Sounds like Akpom may have been well below par last season 😉
Anyway, it appears one-season wonders for some reason are not famous for having another good season...
@k-p-in-spain To be fair to Akpom, as stated he missed pre-season and has had to start from the bench, when the team were not playing very well.
In fact, for Ajax, they did not do very well last season. As I previously posted, the new Coach plays 4-3-3 and the limited game time he has had, has been on the right of the 3.
In saying the above, given we have no Giles and very limited other creativity, as has been said, then I would of expected him to only score around half the goals he did last season. However, if some of the chances and one on one situations we have created this season, had fallen to Chuba, then I think he would already have 4/5 goals.
As with CA, we can only hope that there is something in our new signings that MC can bring out. A big ask though, as is doesn’t look promising at the moment.
The starting XI:
Glover, Smith, Barlaser, Fry (C) Hackney, McGree, Latte Lath, Rogers, McNair, Silvera, O'Brien
Subs: J Jones, I Jones, Gilbert, Howson, Coburn, Coulson, Lenihan, Engel, McCabe
Who's McCabe?
Most key players being rested but O’Brien looks like he’s playing left-back with 2 left-backs on the bench in Engel and Coulson?
Maybe McGree is playing because he’s played less than others but a chance for Rogers, Latte Lath and Silvera to find the net.
CJ:
Excellent work from Hackney. He receives the ball in the centre circle, skips past the challenge and then slips the ball into the path of Latte Lath who, running onto it just inside the area, beats the keeper with a hard low drive. Should save it, but Latte Lath won't care.
Further CJ comments:
Latte Lath so close again!
It's a brilliant save from Lewis. Tommy Smith does excellently on the right and then swings a great cross in. Latte Lath appears to defy gravity with his leap and from inside the six-yard box heads down towards goal where Lewis's reflexes are top notch to deny the Boro man a quickfire second. Such was his stretch to even reach the ball, he just didn't manage to place the header. It was achievement in itself to win it at all. So unlucky.
(25 minutes)
No change after the goal
It remains one-way traffic with wave after wave of Boro attack. Latte Lath lively. Hackney and Barlaser pulling the strings. Both full-backs advancing well and causing problems.
(32 minutes)
Summary of first half:
Excellent half from Boro. No doubt who are the Championship side here. Moved the ball with real pace and purpose from the off. Controlled the game throughout. Great for Latte Lath to get a goal. Only slight disappointment is their dominance only counts for one goal. But very good overall.
No Boro changes at the start of the second half.
Morgan Rogers sends us 2-0 up assisted by Riley McGree! 😎
Morgan Rogers makes it 2-0 in the 54th minute!
Morgan Rogers makes it 2-0 in the 54th minute!
CJ:
Boro double their lead! McGree makes an excellent dart into the penalty area and is played in behind. Right side of the box, he plays it back centrally from the byline, where Rogers runs onto it and flicks it goalwards at the front post beyond Lewis and in.
Who's McCabe?
Law McCabe is a Middlesbrough-born attacking midfielder who only just turned 17 in June having been at the club since the under-9s and was called up to the England U18s in September.
Alex Gilbert on for McGree in the 72nd minute.
So job done and through to the 4th round with a team that had eight changes from the weekend - also goals for Latte Lath and Rogers to help their confidence and a highly-rated performance from Barlasser to keep him close to the first team when needed. Can't comment much on the performance until I've watched the highlights tomorrow but perhaps most important was the first clean sheet of the season!
Listened to the game on radio Leeds. The difference in class was clearly noticeable as Boro moved the ball quickly compared to Bradford. McGree, Hackney and O’Brien saw a lot of the ball. Latte scored but the commentators suggested the goalkeeper should have saved it.
A competent display with the exception being Glover almost dropping a clanger. Surprisingly, Bradford didn’t then put him under pressure. The locals maintained that Bradford didn’t play well, respecting Boro too much and didn’t pressure Boro enough until the last 10 minutes.
But we’ll take the win and a clean sheet as confidence will grow.
Philip of Huddersfield
@philip-of-huddersfield Pity you had to put a negative on Lath’s goal, especially that the new signings have been put down lately.
Come on BORO.
Only negative that there was no Boro3, again. Positive, we are unbeaten in three matches with two wins. It looks much brighter now and I always like a good cup run, me. Up the Boro!
A clean sheet!!! Jim Platt must be over the moon. Up the Boro l
@philip-of-huddersfield Pity you had to put a negative on Lath’s goal, especially that the new signings have been put down lately.
Philip's reference to the Radio Leeds commentary isn't the only perception of the ELL goal. Craig Johns on Teesside Live saw it in much the same way, as per my earlier quote:
Excellent work from Hackney. He receives the ball in the centre circle, skips past the challenge and then slips the ball into the path of Latte Lath who, running onto it just inside the area, beats the keeper with a hard low drive. Should [have] save[d] it, but Latte Lath won't care.
Great to read about a Boro win but even better to see that it was achieved by a dominant performance by a lot of our supposed ‘second-stringers’. Carrack’s quotes seem to reflect this because it shows the slow but perceptible coming together of the group. We have to accept that it will take time but there seem to be a lot of positives to take out of this game.
UTB
To be fair to Philip he was merely reporting what other commentators were saying,
I saw the goal on Sky last night and my immediate response was that it was a goalkeeping error. The lad dived over the ball at his near post.
If you want a bit of balance then a much better effort was a towering header from Latte Lath that was only kept out by a reflex save from the keeper.
There won't be a single Boro supporter who won't be delighted that Lath scored. The more the better.
I saw the goal on Sky last night and my immediate response was that it was a goalkeeping error.
Error is too strong. Poor, sure. I think he may have been caught out a little and slow to react. I get the impression the whole Bradford team were maybe a little off the pace.
On other things. How good was Hackney yesterday? I said a few weeks back that if he gets more licence to get forward this season that he will be valued like Alex Scott by the end of it. Player of the match for the England U21s (even if only against Luxembourg) probably added £5m to his value overnight.
We did play like we did last season because we were able to intimidate Bradford and keep them feeding on scraps. It's going to be much harder to do that to Championship opponents, especially as they have lost their fear of us.
Our season is going to be defined by how well Carrick rebuilds this team and how effective he is at eeking out results when there are now quite a few teams in the league with better squads than us and with more experience of playing together as a team.
Just watched the highlights on MFC and yes Hackney looked impressive and was driving forward more often than I've seen - also looked like he's developing a good understanding with O'Brien down the left, which could prove to offer Boro a good outlet.
McGree also as usual looked good and full of energy with Barlasser also playing some good forward passes from his holding midfield role. I thought both Latte Lath and Rogers took their goals well - I wouldn't necessarily blame the keeper for Latte Lath's goal as he took the shot early and left the goalie unable to adjust his feet quickly enough - also had a good downward header stopped with a good reaction save by their keeper. He also looked very happy to score and I'm sure it will be a confidence boost.
While Silvera looked explosive in parts he still lacked the end product but at least he knows what he wants to do when he receives the ball if the execution may have been slightly off.
All in all, looked a bit more convincing performance than a few weeks ago with some good slick passing in some moves to get in on goal. Not sure if any of the fringe players did enough to force themselves into a start but Latte Lath may well get some pitch time in the next few games.
A win is a win but a clean sheet is good to see. And Latte Lath scored, for all that I'd have liked to see Coburn play and score, to get him up and running for the season. Hackney played well by all accounts. So, as has been said: "Job Done".
Boro moves on to Watford away on Saturday but I will probably be camping at Lockside, Ripon. The cathedral, Booth's (great for varieties of tea and other delicacies), a few drinks, BBQ and probably the last "organised" weekend away this season unless we are able to get up to Ullapool in the late autumn. Then it will be football without competition (after the Rugby World Cup, of course).
How is THAT (the Rugby) going down in Oz, PeasePud and Selwyn...?
So onto the next round and in the last round of the league cup. I’ll call it that because no matter who sponsors, it shall always be the league cup!
It's provided a good opportunity for game time to ensure the squad gets up to speed and learn the formations and how the players around them like to receive balls and passes. It’s also provided MC with the opportunity to see his squad of players in a competitive game and not just on the training ground.
Hopefully it has also provided a bit of cash for the Boro coffers as after expenses the gate receipt is split equally between both teams and a contribution to the league.
We mat also dream of a home tie against a big team in the next round with tv revenue and a full house to facilitate a big money buy or loan in the new year to help promotion!
Looks like I’ve found where I put my foam hands 🙌 I’ve missed wearing them !
OFB
What rugby?
Everyone is talking about the rugby league and Australian rules grand finals this coming weekend and rugby is conveniently overlooked. There appears to be an agreement that all the recriminations will wait until everyone gets back to Australia.
Many of Australian rugby union’s problems are structural but the coach will get some stick for dropping all of the experienced players but he could be said to have recognised that they were too weak to succeed and so needed to plan for the next tournament by blooming the youngsters. I don’t totally buy that but it will be interesting to see who they decide to blame.
I enjoyed the game. It was the first time I’d been to Valley Parade, which has 3 immense and impressive stands but also a couple of tinpot affairs that wouldn’t be out of place in the National League North! It’s a nice club, though, with a huge and dedicated following. That said, it was disappointing that only 11000 of their fans turned out last night at just £5 per person, especially as this was the furthest they’d been in the EFL Cup for many years and as they normally average 17-18000. Perhaps they’d looked at the Championship league table and concluded that they weren’t going to be entertained by the opposition?!
This was a real team performance. Boro were very dominant from the off, giving BC very few opportunities, until the last 10 minutes when we seemed to take our foot off the gas. A goal for Bradford at that stage might have produced a nervy ending. Perhaps we assumed that the game was won, but Carrick should remind them the match lasts 90+ minutes.
Our midfield pair of Hackney and Barlaser were superb, and everybody in the side, forwards included, covered back tremendously, which really shielded our defence, not that Fry and McNair needed much protection, as they too were both very strong. Latte Lath took his goal well and often unnerved defenders with his pace. Rogers and Silvera did ok, seamlessly fitting into the pattern of slick pass-and-move which we did very well all game. I wish Silvera had an end product, though, and at times, I wish he could trap a ball! But credit to him: he’s not afraid to take on his man and he’s not afraid to shoot. Given time, he may come good!
We had a 15 minute cameo from Alex Gilbert, which wasn’t particularly noticeable, except that he’s physically a Hayden Hackney lookalike, so much so that I forgot he had actually replaced Hackney!
I have one negative addition to make. Tommy Smith had been effective at defending and getting forward to deliver good crosses. However, he got himself booked in the 85th minute. I’m not sure if it was for a foul or for time-wasting. But within the next 5 minutes, he tried to grab an attacker as he ran through. Fortunately, the Bradford lad stayed on his feet and kept on going, and fortunately, the ref let play go on. If the player had gone down I think the ref would have had no option but to give Smith a second yellow. You think he’d have learned after his West Brom fiasco.