"An ugly win" by Boro according to Higgy on BBCTees but just about deserved and looked more dangerous in the 2nd half. Swansea 1-2 BORO with RVDB the MoTM. Phew!
Well, that was as poor as we have played all season and we contrived to pull a rabbit out of the hat with a win. Swansea will be gutted.
Still think it was a bit of a smash and grab but I will take the points all day long
Well Boro somehow managed to come away from South Wales with a welcome three points - don't know if they deserved them but after more poor defending allowed Swansea an equaliser it didn't look promising. However, a bizarre piece of goalkeeping gifted Boro a free kick on the six-yard box, which Silvera knocked past the line of Swansea defenders as they rushed to close down the shot. Unfortunately, another injury blow as Dieng looked to have done his groin and to be honest with the squad down to its bare bones everyone is looking tired and worse still playing tired-looking passes. Still, at least Boro close the gap on the top-six to 5 points behind next week's opponents West Brom - they'll need to play better to get another three points against them I fancy!
Great to hear Hignet on the commentary instead of NM
The Echo's verdict on the match:
Had to laugh at this:
https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/13031904/silvera-beats-10-man-swansea-wall
C J' ratings
Seny Dieng - 7
Nothing he could do with the goal but produced an excellent save from Yannick Bolasie shortly after Boro's winning goal. hopefully his injury doesn't prove serious as he went off late after slipping while taking a goal-kick.
Anfernee Dijksteel - 6
Still not as convincing as he could be with some sloppy moments in possession. But defended well and got forward well too.
Dael Fry - 6
Had been dealing well with Jamal Lowe until the striker's goal. He let him go and then let the cross go beyond him too easily. There was one moment in the first half he let him go too, but otherwise he was pretty solid.
Rav van den Berg - 7
Another really solid outing from the young Dutchman. Not a lot got past him as he put in a few big challenges and showed composure and maturity in possession.
Alex Bangura - 6
Looks a lot more comfortable than Engel in possession but was targeted in the first half by Swansea who created a couple of half openings from their right-hand side.
Jonny Howson - 8
Brilliant performance from the veteran throughout. One of those performances where he just always seemed to involved and in the right place at the right time, be it when Boro were in possession or defending.
Dan Barlaser - 6
Much more tidy in possession in this one, without really controlling or dictating the game. Howson alongside him was far the busier of the two.
Isaiah Jones - 6
Lively throughout, with his pace running in behind causing Swansea problems as seen when he hit the bar with the final kick of the game, Missed another good chance at 1-1 to put Boro back ahead in another moment that sums up his en product at time.
Matt Crooks - 6
Provided the elusive killer pass for Boro's first goal. But beyond that, he was rather ponderous in possession and often slowed counter attacks with real potential. You certainly can't ever fault his work-rate and determination.
Sam Greenwood - 7
Without being heavily involved, Greenwood had Boro's only real effort of the first half before then firing their first goal. A fine finish to take him to five for the season.
Emmanuel Latte Lath - 6
Battled and worked hard for his side throughout. But often found himself crowded out in a congested final third, with Boro failing to take advantage of his early runs in behind.
Substitutions
Lukas Engel (For Bangura, 72') - 6 - Came on and did what he had to do to help Boro over the line with minimal fuss.
Morgan Rogers (For Crooks, 72') - 6 - Assist for the winner, albeit a bit of a gift. Full of endeavour from the bench.
Sammy Silvera (For Greenwood, 72') - 7 - Fired the winning goal after coming on. It was a good finish from the close-range indirect free-kick as Swansea players charged him down. He started the attack that led to the backpass too, with one of his positive runs.
Tom Glover (For Dieng, 90') - N/A
@lenmasterman I’d agree with everything you’ve said. From the comfort of my sofa, I thought throughout most of the game that we were going to easily win. Winning or losing depends on fine margins - a 3-0 win can depend on a good deal of luck, but equally a 1-2 loss can be down to missing chances that on another occasion would be taken.
As someone once said, “it’s a funny old game”.
I refer you to my earlier post, m’lud! It looks like that WAS a funny old game.
A match to be filed under the "the points are all that matter" category. Just thankful we won as at one point in the afternoon, we were a mere 5 points away from the relegation zone. Hopefully a little light at the end of the tunnel we can take forward. UTB
From MC
Michael Carrick praised young forwards Sammy Silvera and Morgan Rogers for their moment of improvisation to grab Middlesbrough an important victory at Swansea City.
Silvera fired home Boro's winning goal from Morgan Rogers's lay-off after Boro received an indirect free-kick inside the six-yard box when Swans keeper Carl Rushworth was penalised for a backpass. So rare is the offence, Carrick admitted after it was not something he'd ever worked on in training.
But between them, the summer signings took control of the situation to win three valuable points for Boro in South Wales, ending a three-game losing run. It came as Boro recovered from being pegged back early in the second half when Jamal Lowe cancelled out Sam Greenwood's strike.
READ MORE: Middlesbrough player ratings vs Swansea City as Boro claim important away win in tight game
Carrick said after: "We had to dig in. When they scored their equaliser it could have gone either way. As the winning goal comes it’s a bit of a strange way, but sometimes we have to take that. It’s more the fact we feel we earned with the effort and togetherness and spirit to keep going more than anything else.
“It’s a strange one. I’ve not seen it for a long time. It certainly doesn’t mean it’s a guaranteed goal because it’s not easy to find a way through. They literally line everyone up on the line, so it’s not a given. Sammy managed to find a gap. It was quite interesting to see what the lads came up with because it’s not something you see often and therefore we haven’t planned for it, to be honest.
"I’ll hold my hands up to that. I definitely didn’t ever take one in my career. I was down the line because I had Ronaldo and Rooney ahead of me! I actually remember Cristiano scoring one like that at Old Trafford. But you’re going back a long time for that. I was nowhere near it because they were better than me!
"I’ve certainly not seen it for a long time. But the boys, two of the younger boys as well, have been smart enough and bright enough. They stepped up and said, ‘this is my moment, I know what I’m going to do’, and that pleases me even more. It made the difference."
Swans interim boss Alan Sheehan bemoaned the decision after. Carrick hadn't yet watched it back but was visibly appealing strongly for it during the game. It caught everyone by surprise at the time, but Carrick didn't feel there was any other possible decision.
“I was appealing for it when it happened," he said. "I’ve not seen it back but my instinct was that it was definitely a backpass at the time. You don’t always see it, but straight away it registered that we need to appeal for that.
"It’s just not something you see very often, whether that’s because players are away not to do it or what. I don’t know. But it’s certainly unusual. Thankfully, today it went our way."
Silvera and Rogers's moment ultimately sealed the win for Boro, but Carrick was delighted with the pair in general too. Bringing them on with a little under 20 minutes to go and the score level, he recognised his side needed an injection of spark. Options are limited right now, but he was delighted with the two young summer signings and their impact.
“They made a big difference," he said of their performances overall. "They pressed really well, defended really well and gave us something on the break. It looked like there were moments. Even the goal, Sammy created it for Manu in terms of getting in the pocket and poking it through for him.
"They had to defend that, which is where the backpass came from. Fair play to them for standing up and taking the lead in that situation, and fair play to the other boys like Jonny [Howson] and Dan [Barlaser] for having the confidence in them to say, ‘you do it’.
The victory sealed three important away points for Carrick's side, arresting a run of three straight defeats too. Even the Boro boss admitted himself that it felt like there was a lot of pressure riding on the result of the game.
He said: "There's no hiding from it, results have shown that. We definitely played better on Wednesday and lost the game. Today we were good in other aspects but in terms of how we wanted to look as a performance, it was better on Wednesday. But that's football.
"If we keep fighting a way to tilt those little advantages in our way, when the good performances come we'll get the benefit of results. I have to say the fans were amazing again. Coming down all that way in conditions like this right before Christmas, unbelievable support and it was great to score the winner right in front of them."
@malcolm I only hope that Hignett has replaced him. Fortunately, I watched the game with Swansea commentators.
@malcolm I am not sure I agree with the player marks, nobody deserved more than a six today. Apart from his pass to Greenwood , Crooks was once more very poor. Ponderous, I think Craig Johns said, and that was being kind.
Bangura in my opinion is not as good a Engel at defending, but better going forward. I also thought VDB was not at his best on the left this afternoon. Going back to a Dormo post earlier, he said what I have been saying for over a season. The midfield is not good enough. Howson did not earn an 8, despite his efforts. Barlaser just does not possess sufficient strength on the ball.
A welcome 3 points, but will need to be better next Saturday.
@malcolm I am not sure I agree with the player marks, nobody deserved more than a six today. Apart from his pass to Greenwood , Crooks was once more very poor. Ponderous, I think Craig Johns said, and that was being kind.
Bangura in my opinion is not as good a Engel at defending, but better going forward. I also thought VDB was not at his best on the left this afternoon. Going back to a Dormo post earlier, he said what I have been saying for over a season. The midfield is not good enough. Howson did not earn an 8, despite his efforts. Barlaser just does not possess sufficient strength on the ball.
On the basis of what I've read thus far, the Echo's player ratings seem rather better balanced:
I was able to watch the game on TV and for most of the first half we were awful. Our passing has been bad for the last few games and this was even worse. Is it just the absence of Hackney or maybe McGree as well but we have to be better than this. Crooks was in the right place to lay it on for Greenwood but he’s not really a creative player, more a workhorse and link player.
Barlaser came in to challenge the midfield. He has reasonable vision but it all seems a bit slow. He also makes defensive errors such as the Hull equaliser when he didn’t follow his man. Is he good enough?
The second half was scrappy and we were lucky to win but, like everyone else, I’ll take it.
My only really positive thought is to point out that Hackney, McGree, Forss and maybe a couple of loan players could easily transform this team.
We have to accept that we’re playing for sixth and a longer team improvement as the younger players get better. Automatic next year?
utb
@pedro Hignett gave his MoM ward to van den Berg. I like Rav a lot, he looks like a EPL player in the making. And he is still young. So we must concratulate Scott on this purchase.
A good summary of the match at https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/23995082.swansea-1-2-middlesbrough-boro-crucially-find-way-win/
up the Boro!
If you compare the marks given yesterday to those awarded for the Hull game you would think everyone played much better but in my opinion Boro if anything performed on the whole worse and got lucky and converted the few chances they created. It seems the marks represent the result more than the performance but Fry got a 6 despite making a defensive error that led to their equaliser in comparison to Dijksteel against Hull receiving a 5 for missing a tackle that ultimately led to a goal. I reckon nobody deserved much more than a 6 yesterday and have no idea how Howson received an 8 as it wasn't even close to one of his best performances.
My view is that Boro look to have a lot of players with tired legs that are making sloppy and over-hit passes - which begs the question of what team will be selected for Port Vale if Carrick still has no players returning from injury as there are 4 games in ten days coming up in December. Latte Lathe could barely run for the last quarter after pressing and chasing from the front without getting much in the way of goal-scoring opportunities. Dijksteel was also looking a bit leggy after running up and down the right all game - at least Bangura and Engel are sharing the load - and you can easily see more injuries like hamstrings or muscle pulls happening if any player has to manage 360 minutes in ten days on heavy pitches. Crooks looks like he's barely able to run at the moment and surely needs resting and not sure if Howson will survive December if Hackney isn't available.
So might be time to freshen up things for Port Vale and start some youngsters and the likes of Silvera and Rogers otherwise the team picked for West Brom may struggle.
Craig Hignett was only standing in for Neil Maddison as he was at a wedding yesterday - so at least we were spared hearing his repertoire of malapropisms such as another Boro player 'got caught dwindling on the ball' as they presumably shrunk until they were dispossessed.
Well that must be a first for the Boro, winning a game they should have lost by half time and in my view playing worse than against Hull; the last three games could and should have provided a better points return than they have.
The injuries and suspensions have enabled/required MC to utilise his squad to the full, unfortunately I believe it has proved that it is not strong enough and we are going to struggle to make top six.
I appreciate we are not quite at the half way point of the season, players will return from injury and there is a chance to recruit in January. We will, however, also lose players on international duty in January and there is no guarantee that any new recruits will have the same impact as Archer and Ramsey did last season.
Until the midfield/defensive frailties are addressed then we will continue to struggle to make the top six even with McGree, Hackney and Forss back in the side. 😎
- @werdermouth. I know that "drone" generally means something else these days, but that is Mr Maddison and his know all commentary.
It is refreshing and very interesting to hear the other teams commentators. Most are quite unbiased given the circumstances at times.
I wonder if we will not see McGree and now Dieng, until after the announcement or departure of the relevant squads in January 🤔.
Come on BORO.
@werdermouth. I had forgotten we had the cup game on Tuesday night.
Apart from utilising a few of the younger players, and an Engel or Bangura choice, I do not see MC has much option than to pick the same team, more or less.
Glover to start even if Dieng is fit. Clarke playing on the left with VDB. Rogers in place of Crooks could be no worse on the last three games. Silvera in for Jones or Greewood, or the latter could play as the number 10.
Unfortunately LL will have to start even if for only 60 minutes or so. Then you are left with Gilbert or Kavanagh?
I am pleased it is MC making these decisions and not me.
I did have that same thought when Dieng went off as he'll probably be out for at least two weeks and then off on international duty - though not sure when McGree is due back from injury as there's been very little news.
Carrick needs to be proactive with his team selections on Tuesday before more injuries make the decisions for him as he selects the Fit XI.
I would be very surprised if Mcgree is picked for the Socceroos for the Asian Cup. Graeme Arnold has said he only picks players who are playing regularly. Hence Glover not picked for the last internationals. The tournament starts in three weeks or so.
I think Carrick said on Thursday, that McGree will back training "soon". I would presume he will join the squad for training this week and perhaps coming on as a sub soon after Xmas. But just my thinking.I did have that same thought when Dieng went off as he'll probably be out for at least two weeks and then off on international duty - though not sure when McGree is due back from injury as there's been very little news.
Earlier Carrick said that he hope to have Hackney back by Xmas and one of the local newspapers hoped he will be back at Port Vale. But of course something could happen in training and anyway, I think Carrick will not be pushing players back too soon.
Looking forward to the match on Tuesday. The Quarter-Final of the EFL Cup. Up the Boro!
@mw-in-darwin Every cloud, possibly? Assuming he gets fit before the middle of January. Even then it could take him number of weeks just toget part match fit.
I have said it before but Crooks has looked tired in the past two to three games. And was thinking the same after the Swansea game, too.
Now I watched the highlights of the match. I did notice that he made at least three of the best chances Boro had on Saturday. Note he passed the ball cleverly to Greenwood (and not LL as the Swansea defenders were thinking) for the first goal. Crooks also put Jones through with a wonderfully weighted ball but the effort was saved by their keeper.
All in all, Crooks was suprisingly effective. He had earned his place to start, after all. Up the Boro!
All in all, Crooks was suprisingly effective. He had earned his place to start, after all. Up the Boro!
For me the thing about Crooks is that he has a really good range of creative passes and he loves linking up with players. His problem when playing as a #10 is that he also needs to do an awful lot of protecting the ball and linking the forwards and midfield. In the modern jargon he's playing on the half turn. This is something he is very poor at. He loses or gives the ball away a lot and the speed at which he does it often breaks up our momentum. The funny thing is that if you look at his passing record this season compared to Akpom's last season, it's not that different and, clearly, he has already managed several more assists than Akpom did. But, when you look at his "duels" it's clear that he loses the ball when challenged a lot more than Akpom did.
I do think that Crooks gets a lot of flack that he doesn't deserve but he's not really a #10. He was doing well for a while playing a hybrid role of a right-sided box-to-box midfielder when attacking and a #10 when defending but we seem to have gone away a bit from that.
A few weeks ago when Boro were on a winning streak and Port Vale couldn’t score for toffeee with 5 goals in 6 home games, I would have said this would be a banker away win.
Since then Boro have slipped whilst Port Vale have moved up the 1st Division table and scored 3 goals yesterday winning 3-2. A hat trick for their main striker.
I expect Port Vale to come out fighting and pressurising Boro who must apply the same tactics and hope a moment or two bit of class will see them win . But it will be close and can go either way
Philip of Huddersfield