Well that was a pulsating game that went from comfy Boro victory to edging it slightly to possibly throwing away three points to a potential great victory to nervously holding on - Phew!
Though the players once again gave everything and some really good performances all over the pitch from McGree and Crooks to Hackney in midfield and van den Berg in his usual two full-back roles and Dieng in goal - not to mention Coburn with a cool finish to seal the points. Also good to see Forss coming on and looking sharp after Jones had once again run himself into the ground.
Boro slowly but surely dragging themselves up the table and have today demonstrated a much improved quicker passing game that also had an end product - another win on Tuesday will set us up nicely for the trip to Sunderland before the next international break.
btw I expect Watford will now be seeking another new manager to take over in that break 😉
Wow, what result but even more importantly, OFB, do you charge for your lottery predictions? Boro3 are back at Watford of all p[laces.
I need another beer I think and then dinner, Rissotto with a fine bottle of white wine. Thank you Boro that result should send a few tremors through the league.
UTB,
John
Well that was a highly entertaining game with Boro playing some lovely football at times which resulted in three well crafted and well taken goals.
It was just a shame that they couldn’t capitalise more on their early dominance and put the tie to bed when they were two nil up. Some poor defending again allowed Watford back into it but in the end Boro ran out as deserved winners.
Some excellent performances from McGree, Crooks, Howson, Hackney Jones and Coburn.
There were some extremely tired players at the end and hopefully this does not impact upon Tuesday night’s performance as we need another win over Cardiff to maintain momentum and confidence. 😎
Ps. Forgot to mention Dieng, who made some outstanding saves and his distribution was excellent. Certainly the best acquisition this year. 😎
I got a surprise when I saw Dean Whitehead as the assistant coach for Watford on the line today
OFB
Yes, he'll probably be caretaker manager next week 😀
@k-p-in-spain - Yes, I wondered if you left him out of your list on purpose! It sounded like he made a few really good saves.
I much prefer him to last-season's Steffen. I don't have that gnawing feeling in the gut that he's going to pass the ball directly to our opponents' striker, or that he'll try a trick to dribble around an opposing player only to be dispossessed leaving the opponent to slide the ball into an empty net. I mean, ALL players can make mistakes and keepers' mistakes often lead directly to goals conceded, but with Steffen one had the impression he was trying challenge the Gods in every game.
So it WAS the right fixture at the right time in the end. Not just that Watford are a little shaky but, far more importantly, Boro seem to be rediscovering themselves and growing in confidence with each performance now.
I thought McGree was absolutely superb today - so good with his movement between the lines and passing. The two early finishes were top drawer.
As others have said, the Howson/Hackney axis was back to its best today, whilst Crooks turned in his best outing for the season so far. Jones is starting to look like himself again.
Coburn had very little to feed off for much of the game but worked hard and used his physicality to good effect. His goalscorer’s finish, so composed, is what marks him out as a younger player who can go further. He has always had the elusive knack in front of goal and now seems to have added 20% to his all round play to bring himself up to speed. Now the finishing marks him out.
Van den Berg continues to impress. He’s been moved from pillar to post but just seems to take it in his stride. He’s not a spectacular, eye catching sort of defender but to do what he’s doing in a new country at his age is very promising indeed. If he’s still here in three year’s time then we’ve probably failed him.
We just need Fry to rediscover his true form. He’s been off it this year and I’m not sure why, most likely because Carrick’s style of play just doesn’t suit him unfortunately - he struggles with space behind him and can’t recover. He’s far better in a backs-to-the-wall deep line such as when he marked C Ronaldo and Kane out of a couple of cup matches not so long ago. Lenihan is the glue in the defence and it showed today though I thought McNair didn’t do badly.
Certainly room for improvement but you can’t escape the feeling that we’re on the up.
In many ways the perfect result going 2-0 up , being pegged back at 2-2 but whereas earlier this season they may have lost the game they came back and scored a third goal to win.
Only downside was the injury to O’ Brien which doesn’t sound good after settling so quickly into the team .
Looking forward to the match on Tuesday and watching on the red button on Sky.
Philip of Huddersfield
Agree with Andy that McGree was immense today, not just for his two well-taken goals and his ability to break the lines (his pass to Crooks and run into the box in the build-up to his second goal was every bit as impressive as his finish) but also for his tireless defensive work in cutting down the spaces and giving support to Van den Berg in the second half.
He was my M-o-M, but was pushed every inch of the way by Crooks who has improved in every game since Jones returned. The two have a great understanding and together offer more than the sum of their parts.I think Dijksteel was also on their wavelength and I hope that Carrick gives him a chance soon as he would be part of a dangerous combination down our right.
But the thing about the Boro today is that everyone had a good game. Dieng was superb, as were Cockburn and Howson. Fry will have his critics today - he seemed to be caught off balance for Watford's first goal-but stuck to his task against a dangerous and elusive centre-forward.
A team triumph then in a riveting and entertaining game, with Boro playing progressive and attacking football throughout.
A good week for the lads and for Michael whose coolness under pressure has been well justified by our last two performances.
Onwards and upwards then with our lengthening injury list the main possible cloud on the horizon.
Van den Berg is doing well but Scott's other "projects" may also have to earn their corn at some stage. But for the moment the more established players (and Josh) are doing just fine.
Although McGree was arguably MOM, with his two goals and 100% commitment, I think Dieng shaded it, making some great game saving shots when we were wobbling a little. it is hard to be not totally involved, then rise to the occasion, when needed.
That was a bad tackle on O’Brien, and not even a yellow card. We’re being a little unlucky with injuries.
@lenmasterman I think Van den Berg was no where near his man for the opening goal for Watford. OK, one can blame Fry, too but as Maddo said in his commentary, where was Rav? If you have seen the replays, you know what we mean.
For a goal you need two mistakes to make a goal happen these day. Other than their first goal, I agree all players were superb. Up the Boro!
I think O'Brien was superb at Bradford on Tuesday. He was going forward all the time and could have scored a brace in that match.Although McGree was arguably MOM, with his two goals and 100% commitment, I think Dieng shaded it, making some great game saving shots when we were wobbling a little. it is hard to be not totally involved, then rise to the occasion, when needed.
That was a bad tackle on O’Brien, and not even a yellow card. We’re being a little unlucky with injuries.
We have been unlucky with injuries to full-backs this season. Perhaps we can play Engel again after he has had more time to bed in now?
Up the Boro!
PS. Anyone going to attend Ken' funeral?
@jarkko Yes, I’m going to Ken’s funeral on Tuesday and so I’ll do a short note on how it went etc.
Philip of Huddersfield
Sounds like Lewis O'Brien is going to be out for quite a while from what Carrick said after the game so that's a huge blow - I noticed both Engel and Coulson were on the bench for Bradford so at least we have players available. Perhaps with Smith now back it will probably mean van den Berg will become the left full-back but he doesn't offer the same going forward but with games against high-flyers Cardiff and Sunderland up before the break it may be sensible to stick with a left-back who can defend.
Though I take your point about his role in Watford's first goal when he was probably a couple of yards too high alongside Fry and didn't track the runner - I also noticed he was the player who failed to close down the Watford player who scored their second goal from the clearance from the corner. But overall thought he has played better on the left as a full-back and that may be because as a right-footer is better against players cutting inside and so forces them wide.
So probably not the time to risk rehabilitating Engel given the opposition next week but not sure van den Berg is a long-term option at left-back either as doing OK is possibly not enough.
@werdermouth Given the current ongoing situation with injuries and continued defensive frailties, I think van den Berg has done quite well, especially in how he was introduced and at RB.
I think you were a little harsh on him for their first goal. Fry in my opinion, just made a complete hash of defending the ball, just as he did for that Southampton goal.
In fact, if we had two decent and reliable full backs, I would take a chance and play him for 2/3 games at least, at CB, as long as it was alongside Lenihan. O’Brien is going to be a massive loss.
Whilst the team gave a fantastic committed performance yesterday and Howson and HH played very well, I still think that the defensive part of their game is suspect at times. The final score could of been 4 - 6 possibly, so defensively we have not improved over the last 15 months.
If Matt Clarke can step up to playing an injury free 90 minutes, then we may have an improvement there.
Hopefully of course, the Boro can continue in OFB’s prediction of 3.
I don't think the first goal was van den Berg's fault but I think a more experienced full-back would have maybe been better positioned to try and recover Fry's error.
Whilst we conceded two poor goals yesterday they were by and large down to individual errors as opposed to failures as a defensive unit.
Overall, I felt that as a team we were better organised when out of possession. McGree and Jones provided good cover and tracked back to help their full backs out and to relieve pressure on the defence.
We now need to build and improve on yesterday’s performance. Cardiff, however, will not be a pushover. 😎
Just spent the best part of 3 days watching a thrilling Ryder cup, Europe were victorious on the final day but the USA did finally made a fight of it. So that’s both the Solheim Cup and the Ryder Cup victories for Europe within a week, great entertainment, not as good as the Boro wins but enjoyable.
Come on BORO.
A little thing. Listening to Coburn's interview he mentions that he works on that pass Crooks' delivered to him for the goal "every day in training." Watching it you can see Coburn point and Crooks deliver.
Part of our improvement is clearly that level of familiarity. Combining well with other players is one of Crooks' strengths.
It feels to me that the team is at roughly the same level it was 2 or 3 games after Carrick took over. We're not going to be rolling over anyone in the Championship and we are very vulnerable to a fast counter but we are starting to build patterns of play in possession that the players can execute at speed and with accuracy.
Like last season, it looks a bit like Carrick has only a small number of players that he truly trusts and losing Akpom and Giles who were key to his initial results is a huge blow. He does though seem to have found a way to use Crooks that gets the best out of him, Jones looks to be getting back to his best and Coburn may be a better option up front than Carrick had before we signed Archer. We may be overall weaker than this time last season but maybe not be a huge amount.
One of the biggest suprices of the season. What is happening at Watford?
https://www.watfordfc.com/news/club-statement-valerien-ismael
Up the Boro!