Echo player ratings:
MotM: Paddy Mac.
I commented earlier that the stats quoted in the introduction to the Beeb's live text comentary on the match might prove to be the kiss of death on Boro's chances. It has since occurred to me that I could have tempered that remark with something along the lines of "On the other hand, Brum has been left in Mark Venus's care during Mogga's enforced absence on health grounds...". 😉
On the face of it a scrappy 0-1 win by a very average Championship side over a very poor one.
More positively, Boro's defensive formation was never stretched. Birmingham had no shots on target and created scarcely any chances.
At corners and free kicks that phalanx of five imposing backs never looked like being breached.
Another clean sheet, so elusive throughout Carrick's tenure, was achieved here with a minimum of fuss
Boro played some good passing football in patches but lacked quality and penetration going forward, McGree's goal being one stunning exception, and Latte Lath's first-half elusive running and control another.
RvDB was my M-o-M, never putting a foot wrong at the heart of our defence, and yet again making a crucial goal-saving challenge when Dieng unaccountably dropped a simple cross.
Quality forwards would have had a field day exploiting the spaces on the break left by Birmingham tonight. Unfortunately, Latte Lath apart, we lacked them
At the beginning of the season Carrick begged his recruitment team to provide him with quality rather than quantity.
It's a mantra that should be repeated this Summer, and this time acted upon
@lenmasterman - It sounded to me that it should have been RvDB or McGree (for the goal) to win MoTM. Still, 3 points AGAIN! Let's hope it becomes a habit.
It was one of those scruffy Championship games that you get when playing away from home to a side whose main tactic is to stick it forward and hope that something happens. There wasn't the sense of control that comes from playing well at home. When this kind of game comes along, the best that you can hope for is to dig out a win and move on. It wasn't pretty but we got it done. Not a game to spend too much time thinking about.
The real positive is the way that the back three and the wingbacks stood up against the opposition and didn't allow them much at all by way of chances. Add in Howson's omnipresence and a great strike from McGree and we have our three points.
If we can pull out that fourth win on the bounce against Blackburn, it will be time to take a look at the table, have a break and get ready to have some fun.
UTB
It’s great to get another 3 points but it wasn’t a pretty game to watch. Apart from RM’s super strike, we didn’t really look like scoring a second and never took control of the game in the second half.
To be fair, Birmingham looked very poor and lacking in confidence - Mogga’s got his work cut out if he resumes his managerial duties any time soon.
RvDB was my M-o-M, never putting a foot wrong at the heart of our defence, and yet again making a crucial goal-saving challenge when Dieng unaccountably dropped a simple cross.
CJ agrees with you (& FD), Len:
CJ tweeted (or X'ed) also:
"Just looking back and by reckoning, this is the first time all season that Michael Carrick has named the same #Boro XI for three consecutive games. That's quite something when you consider how settled the side was for much of the second half of last season."
And we are staring to see results when we can built an consistent starting eleven. Football is not rocket science. Up the Boro!
@k-p-in-spain - Can I put in a polite request that McGree (short of being in possession of a broken leg) should start every game and play the full 90+ minutes unless obviously out on his feet? You can't beat quality.
Somebody agrees with you, FD:
😉
A 1-0 away win straight from the Tony Pulis playbook. He would have been proud of that one as we kept our shape, battled hard in central midfield and nicked it with a single, standout moment of individual brilliance.
Three straight wins and two with a clean sheet, albeit against sides having difficult seasons although QPR's form was better than their league position suggested. So does three at the back have legs longer term?
It's certainly been successful this season on the seven or eight occasions for which Carrick has deployed it. The difference in the last two games is that he's done it against "lesser" opposition. I don't mean "lesser" relative to ourselves but that Carrick has only previously used this system in the toughest looking fixtures: Leicester (home and away), Villa, Chelsea etc
However, these last three victories have come down to pivotal moments, the games quite finely balanced. Boro look much more solid, no doubt, but, if we're honest, we've been on the right side of the fine margins on each occasion. It could have been very different.
We were poor against Norwich until the crucial sending off. We were certain to be 1-0 down at QPR were it not for a vital intervention from the excellent RvdB (who looks much more comfortable in a three btw), and the Birmingham game, though we deserved the win, was against a toothless and nervous side and only settled by a fantastic strike from McGree.
These are exactly the sort of fine margins that we saw week upon week with both Pulis and Warnock, and at times the football hasn't been dissimilar either. The change of system has kept us in games but the moments have won them for us.
Carrick probably needed to change something and is right to stick with a winning formula for now but I can't help thinking that this way of playing has a short shelf-life if we really want to be contenders in the division next year. You can't get promoted on moments.
@andy-rgood post Andy and a fair assessment too.
I might add in though, that you can't simply go out and play that nice expansive ultra slick passing game we all have enjoyed and expect to win. You first have to earn the right to play attractively and you earn that right by building the winning habit that comes from consistently gritty and ugly defensive shutouts that make you a team that is first of all hard to beat, which becomes the team that is then likely to win, ultimately the team that no one expects to beat and that has the confidence it is going to win whenever it goes put to play and then the confidence shows in the nice football to play out from rhe back when it it is right to do so.
We are back into an earning the right to play the way we want to period. I hope it continues: gritty clean sheets and victories. Four or five more of those and I am sure the "nicer" football will start to flow again. Even if it is all too late for this campaign, it is setting the core of next season's team up well to hit the ground running.
@powmillnaemore - Agreed. You can't play that expansive nice ultra-slick passing game and expect to win (all of the time). I also agree that you have to earn the right to play that way.
I see an analogy with England Cricket's "Bazball". It is wonderful when the team is firing on all cylinders and putting the opposition to the sword, the ball flashing to and over the boundary rope with gay abandon as the scoring races on apace. But you can't expect to do that all the time, on all wickets, irrespective of the match situation. So if you are facing a big (let's say) Indian total, you may need to dig in, to play a straight bat and keep the bowling out, not taking excessive risks but play the situation. So, for example, in a normal Test scenario, one of England's greatest batsmen of all time, Joe Root, would not come to the crease and try to scoop one of the first balls he has faced over the wicketkeeper for six. He would, instead, get his eye in, get accustomed to the pace of the pitch and feel that he has the measure of the bowlers. As time goes on, the bowlers tire. The pressure becomes on them. At that stage, the batsman having "earned the right", if he cuts loose and attacks the bowling then that would be sensible and much more likely to be successful. Some risks are not worth taking "from the off" and in all circumstances.
So it is with football. We have all rehearsed the arguments. BORO looks better with a back 3 and if employing that formation has given good results, then it should be repeated in the next game and the game after that etc. The game is about results, after all. And the team (injuries excepted) should be left alone if it is succeeding. What ever happened to "never change a winning team?" And the "playing out from the back" with neat triangles and swift passes is fine...WHEN appropriate. There are times when the "prefered" slick style is NOT appropriate just as there are times when a long ball, or simply booting the ball into touch or into the other team's half is the right thing to do. The thing about it is that the players have to be given the licence to make the decision as to what is right at that particular time. If it has been decided that against the "tougher" opponents maybe the "play-it-out-from the back" slick and quick triangular passing wouldn't work, and if the alternative tactics therefore adopted instead prove to be successful, then maybe that's what the team should be doing regularly, not only against the "top teams". Well, if we want to win more games than we lose...
@forever-dormo We certainly seem to have learned from our earlier errors in passing out from the back on every occasion. Our GK launched the ball upfield more times last night than I’ve seen for a while. This tactic relies on a front man who can hold the ball up until the midfield arrives, but, even if it goes wrong, it’s safer than the tippy tappy crossfield passes when the defenders are under pressure. Mixing it up also keeps the opposition guessing.
Good posts from Andy and Powmill but all I would say is that there's nothing to stop Boro players in any formation making fast slick passes but it seems they often fail to make the passes - slick or otherwise. It's been those failed passes that have cost Boro a lot of goals this season and opting to mix the long and short game up has seemingly resulted in less damage. Though having an extra body in defence has stopped the opposition from waltzing through it after a turnover.
I still think we're missing outlets with Jones and Coburn - Coburn could hold the ball and Jones has the speed and trickery to carry the ball. The return of Latte Lath has added some more energy but he is likely to lose possession as much as he retains it and doesn't really have a good final delivery to find a teammate. Forss is another player with good energy and is pretty lethal if given a good opportunity and McGree is normally good at finding the space but still looks off it for much of the game at the moment.
The question is if Jones was to be picked to start who would Carrick drop - Forss or McGree or would it be the extra defender or even Ayling as a wing-back? Also what now for Azaz with only three attacking places up for grabs - he looked to be hitting form and them got dropped and is now often the late replacement sub.
That's the problem with a change in formation but three wins on the bounce and just one goal conceded since reverting to a back three speaks for itself. I'd even query if Hackney would get a start in front of Howson and O'Brien - though I'm sure he could play the shielding role but he's a player who makes playing out from the back work the best.
Another win on Saturday with the same formation to add to the two Leicester wins that also used it will make it harder to change back to 4-2-3-1 - besides without Coburn and Jones on the pitch together Boro have rarely been successful playing it this season. If this is the preferred way of playing for Carrick then he'll need players who make it work rather than having system that doesn't work with the players available.
Maybe some kind of fusion is required and that again will need the right players - as it stands I don't see most of the loan players being retained as neither Greenwood, Ayling or Thomas are convincing me that they are good enough to take Boro to the next level - O'Brien I'd keep and it looks like Howson will get another season but will McNair be given an offer that is worth it for both sides? I suspect the return of Smith and Lenihan will counter the need to make favourable offers. There looks like there's a few recent arrivals who may be surplus come the summer and may well be heading off to get game time.
Anyway, the season is still alive and it's taken Carrick to be more pragmatic in the face of relegation fears to show his team can be more solid - yet still take the few opportunities in front of goal. Is it a tribute to Warnock and Pulis? maybe it's just getting the best out of what you've got at your disposal - which it seems is players prone to making errors and a general lack of quality in the passing department - plus a lack of genuine goalscorers.
I enjoy pragmatic winning over principled losing any day - especially when the entertainment of the latter had all but disappeared as the players confidence slipped away with every defeat!
I'm with you on most of this but do have one point of disagreement. Assuming that we're still in the Championship, I'd keep Ayling. He brings with him skills and experience gained at a higher level than most of the squad and is also the best attacking fullback that we have, particularly in his final delivery.
He's out of contract in the summer and I think that keeping him for a sensible wage would be a good bit of business.
UTB
@selwynoz I agree with you about Ayling. The problem there is that we have both Dijksteel and Smith, too. Smith has a contract expiring on Jun 30, 2025.
I think Smith is the best of the trio defensively. But Ayling and Dijksteel offer much more attacking wise. With Smith still having a year in his contract to run, it will be interesting to see Boro's desision on Ayling after the season.
Up the Boro!
I like Luke Ayling as a character in the team but he'll be 33 in August and already looks a bit short on pace against quicker wide players and not sure if a 2-year contract for example is a bit risky - especially given Smith being 32 next month too then maybe one ageing right-back is enough.
For me, the jury’s out on Dijksteel. I’m not sure he’s the answer to our fullback issue - he flatters to deceive in my eyes, although I’ll accept he’s quicker than Ayling but without LA’s experience. I’m not sure wingback is his best position.
@martin-bellamy. I agree Martin, whilst he offers more in an offensive role his defending is questionable. He often looses the ball in dangerous positions and leaves us exposed, in addition to making questionable choices, at times, which have led to goals against us.
If MC wants to revert to his flat back four defence then we need to have at least one (preferably two) fullbacks whose main strength is being able to defend and ideally quick individuals who can cope with speedy attackers; unfortunately non of the current players meet all those criteria, added to which a few are getting on in years so the recruitment team need to be on the case and ideally not shopping in League 1, which they did when recruiting Dijksteel and Bola. 😎
@werdermouth Good post werder, with some mixed views on the system adopted, the position of RB and the make of the squad for next season.
Assuming that Mr Carrick will be the Head Coach next season, a lot may depend on what system MC uses as his preferred first choice. Will it be 4-2-3-1 or will he have a rethink and take a more pragmatic route as has been suggested on here, in the past and in the now, after some success playing with three at the back.
A lot will of course will depend on who he / MFC, choose to let go at the end of their contract. McNair and Dijksteel being the two main players and the Loanees.
Those still in contract, who may be eased towards the revolving door. The ones in their last year and not wanting to sign an extension or MFC not wanting to give them one. And there may be one or two signed last summer that MC does not see as required and will free up space. Barlaser, Silvera and Gilbert possibly.
As much as I like Ayling's commitment and his assists, especially as the wing back in a three, as KP posted, the full backs need to be good defensively if MC reverts to a back four. But if he chooses a back three, then Engel and Bangura (yes, remember him) would suffice. At RB, I have great concerns over Tommy Smith after his injury and lack of pace. So for me, we need another good Championship level player.
Defensively, whilst we lack some pace there with a four, with a three it is less of an issue. VDB is now the first choice CB. Clarke has done enough, especially being left footed. Then we have the seemingly injury prone Fry. Is he what we really need. And also we will have Lenihan, if he proves himself after injury. We do not appear to have any under 21's ready to step up.
However if MC chooses to go with only two CB's, then we will probably continue to struggle as we have this season.
The midfield and the importance of it protecting the defence, could be very difficult area decide on. Will HH still be with us, would O'Brien want to join us, assuming we can do a deal with Forrest and will Mr Howson be worth a punt on another year.
Up front, we certainly need another striker. Expensive and difficult to find, Latte Lath has proven that. Not big money, but then not the answer. After that we do have McGree (is he stays) Forss, Azaz and Jones who all would be good enough to start.
So what system will MC go with. Will we have the players to fit it. Will the Recruitment Team be given sufficient money to find that elusive striker or will we end up with a collection like last summer, a bit hit or miss, but ultimately not really good enough for the top six.
Good post Pedro in response to equally interesting ones from Werder, Andy and others. The level of discussion on this forum is way above what is available anywhere else.