@original-fat-bob. Sorry to hear about your pacemaker issues and hope all are now satisfactorily resolved.
I would offer to step in and be your pacemaker but my days of slogging around Stewart Park in a school cross country (which I managed to win) are long gone. 😉
Seriously, hope all is sorted and you are feeling better. 😎
@werdermouth. Thank you. Much appreciated.
I am amazed and touched by the concern and friendship expressed by so many friends who I have never met.
“The Boro” have a lot of good things to be proud of. 😎
Werder, belated thanks for a typically well-written opener, and best wishes to KP, Bob and exmil for speedy recoveries.
Yet another international break will have done nothing for our needing to field a settled side in which of all of our best players are available. I'm not sure that today's side will have solved our goal scoring problem, but I'll hope for a 2-1 win.
I’ve got to go for
Boro3 haven’t I ?
Thanks for the best wishes it’s appreciated !
OFB
Werder
Ref your cheesy post and the position that the Boro find themselves in at the moment.
I suppose the answer is..
”we Gouda get out of this place !
”e dam me all the old sayings !”
So eating so much cheese were you a bit of a “Gorgonzola ?”
Ok that’s enough I’ll be Brie f !
OFB
Team News: No McGree in the starting XI but van den Berg starts with Emdundson in defence with Clarke on the bench and all the usual suspects starting...
That must be one of the strongest subs bench that we've ever had in the Championship. Plenty of people who can make an impact despite the long travel of some of them.
UTB
Hopefully we'll get to see quite a few of them in the first half - Hamilton has yet to show that much on the left and Azaz always plays better with McGree on the pitch.
Well what can you say about that first half - Boro had nearly 67% possession but only one of their 11 shots on target with Latte Lath showing off his shooting accuracy stats as he missed a good chance and Morris too showing why nearly all his shots are off target. Then at the other end 2 defensive howlers punished by 2 goals - this is Boro's season in a microcosm.
This getting to be like my mum's favourite Boro -ism. Good on paper but rubbish on grass. What is possession really worth, I think Boro have had 60plus percent overall. For what? Nothing it would seem, any subs on yet? Despair rules and are the natives getting restless yet?
UTB,
John
PS Just checked and the BBC say 68.5% so far. Hopefully we're playing for a draw
Conway & Burgzorg on for Azaz & Hamilton in the 62nd minute, McGree for Morris in the 74th.
Only word to describe today’s performance so far is disaster.
Can’t consistently keep a clean sheet.
Create chances but can’t take them.
Have loads of possession - so what, if the team isn’t winning.
Top 6 - you must be joking based on season so far
Expect the usual comments from Carrick - “ the boys played some good football, we’re not far off etc etc “
👎👎👎
Philip of Huddersfield
Conway & Burgzorg on for Azaz & Hamilton in the 62nd minute, McGree for Morris in the 74th.
Forss & Jones on for Ayling & ELL in the 79th minute.
Still 0-2. It just ain't happening, is it? *shakes head*
Meanwhile, Cameron Archer & Morgan Rogers both score for Southampton & Villa respectively...
The second half wasn't an improvement attacking wise as Bristol City easily defended their 2-0 lead and Boro just ran out of ideas. Time is surely up for Latte Lathe as our main striker as despite his energy he just never looks like scoring and you can only wait so long.
This was another game Boro should have won as they created 20 chances but only 2 were on target and to make matters worse they gifted the opposition 2 goals with 2 sloppy defensive errors. Though it's now up to Carrick to reshape his attack as after ten games it must be obvious that Boro need to try something different.
Werder
So on that Cheesy display which showed us that the defence was full of holes and the attack stank !
Our midfield also played in a rind about way !
E Dam you Boro !
OFB
Drove back from Southampton this morning to see match,what a waste of time
Tippy tap, tippy tap, possession, possession but no end product do the team realise the objective is to score goals,
Or are they told not to try. Something has to change. There is also no leader oh the pitch, the team seems to be going through the motions do any of them care.
Two mistakes and we concede two goals...........
Werder
It’s the thin edge of the wedge !
Something smells at Boro at the moment.
Perhaps the big cheese needs to get things wrapped up quickly !
OFB
Well I predicted all of the right score, but not necessarily in the right order!
@paulinboro - I feel that an apology is due to you from Boro for that inadequate performance this afternoon. Driving up from Southampton is devotion above and beyond the call of duty. How many miles and how long did it take?
No idea why that passage above had a line through it...!
I suspect your journey was more fun than the match.
Michael Carrick's post-match comments don't seem to indicate we'll see much change...
"We're just not killing enough teams off even though we're playing good football and creating great opportunities.
"Bristol City have come with their gameplan and been hard to break down, so they'll be happy with the result; that's football.
"We're four points off the play-offs and it's a long-old season, so there won't be any knee-jerk reactions from us.
"We just need to find that killer instinct."
I would suggest we need to find someone who can hit the target - Marcus Forss is my choice!
Some hard choices for Carrick.
LL needs to prove he's not a one season wonder, so we can sell him. The coaches need to find a way to stop themselves doing the same old same old and the team being as predictable as they are. There are no surprise for the fans, or more importantly for the opposition. If they are happy to let Boro pass it about and in turn be patient waiting for the inevitable defensive mistakes/errors/clangers that, well you all know what I'm saying or trying to say. How come they always tuck their couple of chances away?
Can Mr Carrick who isn't going to come with an equally predictable game plan to match our game plan? Even the press conference is predictable.
Feeling frustrated and I hope Exmil enjoyed his pint or pints, that's the least he deserved after that.
UTB,
John
Again, that was all about Boro. Everything that Bristol City did was in reaction to us. We should have been 2-0 up - at least - after ten minutes and we can’t expect other teams to miss open chances that we gift them.
When we attack at speed, we look good; as with the chance that Azaz put on a plate for LL but when we take our time, the defence is waiting for us and our wingers are just hitting the first man or the keeper with their crosses.
it would be typical of Boro to turn it on against Sheffield United, one of the best defences in the league.
utb
@selwynoz - "It would be typical of Boro to turn it on against Sheffield United, one of the best defences in the league". You wouldn't put any money on it though, would you?
What would be more typical of Boro this season would be to have plenty of possession with passes side to side, then back, then side to side again. And after quite a bit of that, maybe a dart up the right wing and, if we're lucky, a cross into the middle of the box but, sadly, to find only one attacking player there and the attack easily snuffed out. And on rare occasions when the ball DOES reach a Boro player, he'll dwell on the ball too long, then pass to a colleague in a less advantageous position, who'll then attempt to pass to another colleague even LESS advantageously placed but, at the end, no shot wiill be attempted that causes the opposition keeper to make a save.
Instead, after a bout of play in which Boro dominates possession in the middle of the pitch but without causing any alarm, the opposition will institute a quick attack or one of our players will mishit an attempted pass to a colleague, and he will be horrified to see the ball intercepted and an attack is created out of nothing, with speed and correct attacking decisions made, and Boro will find itself 1-0 down. Their first shot on target! Who could have expected that? And we'll all look at ourselves in the crowd in an attempt at persuading ourselves that this was a fluke and that nobody could have forseen such an eventuality.
Surprisingly, opposition players rarely need the time on the ball that Boro's players need. Opposition players might feed on scraps but they tend to make the best out of them. We'll all check the BBC Sport App to find that with 60 minutes played, Boro has had 60% possession on a poor day, yet only one shot on goal (sadly, wide of the target). As if by rote some substitutes warm themselves up and some may come on, but by then the opposition has scored a second goal and everyone in the ground knows the game is effectively over. Boro with most possession, but not a lot of shots and even fewer on target, whilst the opposition was perfectly happy to jab a rapier through Boro's defence on a couple of occasions.
"Looking good" in midfield, breaking Opta Stats records for lateral passes between defenders and midfielders (but in Boro's half of the pitch) and Boro even having the lion's share of possession frightens no opposition teams. If you don't buy a ticket (have shots on goal) you can't win the lottery (or score goals). If you don't score goals but make enough mistakes in "our" half of the field so that the opposition has clear chances on Boro's goal, means more games will be lost. This really isn't differential calculus. I hope we are not still saying this next April or May.
In truth, Latte Lath was less of a one-season more of a last-third season wonder with 11 goals in the last 14 games but just 5 in the first two-thirds of last season - though he was dropped at the beginning of the season after 4 games didn't start a game until after another 11 games and was then also injured for 10 games.
It's a shame as his game outside the box has improved quite a lot and he also has lots of energy and speed but as soon as he's in the box he just seems to lose composure.
Unfortunately, Carrick doesn't have too many options as target man - Forss is a different kind of striker who won't out-muscle defenders but is much more clinical with his shooting - Conway as yet hasn't found his role in the team as he's only had 3 starts and then maybe has had to play in different roles to accommodate Latte Lath but still only scored ten with one assist last season in 39 games for Bristol City.
Though, maybe it's also a problem of Boro not getting players in the box to support the striker and not really having much down the left with Borges not looking like getting too many crosses in and Hamilton predominantly cutting inside onto his right foot.
I don't understand why Conway is being made to accommodate Latte Lath. Surely for the time being he should replace him until Latte Lath gets his confidence back.
The Echo's assessment of the status quo on the goal-scoring front - rather the absence of it:
Off topic, that "Like" before "Carrick" in the second paragraph is really bad grammar - it should have read "As". 😡
I am not sure at all where we go from this latest "Typical" display.
As much as we dominate possession, the four games we have won, apparently the opposition had the greater of having the ball.
Werder talks about a target man, because we operate with one upfront. All of our number "nines" are relatively small and not at all like Coburn. Carrick does not prefer the latter type.
So we need balls into the box or quick transition on the break with more than one player attacking. None of this happens on a regular basis.
Doak has improved things on the right, but his final ball does not beat the first man often enough, or he cuts inside.
On the left, we have little to nothing. Borges offers no attacking option. Cannot beat his man or pass and play like Giles.
The side looks unbalanced, especially down the left. Hamilton cannot cross because he cannot use his left foot, so comes inside taking space.
Generally by the time Boro get to the 18 yard box, the opposition has all its players behind the ball. Our players then have little to shoot at, so any shots are either blocked or miss the target.
After 10 games, one can now see a possible failing in some of the summer signings. Whilst it is still early, are Borges, Hamilton or Busgzorg going to be the answer. Will Conway get a chance to play in the number 9 role and we see if he is worth the4 mill fee.
Carrick has now had the equivalent of two seasons to choose a system that works on a consistent basis. Mr Gibson has put his hand in his pocket and I assume expects a return in results.
At the moment, the pay back is looking decidedly poor. Automatic promotion was always going to be a step too far for me. Now even third to sixth looks in danger.
I watched Hull v Sunderland this afternoon. Nothing special from either team. However the latter are now EIGHT points ahead of Boro after only 10 games.
It is certainly time for Carrick to deliver. He has been given the players, although they may not of been his choices.
It just cannot continue like it is without something giving. The responsibility is with MC.
DORMO -spot on.
What you’ve said is what supporters are saying. Sadly Carrick is wedded to one way of playing rather than a style which suits the players at his disposal.
philip of Huddersfield 👎👎