Double bugger in the 82nd minute! 🙁
Bad to worse. Werder was right about us notctaking our chances in the first half. Up hill now.....
Double bugger in the 82nd minute! 🙁
CJ:
Boro behind. Dear me. Dijksteel completely misreads one and is done down the right. But the ball across isn't threatening until Barlaser touches it into Docherty's path and he tees it up for Tufan on the edge to fire into the bottom corner.
Rogers on for Greenwood in the 77th minute, Silvera for Dijksteel in the 83rd.
From CJ:
Right at the death, Boro come so close to equalising, with the ball eventually fired wide in a scramble.
But there are boos as the FT whistle goes. How have Boro lost that from the start they made? They were coasting and should have put it to bed early. That was the problem though, Boro just seemed to take their foot off the gas and lose momentum. They invited on the pressure and Hull capitalised in the end. Poor.
Boro should have won this game easily particularly as Hull gave the ball away numerous times in the first half.
However, all this keeping possession and playing “tippy tappy “ football is no good as the final pass let them down time and again.
I wouldn’t mind getting beaten if Hull had played well - but they didn’t.
Where does Carrick go from here ? - lost 4 out of the last 5
Philip of Huddersfield
Unbelievable that Boro contrived to lose that game after probably being in a position to score enough goals to win five games if they'd had quality when it mattered in the final third. A couple of the usual defensive errors and the foot was well and truly shot - another missed opportunity and now the gap to the play-offs is looking too wide for comfort.
Thought van den Berg stood out for Boro and Dijksteel added an extra dimension but probably misjudged the defensive position he took that led to the second after he sold himself and didn't make the tackle and couldn't recover - though there were errors after that could have cleared the ball.
Not sure playing Jones as right-back to allow Silvera to take up his role was the best tactical decision Carrick has made and Crooks lucky to play 90 minutes after a lacklustre display. Rogers came on and basically gave the ball away so the subs didn't improve matters. Lets hope for better news on the injury front as Boro need more quality on the pitch.
Although many missing players, this ended in a poor show overall. Poor defence again. Crooks, two games now where he has been off it.
Barlaser keeps giving the ball away for costly goals against Boro !
OFB
The truth of the matter is, that whilst one cannot deny we have been terribly unlucky with injuries, the summer recruitment is now proving to have been poor.
How many of the incoming players are capable of turning a game or adding that little extra when needed. MC may say very little on that score, but he must be disappointed. What does the future hold for him here at MFC. Not a lot I would say.
@original-fat-bob To be fair OFB, he only did what Howson did against Ipswich.
@peter surtees was correct, the final balls tonight were beyond woeful. Even Dieng was poor with his passing.
I thought Crooksy looked absolutely shot tonight. He’s played a lot of games - perhaps he needs a rest? The problem is that only Greenwood of the summer-recruited forwards looks capable of replacing him.
My concern is that Boro are currently reverting to the team we saw at the start of the season: sloppy in passing, defensively frail, creating chances but not taking many of them. We look short of confidence right now. Our injuries have had a massively detrimental impact. The quicker we get Hackney back in, the better. And McGree, of course. Two big losses. And we need to recruit really well in January.
BTW - I have just completed the Swansea opener ready to post, but won't get the chance to load it up till much later in the day. For now I think there might be a few things for people to get off their chests on this Hull thread....
Haven't seen the game listened on Tees for the second half. Did not sound as if we played that well as the boos at the final whistle would testify. I am officially worried about MC's tenure. His post match comments are a worry for me.
"I thought we played some really good football tonight. We were fantastic defensively in general and gave them next to nothing and yet we're coming away without the points - it's hugely disappointing.
"The boys and the performance deserved a lot more rewards than we got tonight, but that's the game, it's ruthless and you've got to be ruthless in both boxes and it was another one that has got away.
"I thought we were in control. We started very well, very aggressive, and had control of the second half. I thought the next goal would come, but obviously it didn't quite come.
"We looked like ourselves for large parts of it and I thought we played some very good stuff so I've got no problems with that side of things. If we play like that more often we will be absolutely fine."
What does he mean by we will be fine? Does he mean we won't get relegated? We are only seven points above the relegation zone after all. So our second seven game run yielded 7 points how many will the next 7 bring? In those seven games only one team is higher in the league than us, West Brom.
We were better than Hull. How on earth did we lose that one? We played much better than on Saturday, me thinks.
Well, Werder summed it up well in his post above.
I, too think van den Berg was good at left centre back, Howson was desent but our passing was awfull occationally. But should have scored three again.
Results not good lately but how we misssed Hackney qnd McGree yesterday. Up the Boro!
Boro ratings vs Hull City as Boro fall flat while surrendering a lead
In my opinion we can forget about the playoffs, we are very one dimensional and teams who press cause us problems. Because our passing is not good enough, how many times last night were passes misplaced and why can't we occasionally just clear the ball, second goal a result of messing around in the box. Not a happy bunny
It just seemed that our players got the feeling very early on that it was going to be an easy night. So the odd fluffed chance wasn't going to matter too much because there'd plenty more chances to come, and for a quite a while it seemed to be going that way. But the relaxed approach seemed to turn into a torpor that they couldn't shake off.
That was as bad as Sheff Wed away
The last few games have reinforced the feeling that this is, as the cliche says, a "transitional" season. Right now, with this many players missing we are an average mid-table team at best. Many of our players and our manager are learning the ropes. A lot of players we recruited don't seem that impressive.
To be fair, Engel, RVDB and Latte Lath have all improved quite noticeably. RVDB to the extent that he could easily become first choice in his position. Ironically, Carrick seems to have stagnated as a coach. He doesn't seem to be able to affect matches and he, win against Leicester aside, doesn't seem to be able to tweak his teams' shapes. He is possibly playing the long game and insisting that every game the team goes out and plays the same way until it clicks.
For it to be a season of transition, you expect us to end the season looking strong. Aside from long term injuries our first team does look good.
Dieng
[Dijksteel] Fry RVDB Engel
Hackney O'Brien
Jones [Crooks] McGree
Latte Lath
Laid out like that, it's clear that we really need a right back and a #10. Possibly also an upgrade for Latte Lath unless Carrick relents and lets Forss play there.
More importantly, I think Carrick needs to take a good look at what he is asking his team to do. Whether by design or mistake, we don't have any defensively minded midfielders while none of that front 6 expect Hackney are capable of holding onto the ball and dictating a game. There's also huge pressure on the #10 to perform; if he doesn't run the game we go nowhere. If you don't have a player capable of playing that role consistently (and we don't) then don't play with a set up that requires it.
Personally I would go with 4-3-3. Defensive away and against the top teams with 2 sitting midfielders and attacking against weaker teams with 1 sitting and 2 attacking. Right now we're constantly getting overrun in midfield so we have to adjust. If he keeps playing the long game, there will come a point where the players lose faith, the fans lose faith and then Gibson's attempt to build a sustainable team goes up in flames again.
I agree. We love you dearly, Micheal Carrick, but coming out with this rubbish after yesterday’s performance is over-exaggerated hyperbole of McLaren-like proportions! (Can you have over-exaggerated hyperbole, btw? Or do they mean exactly the same? I'm trying to doubly emphasise how OTT MC’s comments were, obviously, but I might be hyperbolically over-exaggerating. Can you tell us, Len?)
Any thoughts on Barlaser, playmates? Again yesterday I thought he played some brilliant, piercing balls through the Hull lines, often with great precision. But the other side of his game is so frustrating; the EG pointed out that he loses concentration, for example with Hull’s second goal. And I’ve lost count of the number of times over the last 3 games that he’s played really casual passes which concede possession cheaply to the opposition. He seems to have this fundamental flaw. He is so inconsistent that his own play neatly sums up our wider team flaws at the moment. Get fit soon, Haydn, please!
Northern Echo take on Carricks responce!
@deleriad. The problem with this now being "a season of transition" will be the summer break.
I would expect possibly Hackney and Jones to be bought. The former against a fee we cannot refuse and the latter because we may also get a bid we cannot turn down.
If McGree gets to play again this season and shows his worth, then there is a good chance that he will be snapped up.
So, another summer of needing a large influx of players if Mr Gibson still dreams of the EPL. Scott has not really impressed with his recruitment with more duds then gems.
Will MC really be up for probably another season of hit and miss and a low chance of success into the top six. Or will he take the call that offers another route in the EPL possibly.
I think Carrick will always defend his players and accentuate the positive. The reverse of Wilder (and to a lesser extent Warnock) and quite a breath of fresh air. I don't think you ever take anything a manager says in a post-match press conference at face value. So I don't have a problem with it. I think he probably needs some additional media training so that he can vary what he says but he only has so many hours in the day.
I think at this point of the season though you can start to make judgements on players.
Barlaser. 1 year. Feels like a "win more" player. Great if you're on top and looking for a wide range of passing but a passenger when we're facing strong opponents.
Silvera and Rogers. Struggling to prove that they are any more than emergency replacements.
Engel, Latte Lath. Starting to get to grips with the Championship. Neither would be a starter for any of the top 10 teams though.
RVDB. Looks like a Premier league player in the making.
Dijksteel. A liability at right back. Might be that he needs a run of games but not sure we can afford that.
Coulson. Does he even exist?
Gilbert - see Coulson.
Dieng. Outstanding. Top 6 Championship keeper.
O'Brien. Hopefully still a top 6 championship midfielder when he returns from injury.
Bangura. See Engel only a few matches further behind.
Greenwood. He has definite talent but is struggling to impact games.
Crooks. Even by his standards he is oddly inconsistent. Probably should be no more than an impact sub.
Howson. This is starting to feel like a season too far for him.
There are players who look like they are never going to make it or are on their way out and really should be on the bench at best. Dijksteel, Coulson, Crooks, Howson, Barlaser.
Players who might make it but currently aren't really up to standard. Silvera, Rogers, Gilbert, Bangura
Players who are improving but still have a way to go to be considered as the right quality for starters in a top 6 team. Engel, Latte Lath, RVDB, Greenwood.
If you were to look at our team and ask yourself, who would get into one of the top 6 teams, the list is very short.
definite: Dieng, Hackney, O'Brien,
Maybe: McGree, Fry, Clarke (depending on how his recovery from injury plays out)
In my opinion we can forget about the playoffs, we are very one dimensional and teams who press cause us problems. Because our passing is not good enough, how many times last night were passes misplaced and why can't we occasionally just clear the ball, second goal a result of messing around in the box. Not a happy bunny
I will trust Carrick to get us back on feet. The season is not over as it is not Xmas yet. So plenty of time to catch the top six before May.
When we get Hackney and McGree (our two best players IMO) back and one or two good singings in January, we will be back. I am sure of it. We just need a settled side and then all is OK again.
Be positive. We do not have many loan players this season and I am more positive than I was in August. Up the Boro!
A good summary by Dom of the Northern Echo:
Totally agree. Up the Boro!
Middlesbrough FC is so famous that if a car owned by a supporter of the club goes on sale, it will be reported in the Car magazine.
So if anyone is collecting cars - Steve Gibson, perhaps? - here is your chance: https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/car-culture/chris-rea-ferrari-f355-berlinetta-for-sale/
Has anyone heard about his health lately? Someone must have been with him at school ...
Up the Boro!
@deleriad. Excellent assessment Deleriad.
I think one of the most disappointing things that is becoming clear, as time has gone on, is that MC does not appear to have the ability to influence games; it appears all one dimensional and opposition managers are working us out all too often.
I am not sure, with the current squad, that we can transition to anything better even when the three main injured players return.
I fear this is going to end in another disappointing year and we are going nowhere until our defensive weaknesses are addressed, something which has been apparent for the last two seasons. 😎
@jarkko. “When we get Hackney and McGree (our two best players IMO) back and one or two good singings in January, we will be back. I am sure of it. We just need a settled side and then all is OK again.”
The trouble with that is that by the time they are all match fit and performing as a unit we could be so far adrift of the top six we wouldn’t be able to make up the deficit.
Remember how last season some supporters talked about catching Sheffield Utd and how that turned out; that was with a much better/stronger team. 😎