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Boro v Barnsley 2-1 (Howson, Akpom)


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20 hours ago, Dynamo Kev said:

----------------bettinelli

dijksteel----fry paddy johnson

------howson-------morsy

------------tav

roberts-------britt---------akpom

Roberts, is he back? if he is that’s good news but I thought it was mentioned he didn’t fit in NW plans? 
I think Roberts could play in the hole behind the strikers because he runs at players. It would mean opposition would be wary of the threat and back off further opening gaps. If only Brit can sort himself out we could see a lot more goals. 

Edited by sanddancer
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Had to change my picture after looking through today's match gallery. I knew George would have to go at some point but never did I expect to see such a happy face in a Middlesbrough shirt for Marc Bol

If Akpom wasn't offside for the deflected shot and if he'd have put that one-on-one away from the mistake, that could have been one of the biggest *** house hat-tricks of all time.

We've been crying out for a dynamic formation for years... This reading is more exciting to me than SmogDane's browser history!

Posted Images

                   Betinelli

        Dijksteel Fry Mcnair

Spence                         Coulson

           Howson   Saville

                       Tav

            Akpom       Britt

5-3-2

2-0 to Boro

Coulson to get an assist 🙂

 

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35 minutes ago, Neovium said:

                   Betinelli

        Dijksteel Fry Mcnair

Spence                         Coulson

           Howson   Saville

                       Tav

            Akpom       Britt

5-3-2

2-0 to Boro

Coulson to get an assist 🙂

 

 Coulson to get a game would be remarkable, never mind an assist.

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12 minutes ago, AnglianRed said:

Matchday nerves kicking in...

Still feeling somewhat positive. Would be okay with a scrappy 1-0 win.

 

I think the difference is belief where not long ago there was none, but now it's just feels like a matter of time to kick start.  I don't believe I am saying this but I think NW is making his mark. If we can win this, hell there is no telling the strength in unity it might form.   

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Would like to see Britt score to boost his confidence but has not looked too sharp in these early games...think we will edge it, but wouldn't be surprised to see goals from midfield or defence... but as long as we win, can be a Bettinelli mazy dribble and an 80 yard lob from Marv..  three points is the main thing  (and an 8-0 victory for Norwich) 

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I'm expecting a very different game to the one in which they triumphed in the League Cup a couple of weeks ago. We will have a much stronger side out than that day and I think having played them once and seen the full extent of how they like to play and their gameplan that evening is a big advantage.

On that League Cup showing they came and played on the break looking to exploit the spaces down the flanks that were left by our attacking wing backs. We will have learnt from that and a couple of minor changes will make a big difference today.

Firstly, ball retention must improve. This is especially the case when we commit numbers to attacks. We simply can't be as sloppy in possession as we were that night. I'm sure they will have been working on that in training. Attacks that break down before the ball is delivered into their area allows them to move the ball quickly and break on us using a lone striker to either work the channels or hold it up and bring their wide attackers into play. We must take care of the ball and ensure we complete our attacks with a final cross or shot then recover our shape quickly. For this reason alone I would start with Sam Morsy today in place of George Saville who doesn't look like he is fully firing as yet.

I expect McNair and Djiksteel to play either side of Fry. Both of the aforementioned players have a nice turn of pace and will be comfortable in wider areas. It is worth noting that only one of them was on the pitch at any given time in the previous game against todays opponents. Having the pair of them both in from the start today will make a big difference.

Secondly, we have to create more chances than we did in the previous meeting and indeed more than we usually do create. We are very one dimensional at the moment and our only real attacking gameplan, especially at home, seems to be to look to find the runs of our overlapping wing backs and get onto the end of their deliveries into the box. Patrick Roberts will certainly give us another dimension in this respect and I have also been encouraged by the vision and positive intent shown by Morsy in his brief cameo's to date. Obviously only Morsy is available for us today and if selected I think he could give us slightly more going forward than we have had so far.

Expect Barnsley to again let us have it up until the final third and then press us strongly in central areas in particular. There will be more space out wide but they coped fairly comfortably and dealt with almost everything that went into their box from wide areas in the last game. The difference is that this time we have a presence in there in the form of Chuba Akpom. Whilst Britt and Fletcher can get on the end of crosses, they are not the type of players who will win challenges "that they have no right to win". Akpom seems like he has the physicality and mindset to win battles even when the odds aren't necessarily in his favour so that is a big plus for us going forward. Spence in particular struggles to deliver pinpoint crosses so I think having Akpom in there means we will carry much more of a continuous threat from wide positions.

I would expect/hope for us to line up as follows:

Bettinelli

Djiksteel - Fry - McNair

Spence - Howson - Morsy - Tavernier - Johnson

Britt - Akpom

In terms of a score prediction, I fancy us to score twice today in either a 2-0 or 2-1 win. It is vital that we pick up three points today and whilst it woulld be nice to get a performance to go with it I think three points to get us up and running for the season so that we can look towards the top end of the table is of massive importance. That would certainly make a nice change considering where we have been languishing in recent times.

Edited by OzzyPorter
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Hoping our first choice 11 right now does a better job of handling the Barnsley threat too. I know they're beyond another level to us but just watching the game they played against Chelsea shows what intelligent pressing can achieve against this team, they're pretty much ripe for the picking. We've got to be at them from the first whistle, let them know we're there and press as a team to create the best chances.

To be fair, we weren't that far off nicking it off them in the cup game early on, they looked shaky at the back until they had a lead to protect.

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