No goals in the first half, but two bookings for Boro: Brittain in the 21st minute & Byram in the 44th! 81% of possession, according to bet365!
Well disappointed to be going in at half time 0-0 given the amount of possession and chances created against a poor Watford side.
So far this looks very similar to a number of games last season where we dominate but fail to score; I hope I am wrong but if Watford start to play I fear a typical Boro moment.😎
Watford look there for the taking but as yet Boro have not taken their chances despite 81% possession with Sarmiento missing a potential hat-trick. Boro's changes have probably been the best players in a white shirt with Sarmiento, Strelec and Byram looking lively and on the case. Indeed, Strelec has looked light-years ahead of Joseph in the centre-forward role and had looked strong on the ball with a good first touch and some nice link-up play - definitely a good understudy to Lankshear.
Anyway, Boro need to score a few goals as failing to win this game would be a travesty given the level of the opposition on show.
@werdermouth A good summary. A real improvement from Wednesday.
Let's hope we can keep it up as it was in the first half. Up the Boro!
No need for any nervousness in that first half. Watford offered so little that we could and should have been3 or 4 up in the first period. Good news on those drafted in. Sarmiento has been prominent and Strelec has had a very good first half, whilst Byron looks the part at left back.
I'd like to see us get the ball forward more quickly. All of our passing between defenders simply allows Watford to get themselves organised at the back. So far it looks as though we have nothing much to beat, but we are still not doing it.
We all know one thing: that Watford cannot possibly be as bad in the second half...
Still looks a bit disjointed at times with Boro struggling against the low block of a poor Watford side.
Dispite having the ball for most of the time, what we have being doing with it, has not been good enough.
Not nearly enough of attacking the bylines and where is the ACD of the early games. He doesn’t look as though he wants to take his man on and only wants to come inside blocking it up.
As for chances, they have not really been clear cut, Brittain’s header straight into the goalkeeper’s hands, when anywhere’s else would have been a goal. One goal could settle this, hope it is not Watford. ☹️
@k-p-in-spain - Let’s hope not! Otherwise there will be Rotten Peaches thrown. Mind you the second half gives someone the opportunity for Salvation!
2 yellow cards for Brittain and Byram is not great as one false move in defence and we are down to 10. And we know how open our midfield can be.
Its going to be yet another nervy second half and “It ain’t going to be easy” but fingers crossed Boro can “Shine on Through”
Apologies for the song titles thrown in - I have been a long time EJ fan!
[....] where is the ACD of the early games. He doesn’t look as though he wants to take his man on and only wants to come inside blocking it up.
Replaced by Arfsten at the start of the second half.
BORO - WIN OR LOSE ?
The staggering amount of possession, the chances not taken by Boro and Watford being poor makes me nervous for the second half. Logically Watford will make changes and surely can’t play as bad.
i will take a draw
philip of Huddersfield 🤔🤔🤔
A third yellow for Boro: Berhalter in the 59th minute.
Joseph & Peart-Harris on for Strelec & Berhalter in the 66th minute.
I am only going on what the BBC text is saying but I have a horrible feeling about how this game might pan out. It frustrates me that we can go from the Bolton and Charlton performances to how we were midweek and today.
Hey ho, the joy of being a Boro supporter!
Swansea equalize so we are back to top spot!
TC on for Byram in the 76th minute. Ravaglia, the Hornets' keeper, living up to his position & keeping them in the game...
Joseph should really score from that level of chance from excellent play. However we have been far too sloppy with our passing.
Upfront we have ran out of ideas with players trying to shoot at goal with a dozen men in front of them. Terrible against a very ordinary side.
No Boro sucker punch, but at least a clean sheet...
Birmingham now top after a late winner against the Swans. 🙁
Well that's what we call a missed opportunity (again) - Boro failed to take three points against probably the worst side they've played so far. Not much to say other than Boro should've scored and had an xG of 2.1 but probably at least three or four gilt-edged chances missed from Sarmiento, Byram, Joseph and Brittain.
Boro should've been sitting pretty on 34 points this week going into the break but instead are squirming in their seats hanging on to a top 2 place - at least West Ham and Southampton have lost but Birmingham ahead on goal difference.
Two points dropped.So many chances, so little to show for them.
Defence never in any trouble. They all played well.
McGree, Sarmiento, Morris, Berhalter all solid. Strelec played well but was asking to be subbed after 65 minutes. Hope receded as we brought Peart-Harris and Joseph. Not a bad all round performance but we just weren't clinical enough in front of goal
BORO NEED TO IMPROVE
Lankshear plays and scores loads of goals, Boro play very well and top the League. Without him in the last 2 games they are a shadow of what they were , don’t score and no longer top of the League.
The replacements and subs generally are not as good as we all thought.
So during the International break improvements are essential.
The bonus would be the return of Lankshear.
Fingers crossed,
philip of Huddersfield ☹️👎🫢
This is becoming a tight race for promotion with only one point separating the top five!
Of course we should have won. However 3 games in a week with 2 away is particularly brutal. Looking at the bigger picture, West Ham and Soton both lost today so some context required. We would be spitting feathers if we had lost to an adrift Preston today. I still think the top 4 in any order will be Boro, Wolves, WHU and Soton. It is a long old season grind so a good time for a break and let’s hope Lankshear is ok in a couple of weeks. UTB
The positive has to be that we didn’t lose but there again a team with top two aspirations should be better than we were today and not dropping points against the likes of Blackburn, Wrexham and Watford etc.
The replacements today were very much like the curate’s egg and raises the question, is this team/squad better than last season and can it stay the course?
I would like to think this week was just a sticky patch but Bolton and Charlton apart we have, since the season started, been far from convincing and results have tended to be better than performances; inconsistency remains a concern. 😎
Yes, we should have won that game but we didn’t. Surely you would expect a team with pretensions of automatic promotion to deliver more than one point and a blank scoresheet against one average team and one poor one. But it seems that Boro are toothless without Lankshear which is a real worry and the squad players selected for the last couple of games have been poor. Consistency at a high level will be the key for the rest of the season if Boro are to secure a top two position and this week has shown that KH and his team have a lot to do.
I was tipping Marc Bola to score after he came on as a sub for the Hornets... 😉
@werdermouth lose a couple and you can be out of the top six. I don’t count a top eight.
Disappointing today but we looked much better than we did against Wrexham.
I’m still not ready to panic - for once, the International break may work in our favour. I’m prepared to ask myself the question, “Would I have taken our current position if offered it before the season started?” My answer would have been, “Definitely “.
The point I was making was that 2 promotion rivals lost today so we are not alone in being disappointed. And WHU in particular lost against a weaker team than we played. In an ideal world we win the last 2 games but Wrexham drew with Wolves today so maybe they are not as average as you make out. Time to rest up and go again after the break. You can’t win them all.
