I thought Morris was a contender for MotM - he seemed to have all the time in the world, lots of composure and never panicked when in a tight spot and generally distributed the ball well - he's been a great signing.
I totally agree. Morris seems to be overlooked but for me he is the glue that holds the midfield together. He is always available when needed, vary rarely loses the ball - even under pressure - and has a great passing range. All he needs to add is a few goals. What a wonderful piece of recruiting.
Azaz shows moments of magic and is a must for me along with McGree, Doak and Morris.
UTB
The victory lifted Boro to seventh position in the table, and ensured there was no negative fallout from last weekend’s home defeat to Coventry. And we are out of top six only by goal difference.
How often did we win away from home by 1-4 in the 1970's? Not often, I think. I love the performances under Carricks, Leadbitter and Woody. Long may this continue.
And we scored three in our last away match at Norwich, too. Life if good.
Up the Boro!
Last 3 games - scored 7 - conceded 7
Another step forward but Boro will need to improve our recent defensive lapses if our promotional challenge is to be sustained - our first 11 games saw us concede less than a goal a game but we were only scoring on average one goal a game. Does it mean anything or was it just random that more goals have come at both ends?
@werdermouth Please do not remind of the Coventry match 😉.
And I know we are seventh ahead of Wednesday evening's games, only. But let's enjoy the result from Loftus Road. The life is so mirerable already.
Up the Boro!
Yes last night's 4-1 win was an excellent psychological boost and perfect response to that previous game that I've forgotten about...
I missed the Bonfire Night at the Cricket Club but the chicken was good and was followed by a 4-1 away win by Boro. Quite a good evening.
In the USA the People have spoken. It doesn't matter what we think about the result but the UK, EU and the world will have to get on and work with the next President as best as possible. No point calling him names. Many over this side of the Atlantic Ocean might have preferred a different outcome but whilst the votes are still being counted, it is projected the next President will not only have the majority of Electoral College votes, but a majority of the Popular vote. Most thought it would have been a closer run thing.
Sometimes in democracies, the "people" put their mark against the candidate who would not have been chosen by "impartial observers". That's democracy for you! Better than the various alternatives.
Luton Town next, and then an enforced autumn break Mk 3.1. Or so it seems...
Yes, that is true.Nice to see us being clinical for once. We've played better and lost this season certainly.
Perhaps this is better than playing badly all the time but having the same amount of points in the bag. We just need a few wins in a row like Millwall have had recently - and climb in to the top six for good.
Let's hope some consistency is found next and we get the points at home to Luton on Saturday.
Up the Boro!
@forever-dormo So Boro, Darlo and Hartlepool won yesterday. It would have been too good to see Kamala Harris to win.
BTW. Try translate "Kamala" from Finnish into English in Google transfer. It means "terrible" in our language. So a kamala win as she lost to a trump.
Let's hope it won't be a disaster like in Russia.
Up the Boro!
Yes you're right that the people of the USA have elected Donald Trump as president and there's nothing we can do about it - though we still don't have to like it.
Mrs Werder often reminds me that in democracies like Germany, Trump wouldn't have been allowed to stand for election because of his criminal convictions and acts against the constitution - including anti-democratic acts. Plus he most certainly wouldn't be allowed to pardon himself or his associates or will have the power to dismiss any ongoing criminal investigations into his actions.
What most external observers find incredulous is that all this doesn't seem to matter for half the population in the US and they are more than happy to ignore his crimes and misdemeanors. Populism has once more prevailed aided by billionaire backers and partisan media organisations new and old. The people may have spoken but the words have been put into their mouths as they repeat the meaningless slogans built on falsehoods, lies and denial of facts and indeed science.
Though as you say that is democracy and the result that allowed Trump to prevail is just as much about the failure of the Democrat party in allowing the nonsense of putting up an ageing candidate who struggled to utter half a coherent sentence and then replacing him at the last minute with his deputy who had been invisible for three and a half years and couldn't disassociate herself with the perceived policy failures people had lost faith in.
Whether Trump will attempt to deliver on any of his policies such as deporting millions of immigrants or solve world problems that he claimed he would fix in the blink of an eye will be carefully watched - though I suspect if he doesn't it will be somebody else's fault.
The same in Finland - he would never have been allowed to stand for election. And most propably he would have been in jail by now. As Boris Johnson was ofter called mini Trump, it is easy to guess the likewise circus starts in the USA, again. I hope it ends early, too.Mrs Werder often reminds me that in democracies like Germany, Trump wouldn't have been allowed to stand for election because of his criminal convictions and acts against the constitution - including anti-democratic acts. Plus he most certainly wouldn't be allowed to pardon himself or his associates or will have the power to dismiss any ongoing criminal investigations into his actions.
Perhaps the problem is in the "two party" system. We have never had only one party in the governement in Finland in over 110 years. Usually up to five and now four parties - two bigger and two smaller parties as that was the only way to reach 50 % of the parlament seats. So the parties must always make compromises.
But it is what it is. UTB!
Fellow Diasborians
I thought the midfield looked a lot sharper last night and as I’ve already said Azaz in my opinion had his best game for the club.
Whilst Hackney has already been identified as an important player in the squad it’s possible that he has been believing his own hype and trying too hard to show that he is already a star player. I would think that MC could help him by pointing out that to be a top class player he doesn’t just have to have MOM performances, but rather how he can help the team and assist rather than try and dominate a midfield.
I agree that Morris is a very understated player and has been a superb acquisition to the squad. Our recruitment team that was so maligned has succeeded in delivering young professionals with hefty sell on fees that grow and are nurtured under the current Boro coaching staff.
i still think that Boro need a left back as Borges is unwell and will not be fit whilst awaiting tests. He cannot tackle effectively which is a key requirement of a full back and whilst I don’t think Ayling is the answer as his own performances have been poor of late, perhaps youth should be given a chance to develop in this position.
Barlaser looked good in a cameo role last night and perhaps these players are starting to come to terms with what is required from them in these key positions.
Our goalkeeper Dieng saved the game for us last night with 3 or even possibly 4 terrific saves to keep the advantage with Boro. His outing against Norwich with two wonder strikes and a fluke own goal must have made an impression on him with determination to do well last night.
All in all a satisfying outcome and whilst the Boro were not at their best a 4 1 win is not too hard to take is it ?
All right I was wrong !
Boro3 briefly made an appearance though !
OFB
Stircrazy: don’t spoil Phillip’s attempt at a bit of negativity following a 4-1 away victory in London 😂😂😂.We might have to wrap Doak in cotton wool as his form is going to make him a marked man with some defenders being more rough than others so far.
He looks a class apart compared to other wingers in the Championship. Just hope Liverpool don’t want him back in January.
Philip of Huddersfield 👍🤗
Have a read of this, Philip:
I hope it was only a joke on Slot's part.
Also worth a look:
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/24700937.middlesbrough-liverpool-regular-ben-doak-talks/
Come on BORO.
@original-fat-bob A good summing up OFB. Whilst Borges may be the best we have, he is not the answer for Carrick's LB spot and system. He cannot beat his man and does not play pass and go culminating in a cross very often.
However as werder posted, we are now conceding more goals than earlier in the season.
OK, we scored 4 last night, but against a bottom 3 club, with only one win in fourteen. Boro stats are 18 scored and 16 conceded in 14 games. So we still need to be better at seeing out games and having something to hold onto by scoring more.
If it had not been for Dieng last night, and arguably that is of course what we pay him for, well it may have been a different result.
But from the attacking stats, we were better at last. 12 shots, 8 on target, 2 blocked and only 2 of target.
One thing I did notice was, that towards to end of the game, we started to play out from the back less and Dieng hitting it long to relieve the pressure may be?
@pedro I think there’s some merit in hitting the ball long occasionally when LL is upfront. He seems to have an amazing ability to out leap defenders and win headers. It would certainty give us an option when we’re being closed down at the back.
Latte Lath certainly offers another and different out-ball once Doak has been subbed - though what they both have in common is pace with strength, the latter of which is lacking when Jones comes on. Dijksteel could offer pace with strength too and perhaps Carrick needs to look at him as an option further up the pitch when seeing games out.
Also Burgzorg has a physical presence and he has in recent weeks not had much pitch time either so maybe Boro need to make earlier and more proactive changes to provide the ability to keep the ball further up the pitch for the last 20-25 minutes.
@martin-bellamy whilst I realise we have to win the ball when Dieng hits it long, it does greatly reduce tha risky passes we make each game when playing out.
Also, when we are leading and seeing out the game somewhat, I would like to see Carrick make more defensive substitutes.
In LL we have both. He can score and defend from the front with his pace. Conway can score but does not have LL's strength, although he does have some pace.
Hopefully boro will not flip to bad boro on Saturday after good boro last night, although Deing did keep our heads above water and there was a few too many wayward passes, but a win is a win.
Only saw the highlights, but what was interesting,was, we scored Four, but we didn't try to walk the ball in , or score the perfect one where it's ten passes, it was straight forward get it through in space.
Do I detect you have a bit of concern that Boro may revert to type against Luton? Me too! I wonder how may other contributors to this blog are high on confidence after last night’s good win that Boro will beat Luton and how many not quite so sure……!! Come on, be honest.
Congratulations to Boro U21’s who tonight came from 2-0 down to beat Borussia Monchengladbach U21’s with 3 goals in 78, 83 and 91st minute, to take the 3 points in the Premier League International Cup.
Come on BORO.
Can we beat Luton? Of course we can!!
Should we beat Luton? Of course we should!!
Will we beat Luton? Well, who knows, not sure, couldn’t really say, can’t quite decide, maybe - maybe not, if the footballing gods are smiling on us, if my brother wears his lucky underpants.
My psychiatrist asked me if I have difficulty making decisions. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘Yes and no…..’
@clive-hurren - Is Boro after the 1-4 win at QPR the finished article? Almost certainly not. Are we confident after that win that Boro will beat Luton at the weekend? Almost certainly not. In fact, have we any idea which Boro team will be out there at the weekend? No. It's "toss-a-coin" weekend again. I HOPE it's the confident, lucky, "bring 'em on" Boro team that we see. A Boro full of committed effort for 90+ minutes and putting bodies on the line to get the result. A Boro prepared to vary its style and tactics to take into account whatever circumstances reveal themselves in front of the players. But would I put money on it....? Hmmm....
The results yesterday went quite nicely for us. Only Millwall passed us by as they took their fourth win in a row. There you see what a few wins in a succession can mean.
So we are now eighth in league - just a point behind Watford and Millwall, who are sixth and fifth. Not bad with the indifferent start we have had so far.
Note, WBA are at home to Burnley tonight.
Yes, I believe we will win over Luton on Saturday. We have the best manager and a very good squad in the division. Mind, Luton won yesterday after beating Cardif 1-0 at home.
See the league table attached. Up the Boro!
Well that was a convincing score if not exactly a convincing performance; four very good goals, some excellent saves, some good passing and some not so good and still questions about our consistency and game management; nevertheless a win, three points and we move on.
Outstanding performances from Morris, Dieng and probably Azaz's best game in a Boro shirt. I mentioned a few weeks ago that perhaps he is another Morgan, not in the way he plays but the fact that perhaps he is taking longer to settle. When he is on his game he is invaluable to the team with his movement and skill, at times, on the ball.
What is it about the left back position at Boro. Since Friend departed we have struggled to recruit and keep a suitable replacement. MC has talked often that recruitment is about enhancing what we already have but in so far as this position is concerned, I believe we have failed as Borges is not an improvement when compared to either Bangura or Engel, all of whom have one or more flaws to their game.
To be fair to Borges, I believe he has been struggling with illness recently but even when fit he lacks pace, struggles to defend and offers very little going forward. I don't see and easy answer as all three are under contract and all injured or ill, there must be a curse on the position.
So onto Saturday, an early kick off and no doubt another rollercoaster ride! 😎
@k-p-in-spain - Thanks for that! I'd assumed it was a 3pm kick off but I suppose I would have found out the truth in time ...
@forever-dormo Shall I call you every time we play earlier than 3 PM? There is more and more TV matches ...
Up the Boro!
@jarkko - It's getting that way, Jarkko!
I have just checked and, yes, I had already put the Luton game in my diary for a 12.30pm kick-off. I just hadn't put the game onto the wall calendar which is above the house telephone. I got a diary (an academic diary that covers August 2024 to July2025, though I only bought it well into September, and started using that for all important things like appointments (medical, dental, gigs we might attend, Boro games, trips in the caravan and/or to Scotland etc). So in recent weeks I have been going to the diary as my first resort but I might have only cottoned on to the fact the game was at 12.30pm maybe the day before, on Friday.