Set Piece Sting
Redcar Red reports on the season opener at Watford...
Boro once again kicked off the Championship season with the inaugural Friday Night live jaunt to just North of London. Last year it was newly promoted Luton with anticipation for our new found exciting fast-paced football which disappointingly also saw us ship goals on the evening topped off by Britt and one of his “penalty specials”. This season its newly relegated Watford providing the opposition. Exactly which Watford side we would be facing was anything but clear with eleven absentees from their ranks for one reason or another.
Adding to the intrigue Watford had yet another new Manager with Serbian Vladimir Ivic occupying the home dugout. Despite “the missing” Watford were expected to put out a formidable team with plenty of Premiership and Championship experience. We, however, know only too well how experienced Premiership quality squads can fare in the frantic and often brutal nature of the Championship. It’s a division literally littered with clubs whose fans regularly recant decaying stories of “when we were in the Premiership”.
Boro were thin on the ground in terms of squad numbers after some expensive departures in the summer which eased the payroll strain but hadn’t as yet been replaced in adequate numbers. The lack of bodies meant that Neil Warnock’s side virtually picked itself along with his bench. The only viable tweaks to the last outing would the return of the Northern Ireland two and new loanee keeper Bettinelli.
Team news for Boro saw three changes with Bettinelli brought straight in with no sign of Stojanovic as Pears was on the bench. Dael Fry joined Pears on the bench with McNair preferred alongside Hall. Fry had looked rusty against Shrewsbury last week with his lack of pre-season perhaps evident so missing out in itself perhaps wasn’t a surprise. The other change was Saville coming in for Lewis Wing who dropped to the bench.
In a strange and Covid questionable ceremonial entrance Referee Keith Stroud kissed the match ball as he collected it from the plinth before marching it to the centre spot. Boro kicked off and kept the ball in the Watford half for the opening two minutes including having a claim for a foul on Britt turned away, even getting a header in, albeit off target, on Ben Foster's goal. Watford won a corner in the 4th minute after Tav was easily turned and a second followed immediately afterward with Boro content to shield, absorb, not committing to challenges. The ball from the second Watford corner went out for a goal kick after it rebounded harmlessly off a yellow shirt in a packed 6-yard box.
A throw-in for Watford in the 10th minute went over Spence’s head only for him to recover but conceding an unnecessary corner in the process. It was played short to Sema, crossing where Cathcart took advantage of some poor Hall defending to power home a close range header to give the Hornets the lead after what had been a decent start by Boro. Two minutes later and Fletcher had a left-footed drive go out for a corner. When played in it spun out to Spence who again seemed incapable of reading the flight of the ball and had Dijksteel to thank in preventing a Hornet break out. Fifteen minutes had now elapsed and after early Boro pressure, Watford now looked to be settling into Championship life as 18-year-old Joao Pedro waltzed past two Red shirts to home in on Bettinelli’s goal trying his luck with a low shot.
A long Marvin Johnson clearance down the left-wing allowed Tav, Fletcher and Britt to interchange, advance and from a tight angle, Britt tested Foster with Boro’s first real effort of the game on 23 minutes. Next up a Tav dribble into the Watford box couldn’t find a Boro Striker in the middle of the penalty spot area. A follow up cross to the far post had just too much on it for a stretching Britt to connect as Boro showed some spirited fightback on 25 minutes. Almost immediately however
Watford teased the Boro defence open and Joao Pedro’s low shot deflected out for a corner. The dynamism and speed of build-up couldn’t be in sharper contrast. Watford repeated the same set-piece corner routine but Spence was alert this time, anticipating and blocked Sema. The ball then went out for a corner at the opposite side of the pitch after several unconvincing Boro attempts to clear.
Thirty minutes had elapsed and Boro needed some creative spark from somewhere to unlock a Watford side starting to look increasingly comfortable. Howson got some late studs in on Sema as Boro realised that they needed to start tackling and stop standing off and admiring their opponents. Boro won a corner on 32 minutes which was fired in with pace but little finesse which Cathcart headed clear. In the next phase, Boro probed inside the Hornets box but after a game of bagatelle and half attempts it came out to Johnson who was upended for a free kick 25 yards out. The ball was cleared but delivered back in by Johnson and almost immediately he picked up a Saville ball to put in a second cross but Foster collected as it dropped at the near post.
The quick downfield clearance saw Dijksteel outpace and out-muscle Joao Pedro one on one, clearing down the right-wing allowing Fletcher to cut inside and let fly but it was straight down Foster’s throat with little chance of it beating a Keeper of the ex England man’s calibre. A few minutes break followed for Chalobah to receive some treatment allowing NW to instruct his charges for the final five minutes of the half.
A poorly weighted back header from Britt on the halfway line resulted in Sema rolling in pain after McNair was forced to go for a ball he was always going to be second best to. Sema reacted a minute later by barging into the back of Johnson conceding a harmless free kick on the left Boro touchline. Two minutes came up on the fourth officials' board. Spence put in a good cross after a sprint to the edge of the Watford box which was headed down to Saville playing in Howson but he couldn’t get his feet right and skewed his shot wide just before Keith Stroud blew for half time.
A steady but not exceptional performance by Boro, our two Strikers had been lively, the midfield hit and miss but Spence had an awful opening half hour and Hall should have done better for the goal. Overall there was reason for optimism that Boro could yet get something from this game in the second half if they could improve their build-up play.
No changes at the interval as Watford got proceedings back underway. Worryingly Saville went down and needed some assistance from the trainer to catch his breath in the opening seconds. Fortunately, the Northern Irish International seemed to recover and took his place back on the pitch. Joao Pedro held off the attention of three Boro defenders to cut a perfectly drilled low cross into the Boro “D” where Johnson had to be quick to get in a challenge to allow Bettinelli to come out quickly and snuff out the danger. Of note perhaps is that it was the type of area and challenge that last season would have saw Marvin concede a free-kick and with it a booking.
A Howson clearance, come pass from Jonny up to Britt saw him stay strong, swivel winning a corner. It frustratingly and wastefully was floated straight into Foster’s arms, a stark contrast to Watford's planned strategic set plays. Ten minutes into the second half, Watford were looking disciplined and organised while Boro looked to be more hopeful with little build up play to be proud of. So far Tavernier had been willing but easily dispossessed, Spence hadn’t been on the ball to any great effect while Johnson was playing deeper than normal. It was Spence who in a rare foray broke away to deliver a cross into the Watford box but it was cleared with Britt outnumbered three to one.
On 58 minutes a livelier looking Spence linked up with Dijksteel who put a low cross in that eventually was put out for another Boro corner which was again easily read and cleared. A minute later Johnson won a corner on the opposite side deflecting off Cleverly which Tavernier completely fluffed, putting it immediately behind the touchline. A definite contender for the worst corner of the decade that one. A long Bettinelli clearance and a head down from Britt to Tav saw Chalobah nudge Tav in front of the Ref and the result was a free-kick twenty yards out for Boro. Tav and Britt deliberated some time raising tension as to who was taking it. In the end, it was Britt who dinked it over the wall and forcing Foster to tip it over his crossbar for a corner. As the corner kick was played in Hall met the ball but his left foot hooked it well over to add more disappointment.
Glenn Murray then came on for Sema as Ivic looked to put the game to bed on 66 minutes. Boro were enjoying possession but Watford’s defence didn’t really look troubled with just over twenty minutes remaining. A Johnson delivered free-kick flew across the box and met by Spence at the far side who swung at it but it went out wildly for a goal kick. On 72 minutes a more conventional Watford corner was cleared but typically Boro couldn’t make their break out count and continued looking laboured in possession. Two minutes later and Ivic made another switch with Navarro coming on for a limping Femenia.
Saville made way for Wing on 76 minutes as we all hoped for a Wingy special from 30 yards out, patient passing and long balls were having no effect on the night. Britt worked an opportunity for himself but Kabasele shielded him outnumbered he couldn’t force a corner with 6 minutes to go. Seconds later Wilmott dragged battling Britt down as he forced past him on the edge of the box earning the nights first and only yellow card. Tav sent an inswinging free-kick that was just flicked over Foster's bar by Britt in a crowded melee.
A scrappily conceded corner gave Boro another late chance. Tav’s delivered effort, much improved from earlier, dipped tantalisingly under the crossbar forcing Foster to get a glove on it. Phillips then came on for Watford as Johnson curled a late cross into the box under pressure but Foster collected with ease. Four minutes added time came up as Watford now looked to see the game out and Boro needing a lucky break. A long range Bettinelli free-kick from our own half was wasted with Britt being adjudged to have fouled his marker on the edge of the Hornets box. Seconds later Foster upended Britt in the box but he had just been flagged offside. In the dying embers of the match, a free-kick to the Home side just off centre twenty yards out saw the Boro wall stand firm with Keith Stroud blowing the final whistle.
A disappointing evening for Boro but the lack of quality in the squad was there to see. Britt and Paddy McNair were the outstanding players in a Boro shirt with Britt just edging the MOM gong. Bettinelli looked calm and capable, Dijksteel again looked solid and dependable. Spence dipped in and out while Tav battled but with no real end product. But for a lapse from Hall, we could have come away with a point but equally, Spence should have reacted quicker to the corner kick routine and cut it out. Losing away to Watford isn’t a surprise so we shouldn’t dwell on it too long but the wake-up call for recruitment should be the real message that is taken away from Vicarage Road. With scant resources, NW struggled to put out a coherent Plan A let alone having a Plan B on the bench.
Just to let you know that I've created this new sub-forum in the Middlesbrough forum to post Redcar Red's match reports this season - it will allow RR to easily post his reports without my intervention as I'm usually long in bed when they arrive in my mailbox and my midweek mornings are also likely to be hectic as the school run (rather cycle) now starts at 7am during the week (that's 6am UK time). It will also keep all the match reports in one place so that they're easily found.
Anyway, here's RR's verdict on yesterday's game at Watford...
Thanks RR. I didn’t see the game unfortunately so great to read your report on what sounds like a strange mix of disappointment and encouragement for Boro fans.
I’m cautious. Whilst we seem to have held our own down at Vicarage Road, I dread to think what would have happened had Deeney, Deulofeu and Sarr been available for the hosts.
The addition of Morsy will presumably add to the defensive side both as a disciplined midfielder and a vocal leader and organiser but will do little for the creative side.
Thanks RR for your match report which reflected very much what I watched last night. It was not a great game but one where I felt we were better disciplined than against the Shrews and but for one defensive lapse would have come away with a deserved point.
I am still not happy with a right footed midfield player being employed on the left of a defensive three albeit he did play well last night. I suspect, however, it is where we are as a team and club. I have seen enough now of Johnson, Spence and Coulson and come to the conclusion that non of them are really defenders and should be played as wide right and left attacking players with traditional defenders behind them if we are to get the best out of them and also BA and AF. It appears that we don't have the funds or are able to attract the right personnel to make that happen so we are still, to a degree, having to make do and use utility players as best we can. I am not sure what Morsby adds to the party and its a case of watch this space. Johnson was better defensively last night but he played deeper and as a consequence it negated to a large degree his attacking contributions which were, as so often, hit and miss.
I agree with Deleriad that we have quiet a few players that just don't do enough and some have not developed/progressed as much as I had hoped, Spence, Coulson and Wing in the main.
We had a lot of possession last night and this was a throw back to previous seasons where we just cannot breakdown the opposition with the transition from defence to attack being pedestrian; we lack precision and incisiveness with our passing and all too often moves breakdown or come to nothing. I accept with the limited resource available it was difficult to come up with plans A & B but felt perhaps Browne for Tav may have been worth a throw of the dice in the last 20 mins. I am not sure that wake up call and recruitment team have any meaning in the case of MFC on the evidence of previous seasons and to date this year.
This may be a performance to build upon but we have seen many false dawns in the past and I remain unconvinced given we have a set of players who have been at the club now for a number of seasons and failed under numerous previous managers. I fear that as the season unfolds NW will begin to wonder what to expect from week to week from this set of players much as we have been doing for far too long. I still fear that we are liable to be nearer to the lower reaches of the league than top six, assuming of course that we get to a finish. 😎
@k-p-in-spain In Morsy I see another Grant Leadbitter, an experienced battle hardened pro who isn't afraid to put the boot in and protect his defence. I think him and Howson could be a good combination at this level.
I’m afraid that I thought Saville had a poor game and for £8m I really don’t see what he adds to our team?
Mc Nair had a good game after settling down and he was often seen to be on the other flank chasing and tackling and he covered a lot of ground. I think if the coaches worked on his defensive duties then he could be a star player OFB
Seeing the game through the blinkers of TV it's only possible to make conditional judgments, but I thought we played well last night and deserved a point.
It's a long time since I have seen us come under so little sustained pressure away from home. We passed far better and retained possession more effectively than we have done since before Pulis arrived.
I, like KP and the Sky commentators, thought that we might have benefited from having fresh legs on the pitch for the last 20 minutes, but on reflection what Warnock was saying to the lads was 'You are my first XI, you have given me everything you have and you need as many minutes on the pitch together that we can get."
It was the kind of confidence vote that has already shown dividends with many in this squad. Howson was the pick of midfield and my Boro M-o-M, Johnson played with greater confidence and had cut out the elementary mistakes, Dijksteel looked classy on the ball and pacy in defence, and McNair, outstanding at the back, had one of his best games for us. Hall, in spite of his poor marking for their goal, and his missing one of our best opportunities, looked more like the defensive bulwark we were hoping for.
Though a big Tav fan, I thought that he, like Spence, had a disappointing game. He hasn't begun this season in anything like the form he showed at the end of the last. Fletcher, bright in the first half, faded badly in the second in all too typical fashion. Britt, in spite of his better motivation, remains poor in hanging on to the ball, and continues to give away too many free kicks. He compared badly to Watford's bright young boy from Brazil, who was man of the match. We need more from our front two for the full 90 minutes, just as much as they need more ammunition.
The temptation to be critical of Saville is one that I frequently give in to, so little does he seem to offer in terms of midfield control, craft or creativity. And where has that player gone, who in his youth used to score so many opportunist goals by ghosting into dangerous positions and finishing with precision?
Whenever I have seen Saville live, however, I have always been surprised by how much ground he covers, how much he fills in and covers for others, how much work he does off the ball, and how essential that role is for a porous defence like ours.
In short he is precisely the kind of player whose qualities are most likely to be missed by the TV coverage, but most prized by his team mates and manager.
I am not arguing that Saville has been a good acquisition, still less than he has been worth anything like the money we have paid for him. But he does offer considerably more than is often shown up on TV.
I think we have to look beyond last night's result to the performance, which showed levels of togetherness, commitment, energy and no little skill that have rarely, if ever, been present over the past two seasons.
Credit to Warnock and the players for that, and in spite of our squad's limitations I retain a degree of cautious optimism that I haven't experienced for too many years now.
Just a pity that stepping up from the heart of defence Kernel Cathcart put a feather in his cap and gave us a black eye.
I was interested in Bob's comments on Saville, which I saw after I posted my own piece.
I don't disagree with you, Bob, but I think that he may be one of those players who offers more than we get to see on the box.
Len I agree Saville is an enigma one of those Robbie Mustoe type players who as you say is appreciated by his manager and teammates but doesn’t catch the eye of the fans.
I think McNair should stay at the back and look forward to seeing some new signings to strengthen the team
OFB
As an afterthought I didn’t miss George or Clayton but I see Birmingham won 1 0 today!
OFB
George had a mark of 8
Clayton had a mark of 7-5
Clayton had a mark of 7-5
And collected his first yellow of the new season! 😉
cant see Adam Forshaw getting many games at Leeds ,is he injured still?
is Downing back with Blackburn? just wondering ,never heard.
is Downing back with Blackburn? just wondering ,never heard.
It would seem not:
Great report, RR, thanks as ever.
I agree with fellow bloggers that Boro put up a spirited and encouraging performance. We didn’t deserve to lose. There was much to admire.
It was good to see some fluid movement up front in the first half, though this was much less evident second half. I felt we lost that momentum second half even though we had a lot of possession - Watford defended very well, and our link-up play between midfield and the strikers was much less effective, principally, I thought, because we too often chose to by-pass the midfield with aimless long balls.
I thought Howson, Dijksteel and McNair had very good games, and I can’t ever recall Britt running and putting himself about so much. Perhaps making him the skipper might be a NW masterstroke?
Thanks for a good report.
I'm one of those who thinks that Saville looks busy but tends to hide. Runs around enough to look like he's contributing but never plays a key pass, never makes a key tackle, generally stays away from scoring positions.
For the first 20 minutes or so, our midfield was a real soft centre: Tav gets done easily and Saville was going through the motions. It was only when Howson decided to get stuck in half way through the first half that we got any sort of bite there. The horse had already bolted though. Although we seem to have too many central midfielders already, I can see why Warnock has gone for Morsy.
Dijksteel and McNair did well but fundamentally I don't think either of them is really a CB. They play like midfielders doing their best. You can get away with this for a while but when you consider that Johnson isn't really defensively minded and Spence struggles with that too, we absolutely need someone in.
Overall, we did ok without ever convincing. Their best players always felt as though they had enough to keep us at bay without being really pushed.
@deleriad. Great post and echoes some of what I and others have been saying for a long while that you need players playing in their best/specialist positions.
Square pegs can be used in round holes in the short term when needs must but it is not a long term solution. We have been making do for to long under successive managers and it needs sorting.
We need two full backs and a CB if NW really has serious ambitions of making the top six and not just talking the talk. 😎
I am no apologist for George Saville, and have been as underwhelmed by his performances since we signed him as everyone else.
I suspect that he will be the one who is will stand down in favour of Morsy, and few will complain about that.
I simply make two points.
Whenever I have seen Saville live I have been impressed by his tremendous energy and commitment.
Most of his running has been in the form of defensive covering for the frailties of pretty well every left back who played for us last season.
It has been unglamorous, conscientious, largely unseen, but absolutely necessary work.
Secondly what we have seen almost nothing of has been that energy put to attacking use, in getting up to and supporting our main strikers.
I assume it was on that basis that we signed him.
In the season before he came to us he was Millwall's joint top score with 10 goals playing as a box-to-box midfielder.
That is only one goal short of what our twin strikers, Fletcher and Assombalonga, on whom we are pinning so much hope this season, managed last term.
So George has been as big a victim of our 'square-pegs-in round-holes' policy as anyone else, a victim, like McNair, of his own versatility.
I suspect that George's best position may be the same as Tav's: as a false No. 10.
But I doubt whether we will ever see him there, so pigeon-holed in his current role has he become. And, for me, he doesn't have Tav's flair and potential.
Nevertheless, as with so many of our past signings, the club has scarcely made the best use of his talents, and in this respect he is deserving of some sympathy.
Most of his running has been in the form of defensive covering for the frailties of pretty well every left back who played for us last season.
That's fair enough and we do have a track record of ruining goal-scoring midfielders. We certainly haven't had a reliable left back since Saville joined so maybe he has put the team ahead of his own performances and tried to solve that problem.
In the last 2 years we have bought or loaned Besic, Howson, McNair, and Saville as box-to-box, dynamic goal-scoring midfielders. When that many good players fail to perform in that role you have to look at the system rather than the players.
Agreed.
And you can add to that Clayton who scored his fair share of goals before joining us.
And both Leadbitter and Adomah, who scored fewer and fewer goals the longer they played for us.
This through a combination of a concentration on their defensive duties, and the weekly avalanche of criticism attackers attracted whenever they missed any of the few decent chances we managed to create that were alleged to have "cost us the match".
Easier to keep your head below the parapet, not get forward and concentrate on defending.
The general opinion that we done O.K. does not impress me, it is whistling in the dark and when you do that you always walk into the Wardrobe (head first). We knew we were gifted apponents who were missing their stars. just in case we doubted that, it became obvious after five minutes, by which time they had scored. They gave us no trouble for the rest of the match, we sat and watched a team with no skilled providers (or goal scorers) huff and puff to no effect, with Wing sat on the bench (yea, that works for me) even in his ten minutes cameo we had about six corners, and a few desperate clearances from them. So three points thrown away in my book.
with Wing sat on the bench (yea, that works for me) even in his ten minutes cameo we had about six corners, and a few desperate clearances from them. So three points thrown away in my book.
We had 6 corners in the match, one of which came after Wing came on. In total we had 4 attempts on target and 10 off target of which, after Wing came on, we had 2 of the off-target and none on target.
Basically, Wing had no impact though it would be unfair to expect one in the time he had available. Personally I would have brought Wing on for Saville after about 60 minutes; we were on top but not really doing much with it.
I would also have been tempted to bring on Browne for Fletcher after around 75 minutes and gone 3-4-3 because Fletcher had drifted out of the game and the formation wasn't stretching their backline.
But, everyone's an expert at the keyboard.
Despite their attributes, I’m going to suggest Britt and Fletcher are not a good combination due to their uncomplementary skill sets.
To maximise Britt he needs to be the focal point of a team designed to feed him, ideally ball to feet bearing down on goal from 10 yards.
Whereas Fletcher needs to be paired with at least one or possibly two partners of similar speed. I dunno, Wing perhaps could be one.
Played together they may score 10 league goals each. Played to their strengths but not together I could see them each scoring 15, plus whatever anyone pitches in with.
Except NW has made Britt his captain and cant drop him. A strategic error.
To play them as a straightforward and perhaps old fashioned little and large pairing - you can decide who is who - has failed, is failing and will fail. Or at best not succeed as well as we could.
I understand NW’s desire to play his two best strikers, but I think we’ll score more goals and so win more games with a different approach. I don’t mind which alternative NW goes for, though I think playing Fletcher may offer greater returns.
I personally would like to see a front three of Assombalonga Fletcher and Tavernier, most teams who have a definitive three up top seem to do well as they can collectively apply pressure on the back line.
Failing that then a rigid 4-4-2 would be my preferred option, but only if we can come up with two solid FB’s.
he doesn't have Tav's flair and potential.
Maybe that could be a blessing in disguise with Saville. Instead of hanging onto the ball and looking to beat two defenders he will simply play a quick defence unlocking pass to Britt or Fletcher, even looking to receiving it back again in a quick one two in the box. Sometimes we seem to take an eternity to attack teams which gives them chance to get back in numbers.
Good point about Tav.
As one of his fans I have been disappointed with him so far this season for precisely the reasons you identify.
He is slowing us down by hanging on to the ball too long as well as looking to dribble through tight spaces in the middle of the park.
He is our most outstanding prospect but there are occasions when he needs to lay the ball off much more quickly.
Quality of Match Report 3 - 1 Quality of Performance 1.
Early days though.
And I agree, I can't remember feeling so disconnected from the game, so not-exactly-looking-forward-to-it as the season begins, for years...!
Been away for a few days and busy with a potential new "project"... So belated thanks to Werder for his humorous pre-match intro and to RR for his detailed match report. Both top notch as ever.
What I like most about this blog, is the varying and different posts to all things Boro, especially around the games. Opinions given in the right manner as we have posted on in the past and sometimes opinions poles apart.
Which brings me the the Watford game. Although it was close???, I thought Watford were more or less always in control and the Boro chasing the game. The two upfront, now starting to cause debate once more, were offered nothing or very little from their colleagues. No creativity, limited crosses from wide positions into the box and in the latter stages of the second half, too many "hoofed" balls from the back missing out the midfield.
The midfield, just the same old, poor IMO. And as to opinions, I thought Howson offered very little and was poor in the first half. Saville has been spoken about and whilst I can see where Len is coming from, over the seasons he has been here, he has not won (m)any MotM awards and won't.
Morsy may aid and shore up the defensive frailties, but considering the number of midfield players in the squad we cannot come up with a winning combination. Wing apart, who has not progressed as much as I thought he would, where is that player to play the defence splitting pass into the box for the front two?
For me still too many players not doing enough or good enough. The 2/3 posts from deleriad in this thread, just about summed the Boro up. Cannot see us being relegated, NW too experienced for that, but top ten, I think we will struggle. Hope I am wrong.
If we picked players on their value in the market, I reckon we would have a more successful season than our present method. Note, I do not mean what we paid for them, you could use that in reverse. Fry should be playing every match, in his position, Central, and no nonsense. Tav and Wing, a combination, they do work. Fletcher, and no Britt, he is proving very costly. If our new keeper is a giant, then he will have my support, until, he costs us points. We seem to have three new players? So we will be seeing them, but first we need to get our ship under way, Watford was a monster blunder, they were in disarray and there for the taking, they scored a goal which would have been familiar on the local rec. we then spent our time trying to get the ball to find it own way into the net, we certainly failed to cut them open. It was a grave error on our part, knowing that they were decimated, and anxious, to let them sit in our half for the first ten minutes, we will not speak about the defending, a string of corners, just what the doctor ordered, no one had the wit to put the ball over the top into their empty half, at least give them a bit of running to do, we might even have got a breakaway. We will forget the wrong team, and Britt as Captain. If he was prepared to play carrying two stone of overweight for all last season, then what were we doing playing him, by the way his improvement is strictly limited.