Edmundson & Joseph on for Arfsten & Sarmiento in the 67th minute.
Edmundson & Joseph on for Arfsten & Sarmiento in the 67th minute.
Fin Cartright on for "Lanky" in the 81st minute (made to wait for a minute or so because "Lanky" was deemed to have taken too long to go off under the new rules!).
ITV will be showing Boro vs WBA live on 29th August (12.00 kick-off).
"Lanky" MotM. He was certainly a busy lad! 🙂
That was a good workout, more so than the previous game against Espanyol.
However, in the first half, we were too open once more at the back, with the missing Morris the obvious weakness. Although Ayling had another good game, apart from when Wrexham broke and should have done better and he did not have the legs to keep up. He still is our best passer of the long ball.
Our lack of pysicallity worries me, certainly up front, with Whittikar not in the game much at all tonight.
Still overall, although Wrexham have been travelling, they were ahaed of Boro in terms of match games and fitness. We just need more of our injured players back.
I quietly applaud that performance.
The squad was stretched - two goalkeepers on the bench and the absence of Aidan Morris and Tommy Conway is concerning. And where is David Strelec?
But...
Will Lankshear really looked the part. Great goal and not a bad high hanging cross from Jeremy Sarmiento either - he wasn't amazing but he earns kudos, in my book, for trying to create and running at the Wrexham defence in the second half, when they tired a little. I think he kind of grew into the No 10 role he was given on the night.
It could be that Lankshear and Kyle Joseph may be just the kind of forwards we need to not only vary things up front, but "make it stick" - there was a moment where I knew Joseph trapped the ball. Defensively we looked a tad uneasy but we balanced this out by generally keeping the team on the move all over the park, perhaps with the exception of that spell where Fin Cartwright couldn't get on the pitch.
Also - a decent night for Morgan Whittaker, George Edmundson didn't look out of place, and Sol Brynn made the saves he had to make.
So, not amazing, but solid and promising, and best of all a 1-0 win - only our third of those under Kim Hellberg! It's a great sign because in my view we need more of those if we are to get promoted, as they can be the best kind of ground out result when the team is either malfunctioning or not fully functioning.
@stircrazy
I tried logging on to ITV for today's match, but it detected that I was using a VPN and denied entry.
Too bad, because I was previously able to log on for a different match.
[...] in the first half, we were too open once more at the back, with the missing Morris the obvious weakness
Perhaps the presence of his two compatriots will help him to stay fit(ter)... 😉
BORO. 1 WREXHAM. 0
Boro edged the game thanks to a real strikers goal although it has to be said that Wrexham had 3 good chances to score before Boro scored.
Both teams were a bit rusty with passes not as accurate as we expect.
No lack of effort by both teams.
A plus for me was Boro’s willingness to get the ball into the penalty area instead of keeping possession and passing the ball.
So, a good workout and hopefully Boro will have some players back from injury for the next game.
6 out of 10 for me.
philip of Huddersfield 👍🤗
@stircrazy
I tried logging on to ITV for today's match, but it detected that I was using a VPN and denied entry.
Too bad, because I was previously able to log on for a different match.
Sorry to hear that, Johnny C. I know from recent use of ITVX, the streaming service, that it's been mucking about with access. I've been a registered user for donkey's years, but whenever I want to catch up with anything now, there's a two-stage process: I have to confirm my e-mail address & then await an e-mail with a six-digit code, which I then enter & confirm before I'm granted access. Very fiddly!
We have won a League cup game at home, and a thoroughly deserved one. The team now has for the first time in many years a real centre forward who will score goals and bring others into the game. As others have said we missed Morris and we don't have a replacement for him. I thought Sarmiento did well. He was tracking back to cover Arfsten when he went infield, he also should have got us a penalty when he was blatantly pulled back in the first half. I'm not convinced on Arfsten's defensive capabilities, he often got caught on the wrong side of his man. We also seemed to run out of steam near the end, again, was this a result of not playing many proper pre season games. Wrexham played 5 all away, and high profile we played two.
The club has confirmed squad numbers for the season. No numbers for Bangura, Sene and Hamilton. There are 25 over 21's with squad numbers. Also Burgzorg is only going to Preston on loan, with option to buy, and they are paying all of his wages.
If you think that CJ and co are bad this is an extract from a report on the game by Fox Sports Australia
"Wrexham’s one chance at levelling the scores came and went shortly after, with midfielder Morgan Whittaker hitting the near post."
Whilst it is quite possible that we still need an Alan Browne replacement to cover midfield - and everywhere else except goalkeeper and centre forward - it seems from Kim Hellberg's comments that Aidan Morris will definitely be available next week as will Myles Peart Harris and we will also have Abdoulay Kante to call on. Kante was only unavailable due to having reached 5 red cards during his play-off exploits in France. There may still be a player in there as is shown by the fact that he's been given a squad number.
On top of these, we have Law McCabe and Fin Cartwright from the list of Academy players.
Looking at the whole squad we may have a lot more flexibility than we previously thought. Under the EFL rules, U-21 permanent players are not counted. Under 21 is measured on January 1 in the year that the season starts and runs for the whole season. That means that Lankshear, Castledine, Monroe and Kante are all U-21 for this season as well as the academy players with numbers, Ibeh, Dede, Daley, McCabe, McCormick and Cartwright.
That means that only 20 of the 30 players count towards the 25-man squad. Happy for someone to check my research but this would be a great outcome and a great commentary on the recruitment team and our future potential.
UTB
I've shifted this post across to the transfer forum so tht it stays current when we move on to the next game.
A huge tick for Lankshear. A great goal, and excellent all-round performance from a likeable, mature and thoroughly professional young man.
As Philip suggests there is now some point in getting the ball quickly into the box via the air.
The only caveat is that he will undoubtedly be targeted for some rough treatment by the Championship's centre-back neanderthals this season and we have no experienced like-for-like replacement in the likely eventuality of his being injured at some stage.
Very promising displays from Joseph and Berhalter, but it wasn't easy to see why we have been tracking Arfsten for so long. The lad was a ball chaser rather than a man watcher last night, over-committing himself and finding himself out of position on numerous occasions.
If it's any consolation, when I saw Graeme Souness's Boro debut at Luton the two features of his game which stood out most to me were his concern over his own hair, which he spent the whole game caressing and smoothing down, and his predilection for short sideways passes that were inevitably cut out.
But he didn't turn out to be too bad.
The other things that struck me last night were the class of Malanda's performance and the fact that our two wingers always cut inside, further crowding the middle of the pitch and failing to give us the width we needed. I also thought we missed the authority of Fry at the centre of our defence and were too often caught embarrassingly short on the counter-attack.
So I am as optimistic as anyone , particularly as at this stage last season we were licking our wounds after our 0-4 mauling at the hands of lowly Doncaster.
But some concerns from last season about our lack of penetration via an overcrowded midfield, and our defensive vulnerabilities against speedy counter-attacks remain.
Finally we would not have won last night had it not been for Bryne's point-blank first half save. Watching some very highly regarded keepers in the World Cup continually flapping at crosses and pushing shots out rather than even attempting to catch them, confirmed my appreciation of Bryne's clean catching, shot stopping and all round coolness under pressure. I saw very few European keepers this Summer with those qualities.
@johnny-canuck Sometimes I have the same issue when watching the English TV programmes.
BBC is the worst, as the commercial channels are still showing their adverts.
However, normally I just have to change the choice of city and the VPN works. Manchester to London for example. I have found that a good VPN is necessary. I use NordVPN, Express VPN also comes out good in reviews.
@lenmasterman Good post Len. Whilst it is very early days and we appear to need more matches under our belt in terms of fitness and understanding, you are correct in saying that some of last seasons issues are still obvious.
I think we will continue to run out of steam after 70 minutes or so. There are a couple of important positions where we are short of cover. Midfield especially, RB also. I have no idea who could cover there, defensively.
I think that Hellberg is too wedded to the stats showing Boro at the top for chances created and others. As Len said, and a number on here said throughout last season, we congest the middle of the opposition box making it difficult to get a clear shot off and on target. 13 shots, only 3 on target.
Again it is only one game, but Arfsten does not look like a defender. In fact did he actually get a cross into the box from out wide. Whittaker also needs to step up.
I hadn't realised that Lankshear was that young and wouldn't count in the registered player list. along with the other youngsters it does create more slots in the squad, if we have the money to spend. Has there been any comments anywhere as to why Bangura hasn't got a number? I assume he has an injury that won't be fixed until at least January.
Couldn't comment on the game yesterday evening as I arrived back after kickoff but was watching ITV with about an hour delay - it was good to see many of the new signings get an outing and also good to see Boro playing with high intensity too. Not to mention winning!!
Thought Berhalter looks the part and drove the the team in the way Hackney used to and he's going to be an important player this season - Lankshear also offered a new dimension as a centre-forward that was lacking last season and glad he got off the mark as he could be prolific if he stays in the zone. Also impressed with Joseph, who looks to have a good all round game and can keep the ball and pass too.
Other were still not there yet - I thought Sarmiento and Whittaker struggled in the first half and lacked physicality and were easily dispossessed - they only really got into the game as the Wrexham players tired, which makes me wonder if they are perhaps better coming off the bench in the long term.
Was worried that the midfield was looking a bit light, though Malanda is a player who always looked composed and has time on the ball - whether he's busy enough in the hectic Championships like Morris is perhaps my only doubt. It was a bit concerning that when Wrexham broke, Boro looked outnumbered at the back and may well have paid the price against a more clinical team.
All in all a good test ahead of the Championship opener next week - actually I'm doing the preview for Lincoln so will have plenty to ponder in the next few days - I'll probably post it at some point on Monday. We've got another 30-degree plus day tomorrow and a few more predicted next week so the heat is on!
Before people criticize last nights performance of Arfsten, please bear in mind he only arrived on Tuesday and has had one training day prior to been thrown in at the deep end. I believe last night’s game against a decent championship team was probably more beneficial than a week training, give the guy time.
Come on BORO.
I expect Burgzorg will be back after his stint at Preston and then will be transferred for peanuts or a free with only one year left on his contract. Hardly a success.
I feel a bit sorry for Banguara . His injuries never seem to stop but when he’s played I think he’s been decent. Perhaps a change of club might hopefully change his luck.
Last night’s performance showed that the team missed Morris and Hackney.I don’t think Boro have anyone approaching their quality.
Now Boro have a proper centre forward I don’t see where Strelec fits into the team. I still maintain that he lacks physical strength at this level plus he picks up too many injuries for my liking.
Early days before we can offer constructive views on how the season will go. With so many new players it must feel like starting from scratch for the coaches.
philip of Huddersfield 👍🤔
It was not what you would call a classic. Definitely more of a pre season runout... or as KH himself described in his pre match presser, a bit of a bridge between pre-season and the big kick off next weekend.
It was clear that this collection do not yet know through second nature where their colleagues will be or want to be. Hardly surprising at all. That will come as more and more games go by and more and more training sessions are shared experiences. Also, there are still several players yet to be back at fitness levels and available to start. I think I witnessed enough to see we will not really miss Hackney as the season progresses. I hope I am right.
It looks already that young Will Lankshear might have been an outstanding piece of business. I imagine Strelec will relish playing alongside him and that having that presense (WL) in the box will bring the best out of him.
Whittaker was his usual, easily brushed off the ball. I really hope the coaching team are working on that with him. Both him and Sarmiento kept coming back inside instead of stretching the defence wide and getting in behind as much as I would have liked to see.... especially with Lankshear in the middle. It would be wrong to judge too much on this performance, so we will see how we fare on the pitch as the season progresses. There is one thing from last night that I particularly disliked, which was that we went to ground far too easily in their box
We need to stay on our feet, so we we do not get a reputation for falling over. If we play act for the penalty, we won't be given it when it really should be given. If we are known for staying upright, then we will be awarded a penalty much more often when it should be given. That is just my opinion anyway.
A great goal and a good result.
A quick reminder now that the pre-season is over and the first round of the Carabao has come and gone, we all have a week left to get our end of season predictions in for the COTS challenge.
Thanks KP for getting this season's entries underway.
For everyone else remember to post your predictions in the following format;
- TOP 6 = Team1, Team2, Team3, Team4, Team5, Team6, Optional1, Optional2, Optional3
- BOTTOM 3 = Team1, Team2, Team3, Optional1, Optional2, Optional3
- AUTOMATIC PROMOTION = Team1, Team2, Optional1, Optional2
- CHAMPIONS = Team1, Optional1
- OVER ACHIEVER = Team1, Optional1
- UNDER ACHIEVER = Team1, Optional1
- BORO = 1st
Here is the link to the full instructions:
https://diasboro.club/forum/members-lounge/the-diasboro-cots-challenge-2026-27/
I'm doing the preview for Lincoln so will have plenty to ponder in the next few days - I'll probably post it at some point on Monday. We've got another 30-degree plus day tomorrow and a few more predicted next week so the heat is on!
Werder: you may wish to bear in mind when you consider your piece that the Imps beat the Rams by 2-1 in their Cup match at Pride Park this afternoon (goals by House & Jefferies, both in the first half) & that Adam Reach plays for them (booked in the 32nd minute, subbed in the 88th).
@johnny-canuck Sometimes I have the same issue when watching the English TV programmes.
BBC is the worst, as the commercial channels are still showing their adverts.
However, normally I just have to change the choice of city and the VPN works. Manchester to London for example. I have found that a good VPN is necessary. I use NordVPN, Express VPN also comes out good in reviews.
It may have been that when I first attempted to log in, I didn't change my VPN from a Canadian server to a British server and was denied because of being overseas. I then deleted the cookies, changed the server to Manchester and tried again, only to be advised that I was using a VPN and denied for that reason.
Initially, I used NordVPN, but had difficulty getting Google to answer questions with their service, so I changed to Mozilla, which I've found to be very good until this last scenario.
Yes, I'd already spotted Reach in their team during my 'research' and noted their win yesterday over last season's playoff hopefuls who just missed out.
I'm just about to finish oiling the fence this morning before it gets too hot and then I will get down to start pulling the preview together - probably this evening when its quieter!
Yes it all depends on the provider having plenty of servers so as not to get blacklisted - I used to use NordVPN but moved to swiss-based ProtonVPN after NordVPN tried to hit me with an automatic renewal price that was nearly 4 times what I'd previously paid!
After I canceled my automatic renewal NordVPN subsequent kept offering me better and better deals until they reached the same price as my previous subscription but I was already annoyed that whether it's banks, utilities or many other companies - existing customers get offered the worse deals and they rely on many people not noticing the price hikes!
Looks like we aren't the only club that gets transfers wrong.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cwy46xzxq67o