Another Boro Blank
Boro headed down to the shiny new Brentford Community Stadium in West London hoping to extend their nine game unbeaten run. After an impressive away performance at Blackburn on Tuesday NW will be hoping to add some zest to his attack which created plenty but delivered nothing. An admission that he should have maybe given Roberts a run out at Rovers perhaps indicates that his thinking isn’t that far removed from the fans who are crying out for some magic.
The Bees were unbeaten in their previous three Championship matches heading into this one and like Boro they were held to a midweek draw by Swansea. Having lost a few players in the summer the losing play-off finalists haven’t yet shown quite the same level of consistency as last season despite Ten Million Toney. Boro have a decent record at Brentford and last seasons 3-2 loss at Griffin Park was only the first defeat in seven games against this afternoon’s hosts having won the previous six. It was going to be an interesting encounter as Ivan Toney the Championships top goalscorer was facing the Championship's meanest defence.
Sam Morsy was still out for Boro as were Fletcher and Hall. Two changes from Tuesday with Saville missing due to family reasons and Britt benched with Akpom coming in. Lewis Wing got his chance to shine with Tav and Howson in midfield. There were only six subs on the Boro bench this afternoon highlighting the sparse nature of NW’s squad. Brentford had a few injury issues themselves with Norgaard, Roerslev, Baptiste all missing.
James Linington was the man in the middle, getting the game underway after the minutes' Remembrance silence with Boro kicking off. Boro had a mixed kit with their blue and black away shirts but with their home white shorts and socks to stand out against Brentford's black shorts and socks. Spence and Dalsgaard occupied the spotlight in the opening couple of minutes after a few industrious but fruitless runs from the pair of them.
A fifth-minute Tav free-kick was sent into the Brentford danger area, cleared for a throw-in to Boro. Wing then crossed from the throw but it was low and too close to Raya in the Bee’s goal. Tav won a free-kick a minute later after being barged over just outside the box on the opposite side but a curling delivery from Paddy saw it sailing over. Boro’s first real effort came from Akpom setting up Lewis Wing but he must have borrowed Britt’s boots as he sent it high into the stands.
The opening fifteen minutes saw Boro looking typically comfortable as they have of late with Brentford having a few forays but nothing too concerning. Dijksteel saw off the only real Bee’s threat from Dalsgaard after he caught Coulson trying to shepherd the ball out of play. Dalsgaard was then booked for conceding a free kick on Akpom then Spence in quick succession after Boro had caused a bit of a stir in the home sides defence. Boro now looked to be asserting themselves in the game with just over twenty minutes gone.
Dasilva worked his way into the Boro box but Tav and McNair ushered him out wide with Mbeumo waiting but there was no way through the Boro defence and as we approached twenty-five minutes the score remained 0-0. Working hard, Boro were closing down quickly, smothering any threat from Brentford. An Mbeumo cross briefly caused consternation but McNair and Bettinelli managed to snuff out the danger with a rather svelte flick up and smash it clearance from the West Brom loanee.
Dasilva burst through into the middle of the Boro box with Wing chasing and McNair backing off but fortuitously his shot was woeful. Brentford were getting more into the game now and starting to probe but so far never troubled Bettinelli adorned in a garish lilac/pinkish/mauve number.
Howson received a talking to from the Ref after a challenge on Dasilva. The awarded free-kick was from distance but again failed to threaten Bettinelli. Canos then took out Howson leaving the Boro midfielder feeling the impact in the middle of the pitch. McNair took the free-kick drifting towards the edge of the Brentford area. After a few half clearances, Boro won a throw-in taken by Dijksteel to Wing but lost it, as Brentford broke Tav raced back and cleaned up, turning defence back into attack with five minutes of the half remaining.
Sorensen looked to set up Toney but in close attendance Dijksteel was adjudged to have got a touch on it conceding a questionable corner. Howson powerfully cleared the resultant inswinging corner and as Spence picked up a sloppy midfield pass Henry had to be alert to knock it half the length of the pitch back to his keeper. Dael Fry then brought down Toney thirty yards out as the striker looked to have backed into the Boro CB giving away a free kick taken by the Bee’s striker himself. Hit low it failed to beat the Boro wall as seconds of the half remained with little to no stoppage time required.
Brentford had a few opportunities in the half however nothing really of note but not for the first time this season Boro continued to lack that spark up front. As away performances go defensively this was a solid first half but you sensed that with a bit of extra intent Boro could come away with all three points as Brentford hadn’t looked anything special.
No Subs from either Frank or Warnock at half time as Brentford got the second half underway with Boro winning an almost instant free kick on the halfway line. McNair launched it to the edge of the Brentford box. Canos then put a cross into the Boro box with the game looking to have started with the respective half time team talks taking effect. Toney back defending had to block an effort in his own box.
A breakout run from Howson, with Akpom signalling where he wanted it came in low to him, he swivelled but it ended with a blast over when a more gentle placement might have yielded a better return on fifty-five minutes. That was the best chance of the game. Dalsgaard was then sweating when a free-kick was awarded against him after bringing down Coulson bearing in mind his first-half yellow card.
The free-kick came in from Tav but the flag went up for offside with Howson being adjudged to have strayed. Brentford came close from a Sorensen throw followed by a near post flick on cleared off the line by Bola. Seconds later Toney set up Janelt who managed to send a golden opportunity wide from ten yards out. The warning signs were there for both managers with sixty-two minutes gone that lapses were starting to creep in.
Brentford had stepped things up now and Boro looking vulnerable for the first time in the game but Akpom found Spence looking to find Tav but a challenge came in on Djed winning a free-kick. McNair sent it in deep and the ball broke to Coulson but his finishing was wayward. Forss then came on for Brentford with Mbeumo going off as Frank looked to change things to going with a double strike force.
Twenty minutes now remained with Brentford showing growing determination and Boro looking solid but uninspiring. Howson intercepted a pass setting Coulson away with Wing in close attendance but Pinnock cleared out to concede another Boro corner. McNair’s corner was defended out at the near post to Bola in the “D” who volleyed, fizzing the ball a foot wide as Boro looked to maybe get more than a solitary point out of this game. At the other end Forss tried to find Canos as Spence cleared, with the game now fully open Tav drove forward finding Wing who was fouled with Akpom screaming for the ball.
In another tactical Sub, Canos then made way for Ghoddos but still no sign of activity on the Boro bench. With fifteen minutes remaining Britt and Johnson were warming up, finally some activity to hopefully spark Boro into a late winner. Meanwhile, Forss hit a shot that Bettinelli done well to smother with the game looking like something could possibly crack. For Boro, Coulson came off for Johnson and Akpom for Britt, Janelt departed for Brentford with Fosu coming on. Pinnock had to react to prevent a low cross towards Britt and in doing so giving away a Corner. Paddy sent the ball into a packed box but it was plucked with ease by Raya just under his crossbar.
Ghoddos went down under a suspiciously soft challenge from Dijksteel giving the Bees an opportunity for a free-kick which Jensen floated in but meeting it Sorenson sent his effort wide. A Howson ball down the line towards Britt forced Raya to come out of his box and concede a corner with eighty-four minutes gone. Tav’s delivery was poor and headed away easily. Worryingly Dijksteel then went down with concerns that what looked like cramp may be more serious, he had put in a heck of a shift in but with a few stretches he managed to continue.
A Brentford mix up gave the ball away allowing Johnson to break, his final ball into a free Britt to slide home was tragic going behind him. That was a great opportunity that should have been put away. With Boro passing the ball around retaining possession, trying to find an opening Toney pulled Fry down needlessly in the middle of the pitch as his frustration was growing.
Five minutes added time came up on the board. Tav managed a shot but it was blocked, Wing then took a shot that was palmed away by Raya for a Boro corner. A short corner was poorly executed as Boro had seemingly relapsed their set-piece routines this afternoon and just couldn’t make anything work from them.
Late on Forss rounded McNair but Tav was on hand to put it out for a throw in the dying seconds. Everyone in a red and white striped shirt was in the Boro half but as the ball came into Bettinelli’s box the final whistle sounded and it ended 0-0.
Another clean sheet for the Championship’s tightest defence but still an inability to score goals frustrates. Undefeated now in ten games and I suppose being disappointed with two draws in a week away to Blackburn and Brentford is a measure of how far we have come from last season. Despite two points won from two hard games, my feeling is that with a little more endeavour we could have had more points on the board even if it meant winning one and losing one. MOM was Howson but Dijksteel and Tav were also impressive as were Bola and Fry.
Roberts still not being used when we have been crying out for something to unlock defences is becoming more questionable as the games go on and points for the taking are being dropped. NW questioned his decision not to use him on Tuesday, I wonder what his reasoning was today?
I wonder what JW is thinking when he watches his former charges take so well to 4-3-3, as the same personnel were available to him. Of course NW has years of experience over him and was able to identify Dijksteel and Bola as proper FB’s and play them accordingly.
NW’s brief last season was to avoid relegation, and this season was to be one of consolidation, the start he has made is nothing short of miraculous considering where the team were. Can he keep it up? Well the International Break has come at a perfect time for him, hopefully McNair and Saville escape unscathed on their travels.
Its a long time since I didn’t consider losing as an option, but this last few games have made it an unlikely outcome. Long may it continue.
Thanks RR.
My suspicion on Patrick Roberts is that Warnock sees him as a defensive liability. That fact that he considers Coulson and Spence to be wingers rather than fullbacks tells us how he views defensive qualities but also that he wants to protect his fullbacks. Johnson replacing Coulson as he has done each time more or less confirms it.
It appears to me that Warnock is dividing the fixtures between those he thinks we should win and those for which he wants to avoid defeat, and that he only fancies Roberts for the former.
We’ll never know if he’s been right or not but I’m happy to stick with him on this one.
Swindon 1 Darlington 2
Just saying but what a fantastic performance as Quakers reached the second round of the FA Cup for the first time in 10 years by beating League One Swindon, 68 places above them on the football ladder.
Well done, Darlo. Unfortunaly I have seen them play only in 1980. At the Feethams. Up the Boro!
It felt like an easy draw, never a danger, cool as you like, and a very Good attempt to scoop the points late on sounded deliberate to this listener. I shall leave it there as I might be going over the top.
Redcar Red,
Thank you for the report, excellent work. AS I have said before after last season the improvement is just massive but goals please. From where? There were chances but so few that they possibly seem like glaring misses when they were just half chances or slightly better.
It maybe that Mr Warnock is picking his battles and tactics to suit the opposition but Boro need a break mind you that was a good point against Brentford and looking at some of the other results they are putting Boro's season so far in perspective. They're doing well.
Well done, yet again.
Stay safe everyone.
UTB,
John
So it was another eyeballs 👀 in the sky
Im getting good at this !
OFB
Or rather Warnock is !
OFB
Thanks RR for your comprehensive and entertaining match report appreciated
OFB
Dijksteel is getting better each game !
@ofb
So is Bola.
What struck me is how we are now able to make very good goal-scoring teams look as if they have no idea how to create chances. One of the keys seems to be the ability of the team but particularly McNair and Howson to read where a pass is going and smoothly move in to cut it off. It looks deceptively easy but it must be harder than it looks. The upshot is that the opposition look incompetent when they’re certainly not.
The Roberts dilemma is interesting. Against Blackburn when we were in control, NW missed an opportunity to put Roberts on and use his skill to unlock the packed defence. NW admitted this with hindsight. Against Brentford, the defensive work of Tav, Coulson and Spence was crucial and that’s why Johnson came on for Coulson and the others stayed in place. It would have been criminal to lose that after so much hard work.
The other positive aspect was how good we looked when we did try to sneak the win in the last ten to fifteen minutes last night and for much of the game against Blackburn. We can go up a gear and maybe we just need a spark to ignite a few goals. Will it be Roberts or Browne......or Watmore?
Anyway, a two week break is ideal - except for Seville and McNair - and then another test against Norwich.
utb
“We played a good game, not a top game, but we didn't give anything away and they only had a half-chance. But Middlesbrough play in a completely different way to every other team in the division and their players are aligned with that."
Brentford coach; Thomas Frank.
Like Mowbray previously, Frank seems to have been watching a different game to me. Apart from one cross they never looked like scoring, and we dominated them in all departments. Possibly NW, with a big cheesy grin was in his eyeline whilst he was being interviewed...
Another comprehensive report from Redcar Red. I’ve always found it difficult to identify opposition players of clubs who play in striped shirts because their numbers are camouflaged by the stripes. Why the backs of the shirts don’t have a wh
I don’t know what’s happening with my iPad at the moment but this is the second time recently that part of my blog has disappeared. Can’t be bothered to repeat it.
Great RR and your summary says it all for me in that I would have been happy with two away points but then frustrated that we did not get more.
As NW has said, we are like rabbits (other animals are available) in the headlights whenever we are in or around the box and that is costing us presently. It's not a case of not making chances but of taking them, something that was a problem under TP. He quickly got us organised and we had the best defence in the league but he could not improve our ability to score, which is persisting under NW.
My concern is how to address this, to me it is not simply a case of waiting for strikers to come back into form it is more about how you address poor decision making and or execution.
I suppose it's probably a case of practice, practice and more practice until things become instinctive but unfortunately you cannot replicate the pressure of an actual league game in practice. The alternative to all this is to find players that can do it but in the current scenario that is highly unlikely.
At some point NW is going to have to play PR to see if that is the answer but I am not convinced that we will suddenly start putting the ball in the net regularly and I am concerned that this flaw could cost us dearly come the end of the season. That being said, whatever the outcome at the end of the season I am confident that it will be better than most of us were expecting.
Thanks again, and enjoy your International break. 😎
A comprehensive report and analysis, RR. Many thanks.
This was yet another terrific team performance with every player giving 100%.
I thought that Tav and Howson led the way in combining skill under pressure alongside tremendous energy, yet on this occasion I'd be inclined to give Bola my M-o-M award.
He has produced his best ever performance in a Boro shirt in each of his last six or seven games, and I don't recall any Boro player from the past about whom that could be said.
Equally unique, I don't recall ever being proven quite so comprehensively wrong in my estimation of any Boro player in the past.
Every football fan finds himself eating his own words about players at some point. It comes with the territory.
But in Bola's case I have gone from thinking him to be completely and irrevocably out of his depth - a player absolutely lacking in any positional sense or confidence, and someone who should be shipped out of the club asap - to reckoning him as one of the most accomplished left backs in the division.
I have been almost equally wrong about Dijksteel. My first impression of him was as a full back who couldn't defend. He had a nightmare of a game at Blackburn last season, cost us the game by giving away a naive penalty, and was thankfully subbed at half-time to save both his team and himself from further embarrassment .
But he is turning out to be a Rolls Royce of a player, possessing great skill, balance and athleticism, though there remains the slight caveat that once or twice each game he can lose possession in vulnerable areas, and it is only a matter of time before this catches up with him.
And while I'm on the mea culpas can I put in a congratulatory word for Neil Maddison. I was not familiar with his work when I first heard him as an analyst on last season's live feed for the home Swansea game.
I was originally scathing in my comments on him when he declared that the Boro lads were "leggy" no more than 15 minutes into the game, whereas the Swansea lads were getting all of their evident energy from their territorial advantage.
But since then I have had nothing but admiration for his shrewd comments and inside insights, which seem to me to strike exactly the right balance between enthusiastic commitment to the team and objective critical analysis.
What Neil Warnock has achieved since his arrival is there for all to see. He has accomplished a truly remarkable transformation in both individual players and in the team as a whole.
There is however more than a slight echo of Tony Pulis in his recent comments on our lack of goals. Apparently it's mainly down to bad luck, not getting the rub of the green, the ball not falling for us etc etc.
Because we are getting plenty of crosses in. The very metric by which Pulis judged the success of his own attacking "strategy". "Putting the ball in the mix" or as others would prefer to call it "hit and hope,"
It's a policy which even mainstream commentators describe as "desperation tactics" when many teams turn to hoofing the ball up to the big lads as a last resort in a game's closing stages.
But it's a tactic that you don't see employed by many well coached teams who continue to pass and probe, even as the seconds tick away and the fans scream for a more direct approach.
To the credit of Warnock and his coaching team we are putting better balls into dangerous areas from set-pieces, but the chances we create from open play remain few and far between.
There has been some good attacking interplay between Tav, Coulsen, Johnson and Bola recently, but these look to me more like off-the-cuff initiatives than the result of specific coaching.
Similarly we all hope that Roberts (and/or Watmore) can provide that missing creative ingredient, but those hopes are based upon the talent of specific individuals rather than something systemic to the coaching.
It's impossible to over-estimate what Warnock and his staff have brought to the team in terms of preparation, commitment, motivation, energy, teamwork, and a remarkable improvement in the performances of almost every individual player.
They have transformed a team of no-hoper relegation fodder into well-organised play-off hopefuls in the space of a few weeks.
Their considerable talents and experience now need to be tightly focused on the sharp end of the pitch. Simply getting the crosses in won't be enough.
Didn't see your post until after I had written mine.
We seem to be on the same wavelength.
After the international break, we will have two "new" players to choose from. They won't be picked automatically but they could be useful choices from the bench.
Grant Hall is fit now and has now the period of catching up fitness wise. And most propably triallist Duncan Watmore is signed soon and can be ready in a few weeks' time.
Exciting times ahead. Up the Boro!
Feel for Patrick Roberts. I have been a big fan after watching him play for Celtic. I accept NW reasons for not playing the lad but it bugs me why we went for the player at all. I would definitely play PR either at the start or as impact sub. Not too much to ask is it.
As for BBC Tees radio commentary which happened to be aligned to a stream I managed to get for yesterdays game I'm afraid and not for the first time I had to turn it off. They are both dreadful. Neil Maddison works for the club and is it fair he should be the summarizer alongside the commentator who is just as bad. Surely we can find much better commentators about from the area.
Enjoyed your survey of the immediate situation at Boro, and agree with it. I would say when it comes to why we are not scoring goals in Quantity, that asking our Manager why is not going to receive an acceptable answer, because he seems to control his team (very well I might say) by jollying them along, not putting pressure on them, finding it all very amusing, and depressing any pretensions they might have. He unhesitatingly expresses surprise when thing go right, and accepts that things will go wrong if they can. I like his style, and the players seem to like it too. We are in a Good place, two weeks rest and coaching, home matches to come, and the team playing well, it could be Good.
Didn't see your post until after I had written mine.
We seem to be on the same wavelength.
Len, very much so. Bola was my MOTM and I posted that following the final whistle.
I agree that NW and his backroom team have been amazing in the way in which they have turned two players, who looked completely out of their depth, into two of the best full backs in the league and a team which was heading for relegation when they arrived into potential top six, in such a short time, is remarkable.
If they can focus and improve individual and collective performances at the sharp end, then I believe automatic promotion is not beyond us. 😎
The difference in the players individually and collectively since the arrival of Mr Warnock and his team is nothing short of miraculous to me. Players who were lost physically and psychologically have new strength and seem to have developed other new strengths. having sorted the defence and midfield I hope he, they, can work their magic with the strikers. Not forgetting that he has also increased the gross value of the team too as well as individual players.
I think that this international break was a target for him and we may well see another positive side of his management skills with Assombalonga, Akpom, Roberts and the wild card of Whatmore. As I've said before compared to the last green management team it is quite incredible what has been achieved in such a short time under such horrible circumstances.
It's only my opinion but Mr Warnock is a Manager that deserves the capital 'M' on his title.
Stay safe everyone.
UTB,
John
@john-richardson. Fingers crossed that he does not win a MOTM award, as we all know what happens after receiving one of those!😎
I believe automatic promotion is not beyond us. 😎
Alert. The P word mentioned by a Boro fan 😎
Good grief and up the Boro!
@malcolm I’ve watched all this seasons games , either via the official stream with the Radio Tees commentary, or on Sky. I’ve got to say that I’ve enjoyed the RT commentary much more - they both know the team from watching every week and NM is not slow to criticise when he feels it’s warranted.
Being able to watch all the games has been one of the few pluses from the Covid situation for me.
I too am very much part of the Bola fan club and have posted to this effect. He looks like a completely different player and I’m curious to know quite how much is tactics/skill training and how much is simply man management. He and other players as well are clearly operating with confidence and the knowledge that they have the faith of the management. Any thoughts, fellow bloggers from your broad management experience across the world. How much did you coach people in detail or just give them the belief in themselves.
It’s also interesting to compare the defensive prowess of this team with the way that the Karanka defence played. They both stay standing as much as possible but the NW team seems to be better at intercepting balls into the opposition front players.
I also noted NW saying that players will now not train until Thursday. A few days off to refresh themselves. I wonder whether this is the norm for other teams?
UTB
Swindon 1 Darlington 2
Just saying but what a fantastic performance as Quakers reached the second round of the FA Cup for the first time in 10 years by beating League One Swindon, 68 places above them on the football ladder.
Well done, Darlo. Unfortunaly I have seen them play only in 1980. At the Feethams. Up the Boro!
Jarkko
I think that was the shock result of the round, so here’s some of my memories of Darlington FC in the FA Cup for you. The Quakers finished 20th in the 3rd Division North in 1958 but I remember them reaching the last 16 in the FA Cup that year with the following results:-
1st Round Away Rochdale 2-0 who finished 10th in the 3rd Div North
2nd Round Home Boston United 5-3 who were a Midland League club
3rd Round Away Norwich City 2-1 who finished 8th in the 3rd Div South
4th Round Away Chelsea 3-3 who including a young Jimmy Greaves
4tn Round Replay Home Chelsea 4-1 who finished 11th in the 1st Div
5th Round Away Wolves 1-6 who finished as 1st Div Champions
There are short highlights of the last two matches on YouTube.
As for BBC Tees radio commentary which happened to be aligned to a stream I managed to get for yesterdays game I'm afraid and not for the first time I had to turn it off. They are both dreadful. Neil Maddison works for the club and is it fair he should be the summarizer alongside the commentator who is just as bad. Surely we can find much better commentators about from the area.
With all its faults it s much more preferable than the Sky commentary which is monotonous and sleep inducing, in my opinion.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the manager has got the right attitude for managing a group of sportsmen with all the mixture of talent, confidence, arrogance,(and lack of same) he seems to have got them believing that it isn't all that important whether you win or lose, not at all important if you concede in the last minute, or score the winner in the last minute. The results can be seen on the field of play.