of a players cousin, or the wife of the groundsman.
Just being nosey like
Have you seen Leo’s “departure ” video?
Whatever you thought of him , his passion was, and still is addictive.
Good luck for the future Leo.
Old Billy – My guess is Steve Agnew is on ‘gardening leave’ until he gets a new job.
HEs got a big garden
Don’t they all have in Hutton Rugby? UTB!
*Director of Football”………?
Any ideas on the others?
OFB – appealing to your inside knowledge
At his apartment in Spain I believe
And No that not a guess!
Great report as always RR and perhaps you should approach MFC and seek journalistic rights and benefits as our very own Diasboro match reporter!
A good result but am I alone in thinking that we did make hard work of it?
To my mind we were playing a league 1 team who have been punching above their weight. The tempo at times was far too pedestrian and we too easily fell into a sideways and backward passing mode as soon as the opposition closed us down.
The team are going to have to get used to packed midfields and defences as most teams will come to the Riverside and look to park the bus and hit us on the break or wait for us to make a mistake when passing sideways and backwards.
The midfield still looks disjointed and the final delivery from the full backs still needs to be improved. The team also needs to be told that the majority of goals are scored inside the box so when the referee gives them a free kick this is an opportunity to deliver a cross unchallenged into the danger area. Please consider this as the first option rather than a sideways or even backward pass as is so often still happening!
All that having been said there was, at times, some good football played and Burton never really looked as if they could cause us serious damage, in fact any damage was most likely to be self inflicted. Good to see two goals in a game and let us hope we can push on and score three/four in a match which have been in scarce supply over the recent years.
On the technical front, watched the game on iFOLLOW via the Burton web site and listened to commentary from Radio Tees via the MFC website. Good start on iFOLLOW which deteriorated as the match progressed and in the second half there was a lot of buffering which resulted in the action sometimes being as much as 90 seconds behind the radio commentary! Certainly not as good an experience as the Wolves game and perhaps MFC do have a point on the quality issue. It will be interesting to see what the streaming is like for the Forest game on Saturday.
Ian
Sorry to hear that you were unable to login to the MFC commentary. Ian, I apologise now in advance if you think that I am teaching you to suck eggs but have you registered on the MFC site and have you signed in before proceeding to the match day page? If so is the sound card working on you computer for other applications? If, as I suspect, you have already tried these but are still having the problems then might I suggest that you contact the club. Any issue can be reported via the online enquiry form at https://www.mfc.co.uk/club-community/club/contact-us and by selecting ‘Website’ in the department dropdown menu. If you provide them with as much detail as possible including browser, device and URL details then they will be happy to help as I know from my own experiences.
KP
Thanks for that, I registered ages ago and can get all the content, it is only match commentary I cant get. Contacted MFC and await their reply.
Your help much appreciated.
Can’t imagine a big garden in a Spanish apartment. Probably a window box with 1 fly catcher, 5 shrinking violets, 4 pansies and a spud up front.
Had a chat with Andy Campbell this afternoon he started at the Boro last night as a hospitality host.
His take on the match was that Bamford is different class this season and is making things tick up front but midfield is still slowly getting to grips with new formation
He liked the pace we have up front now and if we can remember that was Andy’s biggest asset his pace so he knows pace when he sees it.
We both agreed that our new manager has revitalised our club and we are looking forward to seeing what develops.
He left me amd Mrs OFB to
Complete the cutting of his hedge (only where it was overhanging my garden!)
OFB
Oh Bob, you name dropper!
Beagrie sacked after conviction of assaulting his partner and sacked by Sky.
Report says he was best remembered by his somersault celebration.
I best remember him for his speed.
He was out of Boro like a flash in 1986.
Enjoy your retirement Peter
Unfortunately Beagrie forever remembered for being the only player to leave Riochs Babes during liquidation
As he himself said he had a family to support and only meagre income paid by the Boro directors out of their own pocket
Sad to see him in this situation now and his Sky career is finished
Now Andy Campbell is a true family wife with a lovely wife and two daughters
I’ve know Andy since he was 8 and is a family friend and a real nice guy
His brother Neil went to school with my youngest son and played football together until Neil also started playing football professionally
We sometimes forget that these footballers we see are just young men trying to make their way in life and whilst they all want to be superstars earning fortunes it is generally not the case and they struggle as do a lot of us in other working conditions
Still fancy being paid to play football ??
I know I would have loved it !
OFB
The Andy I know is not a wife, OFB! I have played against him a couple of years ago. UTB!
Jarkko
Oops!
Actually talking about playing Andy told me he is thinking of getting his boots on again and playing for a local team on a Saturday morning !
OFB
I don’t imagine that anyone would contradict me if I suggested Steve Agnew has been a good servant to the club, standing in when requested on three occasions when either when the club has been “between managers” or when the incumbent indicated a wish to leave the club and was eventually persuaded to “take time to think about it” before deciding to give it another go. At which time Agnew reverted to his previous position as if nothing had happened.
I appreciate that what players say may sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt, but there have been those who have praised his coaching style and the way he treats players, so I think we should take that at face value. He clearly has the confidence of the man who is best placed to judge – Steve Gibson.
He seems a decent man. Those who have met him at the ground, club functions etc, will undoubtedly recall him as being a straight, friendly and approachable man. But, of all things, he would be the last to speak out of turn about the club or the characters who run it and play for it.
He is an intelligent man. He will know that an unguarded comment to a friend may be overheard, or inadvertently disclosed to someone else who may not be so careful about disseminating the information. We live in a world where the electronic media, FB, Twitter, and YouTube showing snatches of conversation caught by a prying smartphone, can result in an untimely and embarrassing publication of that information before the whole world. And once it is out there, it may be impossible to retract.
Agnew will undoubtedly have views on the ability of this player as opposed to that, and he will also have views on those he has worked with in a coaching or management capacity. But he will be very guarded in making comments about them. As if the conversation was being broadcast. You would have to dig very deep between the lines of comments he might make, in order to form a view as to what his inner thoughts about that player, or that manager, might be.
To put it another way……on the car journey home from the Burton match, BBC Tees asked some questions, too many for me and almost toe-curling, about how G Monk felt about the crowd at the Riverside and, after that, was inviting a comparison to OTHER crowds at other clubs, before which his teams might have played in the past. Monk wasn’t foolish enough to say “Oh yes! The Boro fans are much more noisy and supportive than the Leeds fans or at Swansea…”. He said something like: “All crowds are different, but the Boro crowd is always behind the team….” That is the sort of reply, some might say bland but others might say safe, you would have got from Agnew.
So, Agnew would not disclose inappropriate things to mates down the pub, any more than an accountant or a lawyer would give details of the clients they had seen that day, or any more than a doctor would reveal confidential information about patients he (or she) had seen. The likelihood of someone coming on here and saying “Agnew told me that Manager AB was obsessive, secretive and always fearing a stab in the back, whilst players D, E and F can’t be bothered to put any effort in, players G,H and I are useless and a waste of money and that the team can only rely on players J, K and L…..”, would be totally non-existant.
People who I know, who are regulars at the club and may have heard rumours from others, will tell you that Agnew has ambitions towards management, that he would have taken the chance of a full time appointment to manage Boro if it had been offered and therefore, since he is not currently in that position, he may move elsewhere. He has friends in the game. There may be those who will make him an offer. But the club is hardly likely to rush him, or to run him out of town, whilst he takes the opportunity to consider his options. He is not going to spill those beans, and it is very unlikely he would say anything of the sort to anyone who would spill them.
FD
Very well put and as you say a lovely man
That Tees interview and the crowd question was certainly toe-curling. Monk played it well.
“The stick Beagrie gets is crazy. That was 20 years ago and the club had gone bust. I can’t see how anyone could blame him for it – especially not the idiots who slate him now even though they probably wearing nappies when it happened.”
– I don’t like his use of the word “idiots” but red_rebel, commenting on UB in 2007, has a point.
Agree Simon re Beagrie. He’s beyond criticism in my book for leaving in 1986.
I deplore that some fans (not on this forum I’m glad to say) have called him Judas, and also the name calling of Steve Agnew and Aitor Karanka. We may not all have agreed about their suitability as managers, but some comments by bloggers on the Gazette are offensive.
Great report again RR and always good to see that when I read the reports of games that I have been st, your take is pretty similar to mine. Means that when I am not there that I can rely on your report, so thank you and your incredible memory!
I also thought that the Tees interview included questions which were not required really, not sure what they were after really, maybe another AK type outburst.
BP
Agree re- the BBC Tees interview. The questions are banal in the extreme at times.
As you say, Monk handled it very well. He managed several mentions of how great the support was. He knows how to keep us onside.
How are lads/ lasses?
Question- how can I subscribe to ifollow?
Middlesbrough are not on the list, only a few are. Confused to say the least!!!
😡
smoggyinleicester
iFOLLOW is a service which is available to overseas supporters and enables us to watch live streaming of EFL games either on a match by match basis or via a season pass.
Boro have taken the decision not to provide the service at present but you can still see their matches by buying a match pass from the club they are playing eg this weekend from Forest.
If you are in Leicester however the service will not be available to you unless you have a VPN and a payment card registered to an overseas address.
Hope this clarifies the situation for you.
Indeed it does. Thanks.
KP
Re- your earlier post, no you are not alone in thinking we continue to make hard work of it. We’re still not making our superiority count but, hey, we got the points, so I’m happy for now.
Front three great again. Defence sound, although I think George is still not back to his best.
Forshaw, for all his hard work, is still disappointing. Howson hasn’t shown yet but maybe he’s still settling in.
Forest will be a good indicator of where we’re at.
TOtally agree with those comments
As RR said in his report george only started playing after he had a kick up the bim by playing a stupid back pass!
Still not at his best and Forshaw still playing the AK way
OFB
Thought it was noticeable how much Burton ran for forty minutes, no player went unchallenged, or shot went unblocked.
We will face this in every match, because any drop in effort will be punished by this front three.
Once they started to tire, we had the chance to score a few goals.
By the end, their legs had gone, we started to enjoy it, it was lovely to watch.
Agree, Forest is a good test. We should expect to go there and win and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t. They won their first two games but lost to an apparently very average Barnsley team last night.
OFB
Maybe Forshaw is playing the Forshaw way, sometimes it is easy to blame a departed manager.
Albert was brilliant, plays for Villa. Rhodes was fantastic, on the bench at the Owls. Wildshcutt is a world beater, or not!!
These players are world beaters, or not.
Name me a player who AK has ‘failed’ and has left and become a super star. Forget in built animosity, if AK was so poor someone would have blossomed having left his all pervading evil influence. Has anyone rushed in to sign Stewie?
Sheer chance must make it happen.
Just maybe the players were not that brilliant, solid pros but…
It’s the way of football Ian. When a dip in form happens, for example, who’s usually the first to get it but the manager?
I would never join in with the anti-AK animosity, ever, but I understand why some would. It’s symptomatic of the frustration they sense and feel after days, months – even years? – of predominantly safe football. To some the progressive elements in AKBoro – like Bam Bam, Tomlin and Gaston, at least to a point – are not enough to draw a veil over a primarily defensive, sterile and functional legacy. What I did when I wrote my last column was try and put myself in their shoes – it’s only easy to praise the art of the sideways and backwards possession game if you’re a distant observer. And if it stops amounting to something even your patience will snap.
Ian
I agree with your point about most of the ones who left under AK being ordinary elsewhere. But I have a niggling feeling that perhaps one of two weren’t given the chance to really prove their worth. Viktor Fischer springs to mind, and most glaringly, from my perspective, Jelle Vossen. I was very sad to see Jelle depart. I saw him score a great hat-trick at Millwall, and he was inches from giving us the lead in the play-off final when his shot smacked the bar. With more encouragement from AK, he might have made the grade.
Just watched the highlights on MFC. Impressed by some of the movement in the front third. Saw that they were showing the whole 90 minutes but didn’t feel the need to watch as the comments and reports from the bloggers who were there were sufficient. Could be an interesting game on Saturday. Forest seem to be very attack minded this season- 26 shots on Tuesday but few on target. Also Britt and Bamford going back to Nottingham, although Patrick only played 12 minutes for them at the City Ground, and Muzzy Caryol playing for them.
Clive
I agree with you but if people are just going to blanket blame AK for everything then the stubborn Teessider will blanket disagree whether I agree with individual cases or not.
As I kept saying, AK’s charge sheet would do for him but only the ‘crimes’ he committed should be on it. Same with previous managers.
Just had a call from MFC about my commentary difficulties, couldn’t find anything wrong and I was doing all the right things. They are going to phone me just before kick off on Saturday.
Fair play to them.
Ian
As I experienced, there appears to be a commitment on the part of the MFC team to get things right and to resolve issues when they occur.
I hope it is quickly and easily resolved for you on Saturday before kick off – fingers crossed.
Reading Marten DeRoon’s whistle blowing comments of internal unrest between the Spanish speaking players and English speaking players it was no wonder Boro struggled last season.I think we now all know that was the case following the swift release of the former players under Garry Monk who seems to have identified the problem pretty quickly.
DeRoon might not have set the world on fire with Boro, but he did seem a genuinely nice guy, and I wish him the best of luck in the future.
I do also agree with him about the coffee in England. It is abysmal, often weak in taste, served in mugs instead of cups, and taken with milk. I realise that is probably how most Brits like it, but not for me. The coffee in the Latin countries is strong and I love it, almost as much as red wine (but not quite) that I know many bloggers on this forum “occasionally” imbibe.
Not just the Latin countries ken
I lived in holland for four years and you could stand a spoon up in it was so strong !
I am from a coffee consuming country but it is not Latino type here. But I prefee tee – even hate the smell of coffee. My wife drinks practically always Americana coffee. But we agree on Boro, though. Up the Boro – the Boro is going up!
You’re right Bob. I noticed in Austria also that a glass of water is usually served with coffee, but I don’t need it although I do take sugar.
As for chocolate, I’ve always hated it. Couldn’t bear to be in the kitchen when my late wife was baking chocolate cake for fear of throwing up.
Funny how we all have different tastes!
Should be drinking tea! Loads of beautiful cups of glory available. Doesn’t have to be a cup of Yorkshire Tea, good though that it. Lots of good estate teas from Ceylon, lots of teas from Kenya, Assam and even Darjeeling (I know it is supposed to be the “Champagne of teas” but give me a cup of broken orange pekoe any day…..).
Coffee? You’ll be advising me to support Sunderland next……
Sorry Dormo, I haven’t drank tea since doing my National Service in Singapore in 1958.
Ken, I was to be born three years after you were in Singapore. So I wouldn’t comment on things!
Dormo, stick to Boro and Yorkshire. UTB!
I think De Roon simply told the truth in the article. There was nothing I took umbrage with and fully agree about the Coffee comment. The Club or SG and GM obviously saw things the same way as one “camp” has now departed with a couple of them mentally departing even before the Season had ended. With hindsight Aggers was never going to get that lot fighting as a team.
They upped camp and left. Aggers was on a hiding to nothing. Players all took the flak for the Charlton debacle. Eventually ‘Executive’ stepped in.
One of our own here pointed out things were amiss (no names mentioned) and got crowded out. Same one saw look on SG’s face after Boro beat BHFC to promo and ‘knew’ AK’s days were number.
Maybees the word toxic was mentioned but its all history now.
Lessons learnt like or maybees not!
My quote of the day is an extract from the Football League Paper, penned in March 2016 in the aftermath of the Charlton debacle.
After likening Aitor to his irritating friend “Pete”, who wouldn’t come out to play or head out on the town unless you explicitly told him how much less fun it’d be without him, the writer added…
“Aitor Karanka’s 48-hour hissy fit was petulant and immature.
“Whatever you think of the players – and to undermine a manager in the midst of a promotion battle was unprofessional in the extreme – nobody in a senior position should respond to an argument by storming out in a fit of pique.
“Karanka himself said he never wanted to leave.
“By definition, then, the whole episode was a manipulative charade, designed to bring chairman Steve Gibson begging and force a show of appreciation from fans.
“And if this is how he reacts to promotion pressures, what will happen when the salaries, egos and scrutiny ramp up in the top flight?”
Lesson learned?
How, in the heat of the moment, it was so easy to take Aitor’s side when the results had been the right ones for so long.
But some things – like, say, shoving officials and throwing hissy fits – just aren’t okay. Regardless of the timing and manner of the circumstances that cause them.
And criticism of the fans
Great article RR, thank you for the quick post, time and thought that goes into them.
Enjoyed the match, especially Britt and Paddy. If we can keep the former fit and the latter in the team, I expect goals to come regularly IF we can improve the service.
Still thought that the midfield was again pedestrian. I had high hopes for Forshaw but he appears to have not shaken off last seasons shackles. Clayton is doing what Clayton does best, however Howson seems to be just a younger Grant and at the moment not what it said on the tin. Maybe there will be improvement there.
I think we still need the option of a natural wide player, at times playing to Gestedes strengths. Talking of wide, am I right in saying they have narrowed the pitch?? It certainly looks like it and would this be to suit Mr Monks narrower system??
I’m finding Boro’s evolving team shape and tactics to be interesting.
Ever since the advent of Ramsey’s 4-3-3 wingless wonders, I’ve always liked the 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 type of nomenclature to describe a team setup. I recognise its limitations because, as one of the bloggers sometimes points out, those numbers describe a fixed shape which doesn’t reflect the fluidity of actual play. Nevertheless, I still see it as a useful reference for getting a grasp of the distribution of 11 players.
I find myself struggling to get a handle on our current shape. It’s clear that GM is still looking for his best players and setup and, perhaps as a result, we’re seeing changes during a match. There have been games with 2 or even 3 different Boro shapes during the 90 minutes.
I’m wondering if we’re seeing something fairly innovative happening before our eyes.
Take the defence, for example. It looked like were were to have a standard back four. Not so, it seems.
Although no longer anything new, we see the FBs very much pushed forwards in the modern style, operating more like WBs. Our version sees Clayton dropping back into the rearguard when needed – so we start with 4, then are reduced to 3 or even 2 as the FBs/WBs push on, which is when Adam fills in to make up the defensive numbers. He seems to have gone from being a defensive midfielder to a defender-midfielder.
It’s very flexible and I’m not aware of any other team using this tactic – so it might just be ground-breaking. For decades, we’ve seen the libero step forward to join in with the midfield, as exemplified by Beckenbaur, Krol and others, but to the best of my knowledge it’s the first time the reverse route has been adopted.
Moving onto the forwards, we seem to have disposed of AK’s fixation with one up front – but are we playing with 2 or 3? I’ve seen both, even during a game.
Bamford seems to be the key. He sometimes plays semi-wide in a front 3 and, at other times, he comes more central and plays ‘in the hole’ as a no. 10. So we usually have a front line of 2, often have 3 and, when a FB joins in, occasionally have 4 pushing forward.
Flexible, responsive and adaptable appear to be the new mantra, with fluid interchanging of attackers. If this is to be our future, and we can make it work, then I look forward to it with eagerness.
Midfield looks like the area most in need of settling down yet. About the only common denominator is Clayton as the one holding player screening the defence. Otherwise we’ve tried a diamond and various permutations of 3 or 4 MF players.
As a consequence, if pushed to describe the way our team is set up, I’d struggle. At the risk of being very pretentious (Who? Moi?), about the closest I could get is to say we might be edging towards the legendary ‘total football’ with half a team of multi-purpose ‘universal footballers’.
I think Spurs played this way a couple of seasons ago with Eric Dier in the Clayton role. It worked well for them, pushing Rose and Walker high up the pitch and allowing Erikson and Lamela to move centrally.
Monk does appear appear to be employing two formations at once: 433 without the ball and 3412 with, with Bamford drifting from the right to a no.10-type position. As other have said, it appears to be generally working well but the two central midfielders in front of Clayton haven’t quite got going yet.
Excellent post and observations Nikeboro!
I wouldn’t go that far, Nikeboro, lol. What I’d simply argue is that we’ve released the handbrake a little, building on Karankian solidity with a bit more freedom of expression.
The sideways and backwards passing? I wouldn’t entirely discourage it. For two reasons.
One, it can be progressive in that ball retention forces the opposition to change their shape in order to win the ball themselves, leaving room for an offensive opening. This has arguably been nullified a little with time as opposition sides have worked out how to counter it by sitting back, allowing the team to pass and pass away and then pick them off following frustration from little or no openings converted. But it’s still fine so long as it’s not the only strategy.
Two, it’s a means of conserving energy. It’s a long season and I wouldn’t want the team to play non-stop frenzy blockbuster football every single game. In that sense, Karanka had the right idea as his teams were able to pace themselves and obtain 85+ points in the Championship for two seasons running.
Again, so long as it’s not the be all and end all of things, it’s fine.
You mean the AK plagarised anti-football strategy*, Simon?
Like
🙂
* That’s the one where the crowd get to sleep for 80mins and pay for the priviledge. After a while even Barca’s tippy tappy became a yawn feast.
Fest!
🙂
If they wanted to criticise then bit back their replies it might become a feast.
Anyway, as I have said before the problem is that if you set out to play like Chelsea, Real, Citeh, Spurs, Barca but don’t have the front players it doesn’t work. I suppose you end up with tippy minus the tappy, tiki without the taka, both made even worse if it is slow.
I have commented before about an interview with Pep Guardiola, the whole purpose of the movement and passing is to create overloads. He said he didn’t like passing for passing’s sake.
As for players taking the flak over CharltonGate that was inevitable. I think Karanka should have gone at the time but before it was resolved I posted that the players better put on a show at Charlton because they would get the blame.
That wasn’t about right or wrong, it wasn’t support for Karanka but my instinct was that the average fan would think about the amount players were getting paid to wear the shirt, a shirt the fans pay to wear and would play for nothing to get on the pitch of their club.
The Gazette poll showed 80% wanted Karanka to stay.
Were we better off for him to stay and us to be promoted? We are in a stronger position now than when he came to the club. Discuss
“After a while even Barca’s tippy tappy became a yawn feast.”
Hence “after a while”. As you know, while it worked – or while there was evidence of it working (Arsenal A, Bournemouth H, Man City A) I was more than happy to support it.
But all things must end. I still have memories of Barca passing their way around the Chelsea penalty area during that famous semi-final of 2012. Surely they’d try a cross, a shot even. Nope. They just had to carve out a chance with their tried-and-trusted passing “art”. Chelsea soaked it up, broke away in the final minutes and sealed their fate.
That same year, “Sivori10” on the Guardian called this style out:
“(Spain are) ‘loved’ by a bunch of football pseuds who don’t know their history. West Germany in the early/mid 70s has a good a record and had patterns of play with greater scope and dimension. They also had three men who were probably the greatest of all time in their respective positions… Everybody’s a genius when you’re successful: the players are all wizards; the coaching staff are prophets; the kit-man is a seer…* All things must pass, and at some point soon this Barcelona/Spain love-in will seem faintly absurd.”
*Leading to a cult.
I would suggest that we are in a better position than when AK came to the club as we were headed for League 1.
He stabilised the position, helped to rebuild aided by SG’s cash which his predecessor had very little of.
His structure and organisation produced a team which eventually achieved the goal of winning promotion.
Sadly he was unable to build on his earlier achievements and the PL appeared to be one step too far in so far as his man management and coaching skills could cope with.
That one season has, however, left us financially secure and enabled GM to undertake a complete re-build of the squad which should have the capability of pushing for promotion and so the cycle begins again. 😎
Excellent comment and totally agree. Pity we hired Victor Orta and the January window was disaster. Without mentioning the summer window a year ago. UTB!
It was interesting when. I spoke to Gary Monk the other evening I said did you realise we had 10 British and one Irish players at the end of the game he replied yes and is deliberate policy to have players who know the championship and the English style of play
Good summary KP.
Managers will come and go for a variety of reasons but the Club has to prevail.
I believe we’re starting from a stronger base than in the years before AK arrived.
With AK I will always believe it was never the successes or failures that irritated many, but the manner of them.
Simon
One of Spain’s opponents was lambasted for only playing one striker against them for not playing the game in the correct fashion.
Spain, of course, didn’t have a striker on the pitch.
It is football fashion
But like cricket nothing better than a century
Another theory? Karanka feels like the only Boro manager – pre-Monk? We shall see – in the last twenty-three years who can put together a masterfully solid, commanding, consistent and at times spectacular Championship Collective and then have it all disintegrate as his temperament and inability to transcend to individual needs – previously kept under wraps as the ride was working for so long – bubbled to the surface.
Maybe *that* is why some are so angry about his reign.
Aitor plateaued with his tactics and couldn’t develop and evolve them further. The sad thing was he was steadfast in his belief (not necessarily a bad thing) even when it was unravelling during games (e.g. substitutions).
Without having €75m players at his disposal to mould into his system he was predetermined to fail. A shame in some respects but for all his pedigree the Sean Dyches and Eddie Howes of this world showed him the way. AK couldn’t or wouldn’t raise his game plan. Stubborn is as stubborn does.
Nobody saw Spain 1-5 Holland coming, that’s for sure. But there were cracks within tiki-takanaccio ready to be exposed, and Holland did so.
Love “tikki-takanaccio” and you should have it trademarked.
Football like most major sports has evolved, not only through fitness, but also by tactics and formations. When I started watching football every team without exception played with the 2-3-5 formation. It was exciting with plenty of goals, but the Hungarians with their deep-lying centre forward and the Italians with their “libero” changed to systems which suited them best, and some English teams followed suit. I believe Manchester City used Don Revie as a deep-lying centre forward.
However, the new offside law in the 1920s was probably the thing that had the most effect. I must say I’m not in favour of the current offside law, especially the contentious situation of “non- interference with play”. A similar situation also occurs in Rugby League, which also causes confusion.
In my opinion we may as well abolish the offside law in football altogether, as it is the most difficult to identify at times.
The only major sport that I can think of that hasn’t changed its rules or laws is Tennis which to my mind has become too service oriented. Why does the server have two attempts at getting the ball over the net and inside the baseline?
“Okay, you served a fault, have another go”.
If you miss a penalty in football or rugby, the referee doesn’t say “Hard luck, have another go”. If you miss a putt at golf, or a pot at snooker, you don’t get another chance, so why should you get another chance when serving at tennis?
Yes, here I go again asking rhetorical questions that probably nobody can answer. But it is thought provoking, isn’t it?
Ken
Wasn’t it Bill Shankly who said if he isn’t interfering with play what is he doing on the pitch?
If the keeper has a player in front of him it must be a distraction whether he tries to play the ball or not. A golfer cannot stand in line of sight of an opponents putt, if they applied the same rules as football he could stand a foot off the line of the putt between the ball and the hole.
A silly mid on or mid off are not allowed to move in cricket once the run up has started and has to stay still.
I agree with the fact the player out near the corner flag isn’t off side. I remember the days when the flag would go up in that situation, most frustrating.
Going back to the de Roon comments – I was quite puzzled by him saying that he ‘missed the tactical discipline’ when playing in England – of all the faults I’d level at AK, lack of tactical discipline is definitely not one of them. In fact his whole methodology was based on it, every player on the pitch was imbued with it and had clear instruction on how to play in possession and out of it. Maybe I’ve just misunderstood the whole Karanka regime and the players were just playing with freedom and expression – albeit without ideas…
I think you have put your finger on it. I think more than just you among us also misunderstood. What could we have been thinking!
I think under AK there was discipline but not so sure it was “effective” which I think is what Marten probably meant when he referred to “tactical discipline”.
Got lost in translation perhaps?
Maybe he actually meant ‘discipline’ in the ‘branch of knowledge’ sense of the word.
A quote that may interest you, RR.
“The individual is the most important thing, not the collective. …If each individual strives to be their best, then the community will be at it’s best. But if the individual is subverted to the collective, it is doomed to failure.”
— Josh Becker
I think we had too many subversive individuals with sub plots whose ego’s belied the value of their true abilities.
Well Ian has another match on his patch so he’s had a rub down from the Diasboro physio and is warming up and ready to look ahead to the game on Saturday at Forest…
https://diasboro.club/2017/08/17/forest-v-boro-match-preview/