Echo ratings

5 Steffen: Not helped by defenders but conceded four second half goals.

Boro cruising at the end of the first half.
But the second half was a shambles. Every time Huddersfield scored I had to bend forward and have a drink of coffee whilst all around me were spectators jumping up and down.

The collapse was far worse than the collapse against Burnley when leading 1-0  - and Burnley are a good team. The defence was non existent conceding 3 goals in 13 minutes. Too many players today lacked pace particularly McNair who gave them one goal and had a poor game. Surely Fry must play in future games.

What was strange was that for the whole game Lenihan  brought the ball out of defence which is fine but there were no midfielders to then take the ball to play the ball to the forwards. So he ended up being a midfielder which is asking too much and not his strength.

So we now know that 2nd place is gone - the Sheffield supporters were apparently singing “ there’s only one Neil Warnock “.

The aim now is to learn from this defeat, get back to winning games to finish the season in decent form.

Finally, what are the odds on NW keeping Huddersfield in the Championship particularly as Cardiff and QPR lost?

from a forlorn Boro supporter from Huddersfield ☹️
Philip

Well we well and truly blew it today. A win would have kept us in touch with Sheffield United despite their win today but now I think a top two finish is beyond us. I reckon we will finish 4th with Luton who have an easier run in ending up 3rd.  

The defensive display today was just awful and the only positive from the game is that it confirms for Carrick that a lot of work is needed to get a defence that is fit for purpose. God knows how many a decent Premier League team would have scored against us today. 

I expect Fry and McGree to play next time out. 

We were very lucky to concede only four goals today. Apart from our goal, Huddersfield created the best chance of the first half when Lenihan cleared off the line. In the second half Town were within a whisker of scoring a fifth with a shot that was inches outside of the post with Steffan well beaten.

So it could easily have been six. This from a home side who were rank 5/1 long shots to win the game.

It's logical to scapegoat McNair as the only defensive change since Preston, but difficult to do so if you saw the game. Along with Ramsey he was our outstanding performer in the first half, and he could scarcely be held responsible for our second half collapse.

I would point to two factors. The first was complacency. We came out for the second half assuming that the game was already won. After all we had achieved our main objective in breaking through a packed defence and taking the lead.

It was a complacency most of us shared as evidenced by the half time comments on this blog. The second half was going to be a simple matter of picking our opponents off as they came out of their defensive shell.

What that translated to within a minute of the second half getting underway was three or four of our forwards and midfielders not bothering enough to get in a tackle on their defender as he scythed his way through them and finished with a clinical shot.

That moment changed the game, the atmosphere and the result. 

The second factor was our shambolic defensive organisation from that point onwards. By that I mean not simply the wide open spaces we left for our opponents to exploit on the counter- attack, but a failure of too many of our forwards and midfielders to defend from the front. 

If I were Carrick I would be asking some pertinent questions of his defensive coach, the only member of his coaching staff, whom he did not appoint but who was wished upon him by the club

@ken The Pools are undefeated in six after five draws since Askew took over. At least they still have a chance to stay up  - but they are two points off safety now.

Up the Boro!

@lenmasterman   Len, we have improved beyond belief since MC took over. That is in every department other than the defensive five.
Whilst I appreciate that all eleven players have to defend, some more than others, the fact is, as I said earlier, the back five are overall poor.

Somebody has to take responsibility for the continuous mistakes made virtually every game. Yes we play a system that is good to watch and has got us to where we are. We all appreciate that it comes with a certain amount of risks.

However, we have not improved in the defensive format at all since MC arrived. Woodgate, well what responsibilities does he have?

As good a season as Smith has had, he it too slow against the counter attack. Howson looks good in his more advanced midfield role when it is going for us. But, if we are to improve from where we are, why has the first been given a new two year contract and the latter a new one for next season.

That I cannot fathom out. If they are to be first choices if we are in the Championship next season, we’ll it does not bode well.

Well, that was a complete shock. We might perhaps have anticipated a narrow one goal defeat to Warnock, but not to concede 4. I couldn’t believe what I was listening to as Huddersfield piled on the goals and we apparently made defensive error after error. It was like being back in the bad old days at the start of the season. As has been pointed out, we need a reaction on Friday, and Burnley suddenly becomes an even bigger test for Carrick. We need to bounce back quickly so as not to lose momentum. It’s momentum that will be vital come the play-offs. 

I don’t think I’ve seen a swing in game like that since Liverpool overturned AC Milan in the Champions League Final in 2005. Quite unbelievable.

We were in complete control of the game in the first half, an impressive show of patient probing and coolly taking the big chance when it came.

I don’t know what happened but we came out for the second half asleep and it all fell apart in ten minutes.

Were the players subconsciously thinking about Friday?

Anyway, that was quite a shock and has effectively ended our lingering automatic promotion hopes, though I’m sure Carrick will take each game as it comes anyway.

We can still be very confident of making the playoffs.

Well. Now I know why I was suffering typicalborophobia. Big, big disappointment, but it is not all doom and gloom yet. Remember Forest v Boro in 1974 anyone?

The race is not over yet, either for a play off space but also for 2nd place. Anything is still possible. Perhaps this was a good result for Boro in that I can't honestly believe we will see that kind of reverse again this season, nor that drop in concentration mid game. I have accounted Boro to lose one game in the run in in my prediction through to the end. Well they have now lost it, but we are still quite capable of going unbeaten for the rest of the season. I expect we will be back to pur best on Friday and that we will beat Burnley. 

I'll agree  to finish in the playoffs looks more probable as things stand this morning, but Sheffield will lose at least once before the season is over, so 2nd is still in reach for anyone of us, Luton or Blackburn. 

Our reaction to this will define pur season, rather than the result itself doing so.

I very much respect the confidence of Andy and Powmill, I just wish I had some out it.

Our realistic chances of catching Sheffield were low. They would have had to lose more than they have done during the season and we would have had to win virtually all ours. That slim chance is gone.

As to the play offs, well surprisingly,  I am confident. However in coming out on top of the two home and away legs, very much less so. If we made the Final, depends who we play.

Luton certainly appear to be the team in form and with the momentum.

We have lost three of our last six away matches. We are slipping down the form table. We just cannot stop conceding goals. Friday against Burnley will be no different, meaning we will have to score more against a very good side. Bristol and the away defeats continuing, is a distinct probability.

We have had a brilliant season under MC. Far more than we could have expected. It is just a pity we could not have added another defender in January. 

@powmillnaemore 

I also thought of 1974 and that Forest 5-1 reverse in Jack Charlton's march to promotion, because I was at that game.

It was really a different kettle of fish. What happened on that day was that in the first half a couple of long distance efforts from Forest flew into the back of the net, and from then on it was one of those days when everything went right for them.

For example, one of their log-distance goals was scored by Wingfield, their left back. It was a collectors' piece, something he had never done before and was never to repeat. It drew not only a tremendous roar but gales of incredulous laughter from the home fans.

You could excuse even such a major set-back as a blip, which is what it was for Jack's team.

Yesterday was very different. A complete second half collapse against a much weaker side who scored against us at will. There wasn't any element of luck about it.

It should provoke a major re-think about our defensive organisation. What we are missing is a capable left back, a defensive enforcer who can sit in front of the back line, and a willingness of everyone in the team to defend from the front.

I wondered how long it would take for some Boro fans to question Michael Carrick’s selection process. So Boro lost a football match that they were expected to win, but nobody died YET. 

How many times have Boro won under Carrick when they were expected to lose? Norwich, Blackburn and Sheffield United away spring to mind! Yes we slipped up at Sunderland and West Brom but this is an unforgiving league and Carrick was up against Neil Warnock who has made a habit of winning matches that he was not expected to, some even against Boro in the past! Supporting Boro should come with a Government health warning as most of us older fans have seen in the past performances that fefied all logic.

Nevertheless Michael Carrick has always been pragmatic and accepted that every match in the Championship presents a new challenge, and considering that Carrick is a novice in club management compared to Neil Warnock’s long career, I reckon Carrick is well in credit to matches won and allowed the odd day of a surprise defeat.

Some folk, not Boro supporters I might add, used to denigrate Roy Hodgson for his lisp, but his knowledge of football is beyond reproach and as soon as he returns to Crystal Palace, they win their first match this year. An old sage is always likely to know more about how football works than a young probationer, but their time will come with experience. 

It just goes to show how the likes of Tony Mowbray and Gareth Southgate are respected for their coaching knowledge, and it won’t be long before Michael Carrick will join that illustrious couple.

Up until MC’s arrival we had conceded 21 league goals and have now conceded 46 and are joint 13th in the league for the least number of goals conceded.

Whilst our goals for tally has increased dramatically, not so our defending which remains our achilles heel.

This is a team game and as such we defend from the front but clearly yesterday we failed as a team to defend properly, forwards, midfielders and defenders were all culpable for the goals conceded.

I agree with Len that left back has been a weakness since we switched to a back four and we could do with an Adam Clayton type player patrolling in front of the defence.

I was surprised that PM was picked ahead of DF given PM had played two games for NI; I suspect that MC felt that to unlock the Terriers he would need defenders who were also able to influence the game in the opposition final third but it clearly did not work.

Friday is going to be an almighty test and I now feel we will do well to avoid defeat.  The Blades had a wobble a few games back and I just hope that our sticky patch is not coming at the wrong time.

I very rarely watch other teams games on tv but saw almost all of the Luton v Watford game, which I would best describe as 90 mph functional football, some may say agricultural.  

Whatever the outcome of our season we have seen some of the best football under MC’s team for many a year and long may that continue, whichever league we end up in at the end of May. 😎

Yesterday’s capitulation came as a shock but we shouldn’t go overboard in my opinion, just as we shouldn’t when we win big as we have been of late. The very fact that it came as such a shock is a sure sign of our progress in itself.

Though we had a terrible 15min spell, I believe that if someone - anyone of the four near him - had taken one for the team and taken out Josh Ruffels as he bustled into our box, we would have avoided that equaliser and the game would have played out completely differently. It was one moment that led to an overwhelming swing in momentum and a cascade of cock-ups.

I’m a Dael Fry fan and not particularly a Paddy McNair fan overall but I think Paddy has been perfectly fine this season. Perhaps not quite as good as under Wilder but better than anything he showed before that. Fry would always be in my XI but I really don’t know if he would have made much difference yesterday. It’s not like Dael is a cajoling leader would have galvanised those around him.

I think the worries about our defending are overblown. Yes, we were terrible at the start of the season but that start skews the stats. We are an attacking team that takes risks but not awful at the back - 23 goals against in 22 games under Carrick prior to yesterday isn’t bad when you look at how many we’re scoring. The balance is favourable. It’s only 12 conceded in 14 games this calendar year including the 4 yesterday with 6 clean sheets in that time. That’s good, especially given how we play.

The problem yesterday was a moment of huge sloppiness straight after half-time then failing to clear our heads and get a grip quickly enough. By the time we did, the game had gone. That seems like more of a leadership problem on the field than an issue with a particular player or coaching.

@andy-r.  Andy I don’t think those of us who have posted about the defending are going overboard. I agree that there was a period of sloppiness yesterday just after half time which cost us the game, but this is not the first time we have lost in a similar manner.

We went from 0-1 up at Burnley to 3-1 down in a short space of time and let in two quick goals at West Brom.

The more telling stat for me is that we are 13th in the league for least goals conceded.  I suppose the counter argument is that we are at least 2nd for goals scored as without those goals we would be much further down the league.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the opposition were winning because they were playing far better than us, that has been rare under MC, more often than not we have lost through poor defending/lapses in concentration.

We have always come back after a defeat to win the next game; let’s hope that record continues but it is a mighty tall order against a Burnley team who have only lost two to date. 😎

Can’t argue with any of that KP, but I would say that the season-long stats are a bit skewed and don’t fully represent who we are today. January onwards is a fairer reflection as Carrick was in and had his feet under the table by then.

We’re joint top since 1st Jan and have conceded only 2 goals at home. We have conceded 12 away now which is average but only after the 4 yesterday and you have to balance that against the league leading 14 goals scored away in that time frame. Only Burnley and Millwall have picked up more points than us away from home since 1st Jan.

So, yes, yesterday was a big shock and the goals against is the biggest “problem” with this team but overall it’s not a headache - no-one is outperforming us overall this calendar year.

Every time somebody posts, I receive a notification by email. It only started late Friday. So lots of posts. ☹️

Has anyone else had this issue and is there a solution to resolve it.

Thank you for any help. P

Well, I haven't looked at the post-match comments which I assume have been posted above because I wanted to give my views without having been influenced by others.  I will try to keep it fairly brief, but here goes:

I listened on the radio and have seen the goals replayed on my mobile phone but I didn't watch the match. It sounded as if we had a scare or two in the first half (wasn't there an early Huddersfield chance that was cleared off Boro's goal line?) but the first half was one where it sounded as though Boro had the majority of possession and the goal by Forss just before half-time was exactly what Boro wanted (unless you counter that a first minute goal closely followed by a few others was what the team REALLY, REALLY WANTED). With Boro in the lead and in good form in recent games, I thought it was likely the team would run out winners and, perhaps, comfortably.

Maybe the team felt that way, too? However the players were soon disabused of that idea by a Huddersfield goal virtually straight from the re-start.  There followed a period of about 11 minutes in which the midfield and defence collapsed and, almost before it was possible to take stock, Huddersfield had a 3-1 lead, later stretched to 4-1.  There was some fight in Boro, though, and the inevitable goal by Akpom to make it 4-2 gave a slight glimmer of hope that a miracle of Basle/Steaua proportions might be possible. Sadly that was not to be and the 4-2 final score was a coupon-buster bearing in mind the league positions of the competing teams and Boro's imperious form of late.

Or was it? The performances by Huddersfield have taken an upturn in recent weeks and we all know that Neil Warnock's teams have a good record against Boro. He knows many of the players. I doubt that Huddersfield will be relegated from here and I have no doubt at all that, if Warnock had been in charge there from the start of the season, Huddersfiled would not even have been a candidate for relegation.

I don't say that this game, the performance and the result were all simply a product of merely a bad day at the proverbial office. It certainly didn't sound like a GOOD performance and for all that the team left the field at half-time one goal to the good, that 2nd half performance represented an implosion.  It was very poor.  But it doesn't mean that Boro's promotion hopes this season are ended.  Michael Carrick is a young and inexperienced manager but I think we have already seen enough from him to know that he will examine that Huddersfield game, that he will be aware of the players' shortcomings during the match, and that he will work out a way of correcting those mistakes which were made so that the situation can be put right. Unfortunately for Boro it MIGHT be argued that there could have been a more convenient team to play next than high-flying Burnley.  Having said which, Sunderland held Burnley to a draw at Turf Moor this weekend and it shouldn't be difficult to get the players "up" for a game at home against the runaway league leaders. I assume the squad will be "smarting" at a result which may feel like being a hard slap in the face.

I thought Boro had a chance of catching Sheffield United to grab an automatic promotion place after finishing second in the league.  That was always going to be tight considering how many points at one stage separated Boro and the Blades. Second is STILL possible, though now rather more unlikely.  Boro's more probable route to promotion may lie through the play-offs. If one could guarantee promotion through winning the play-off final, one might well take that as preferable to winning automatic promotion.   It would involve a cathartic destruction of a Wembley hoodoo that seems to have had Boro in its grip for EVER, and it would release an explosion of celebration the like of which would perhaps eclipse the League Cup Final success (luckily played that year in Cardiff).  Well.... that's if one could GUARANTEE winning that final game at Wembley.  Failing at the last hurdle, as we all know after the Norwich game at Wembley, is gut-wrenchingly hard to take.

Automatic promotion is still possible but is less likely than it was 24 hours ago.  I expect the team to strive to win the remaining games and, if that were acheived, with Sheffield United's FA Cup games to play, that would certainly put pressure on the Blades.  But it may turn out that Boro will have to follow the play-off route to promotion.  To achieve that, Boro's team will have to perform much better than at Huddersfield.  Playing at peak, Boro can beat anyone in this division but the secret is to get players up to that peak level and to stay there. The ride might be a very interesting one.  It can be achieved.  I still have faith...

@pedro.  I am not exactly sure why but it could be to do with your Wordpress account and alerts being activated. Unfortunately I am not sure how you get into it.  I will do some searching and if I come up with anything I will post again. 😎

@ Pedro.  You need to access the Wordpress.com website and login with your username and password.  

Once logged in you can then go to your profile and under which you will see “notifications” then “comments”, you will need to ensure that the email box is not ticked.  

Under my settings I only have the “Likes on my comments” box ticked.  Hope this helps and resolves your issue.   😎

Until the scores on the doors say differently, I still firmly believe that who finishes in 2nd place will not be decided until May 8th. There are four teams still in with a chance and we are one of those.

@powmillnaemore.  I admire your positivity but I believe that boat has sailed, not only for us but for all the other teams below the blades.  😎

@k-p-in-spain   KP. thank you for the prompt reply and info.

Did you mean the actual Wordpress site or our Diasboro site?

I have entered to the DiasBoro site. logged in, clicked on my Profile /Account, which came up when I clicked on the Forum page. I cannot see "Notifications" only what looks like a bell, (sometimes used for messages)

When I hover over it, it says "mute / unmute emails. I have clicked on mute and see if that helps.

@pedro.  I meant the Wordpress site but fingers crossed that what you have done on our site will have worked. 😎

@k-p-in-spain   Apologies KP. it did not work. If you could post the Wordpress  link you used, when you get a moment, that would be great. thank you.  P

@pedro Hope this helps.

https://wordpress.com/log-in/

😎

@forever-dormo 

I think that over confidance was the cause of our demise against Huddersfield, had it been 0-0 at half time they would have been delighted and stayed with their formation, whilst we would have done the same. We failed to consider their position in the league, which dictated that they pile forward en' mass and at once, because it simply did not matter how many goals they lost by. Nevertheless, the ball in our net after twenty seconds brought a complete loss of control on our part, leading to defeat, which was chastening, both for our manager and for the entire club. Burnley will be 'difficult' to say the least.     

I wonder if the pressure to catch Sheff Utd had unsettled the team. Maybe now it looks very unlikely they can relax into the performances we saw before the International break. 
Let’s hope so anyway. 

Insight to warnocks thinking.

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/warnocks-half-time-words-huddersfield-26613771

I was out of commission all weekend due to an annual visit by friends from Wales. Picked a good one to miss it seems...

It both is and isn't surprising. It happens every season to all teams. In Robbo's second promotion season I think we lost two games in a row 5-1 and 4-0 when we seemed to be cruising to promotion. 

Think also of Man Utd at their peak who routinely had a couple of stupid losses every season, usually to us. Burnley lost 5-2 to Sheffield Utd this season despite being ahead at half-time.

It's probably in the nature of a possession-based approached that you occasionally get tonked when everything goes against you. The team is much more used to playing with the ball and winning it back quickly. It means they can sometimes struggle when they have a period of the other team flying at them.

It's the opposite of Karanka ball where the team is used to not having the ball and only occasionally venturing up the pitch under duress.

The plus side is that when we win, we win well and even when we lose we still managed to score twice and, on another day, we might have made a comeback. So I'm not going to lose any sleep over this. 

Second place was always unlikely. Now we have to take 4 points off Luton and Burnley in order to keep in the race for second and to ensure that we keep ahead of Luton. 

Carrick will also have learned a lot about who he can rely on when things go south.