Ditto. But this has been Boro's achilles heel throughout Carrick's tenure. Even when we were blessed with Archer and Apkom, we still tended to play pass the ball at a pedestrian pace and consequently once shorn of those two and without Doak for most of this season, we lack the pace and guile to get behind a defence. Is it the players or is it the coaching?
@powmillnaemore Probably a combination of both. We certainly lack pace throughout the first team and squad, more so since losing Doak.
Carrick has to take a lump of the blame for the system, we play as he wants us to play. Plan A and then, plan A as the alternative.
Of course we do not know exactly how the recruitment works, so there is also an element of, have we signed the correct players. a) for Carrick ball, b) for improving and selling on.
However, one cannot get away for our ponderous style as Philip said. All teams know how we play with no plan B or C and have weeks to prepare against us. But we continue to try and pass our way to goal through a curtain of players. Very difficult indeed.
@pedro. “All teams know how we play with no plan B or C and have weeks to prepare against us.”
I was thinking, whilst watching the match yesterday, how much preparation is there by us on trying different ways to break down the opposition; from what I have seen I would suggest very little.
Maddo commented how well drilled and organised Plymouth were we don’t seem to have tried anything differently to overcome these tactics; we should have kept Coburn to at least give us an alternative approach. 😎
@k-p-in-spain I just do not think Coburn fits into Carrick’s way of playing. One can strongly argue that Carrick is one dimensional.
I believe in the above and if Carrick is in charge when we kick off next season, then Coburn will be elsewhere, as much as he offers a plan B.