Boro vs West Brom 1-1 (Jones)

[HolgateHero 601]

30 minutes ago, ManBearPig said:

Surely with Spence being sold you actually did have room to get those guys in? 
 

50k a week over 3 years is about 7.8m. I don’t think that’s horrendous when there’s no signing fee 

It seems we are more about the spirit in the dressing room and not engaging big earners at the moment. 

[ManBearPig 1,853]

33 minutes ago, Will said:

They were both long gone by the time Spence was sold, weren't they?

Oh yeah I’m not saying we could have got them, just that we could have afforded them if we wanted to if we were to spread it out 

[kentucky 341]

Why do the strikers run to the same area close to the goal on crosses , one should at least pull off for a cutback 

[SouthernDave 5]

16 minutes ago, ChipBarrington said:

Every played at about 6 or 7 id say, with ppssibly Giles pushing for an 8. Nobody amazing, nobody poor. Think we got the pace wrong sometimes - sometimes got into posession when we could have moved it faster, and others tried to be too direct when we should have held up for reinforcements. Predicted 1 1, and am neither shocked nor disappponted.

Would be tempted to swap the striker pairings around - Coburn and Forss start, Akpom and Watmore subbed on. 

Howson getting some negative views but I thought he was ok - probably the best of the 3 truth be told. 

Don’t want to slate howson per se, as he does give his all in games.  It’s just that he is off the pace now and doesn’t have that spark and creativity we need to improve this season.

[Smogzilla 7,484]

Was impressed by Dijksteel today. Was worried when Diangana came on but Anfernee shut him down

 

[BoroDave4 1,023]

Sounds like I'm in the minority here, but second half I thought Lenihan looked suspect. Caught high a couple of times, and he's not the fastest across the ground. He didn't fill me with the same level of confidence that Fry does.

 

Giles, Dijksteel both excellent. It's pretty clear where we need reinforcements, hopefully we can get 4 or 5 in and make a real go of it .

 

UTB

 

[Denzel Zanzibar 6,972]

Decent result but we should have been 3-0 up at half time. Second half showed just how threadbare our squad is and that we definitely need bodies in.

Forss is just going to shoot on sight whenever he gets the ball anywhere near the opposition's area isn't he, lol

[TheHolgate 683]

Was promising. If you add (for argument's sake) -

Fry, McNair, Hannibal, Muniz, Greaves, Hoppe to that group of players then we wouldn't be too far away. Just an absolute proven striker at this level like Armstrong instead of Hoppe or Muniz would finish it off.

[boroie 484]

Duncan Watmore is the Joe Lumley of strikers. That is all. 

 

[Smoggydownsouth 1,621]

First half impressive and like many have said game should be over. That said second half for 20 mins we were all over the place.. midfield got pulled all over the shop. Strikers who started are not good enough for promotion in my opinion. Steffen massive upgrade and please lets not play Bola LCB.. caught on his heels more times than i care to remember. Onwards and upwards. UTB

[Adam P 331]

1 hour ago, Smogzilla said:

Was impressed by Dijksteel today. Was worried when Diangana came on but Anfernee shut him down

 

I thought Dijksteel was our clear MOTM tbh, playing against decent players and they got absolutely no change out of him. He is made for that RCB role. 

[SimonD 769]

3 hours ago, SimonD said:

Should be about 8-0

This aged well

[Skinemrippers 895]

Thought we got overrun in midfield. We must have at least one coming in, but I think we need two. Howson, McGree and Crooks won’t get us promotion. Even with Tav I would have expected to strengthen in that area. 
 

Dijksteel was excellent, can’t see McNair taking his place. Giles and Jones will run defences ragged this season, keeper looks good. Not sure whether Fry not totally fit or Lenihan preferred but I think we missed him. 

[Changing Times 12,343]

Observations on a football match by C.U.N. Times esq.

Opening games of the season are always tricky to really analyse because you just aren't in the swing of things yet.  New players are still finding their feet, and all players are developing their in game connections to one another.  However, I'm going to do it anyway because I live life on the edge.  Today's game felt like a reversal of the Marseille game in a way.  First half of that one we were second best, and not comfortable at all at the back, but second half we were much better.  Probably fair to say it was the opposite today where we had all of the time in the world in the first half but not quite the same in the second.  

There didn't seem to be much between the two teams overall.  It's a cliche that goals change games but it is true, and we saw that today.  There was very little happening at all before we scored but the goal settled us down, and we were the better side until half time.  Likewise, although they started the second half with more intent, it was their goal that really lifted them and made them the dominant side for a while until we cleared our heads.  After that the game became stretched, end to end stuff that probably could have gone either way in fairness.

I think I can say that it was a solid enough start to the season.  There were some nice pieces of play from us, the goal obviously being one of them.  It's almost weird that it didn't come from a cross from Giles, and was rather a pass slipped in to Akpom.  What I liked about the goal, other than the obvious that we scored it, was that I think there were like 6 Boro players in the penalty area by the time Jones puts it away.  Having better strikers should certainly help with our goal scoring but getting people into the penalty area should also help as well.  There were a few occasions where we tried to play from back to front but on the deck rather than through the air, which was encouraging also, but it felt like we were a bit too eager to go long in the first half, when we actually had loads of time on the ball.  You would want someone like McGree to take control of a game like that but it didn't happen.

A word or two on West Brom at this point - they reminded me of Huddersfield on Friday night in the first half today.  Lethargic, slow, call it what you want but they were well off the pace.  It didn't seem to helped by their tactics mind.  Did anyone else find it strange that they didn't try to press us at all in the first half, save for the odd attempt by Grant?  They just retreated back, which is alright I suppose, but at the same time they were leaving Jones and Giles in loads of space as well.  I mean if you're gonna sit deep then at least get closer to the opposition players, don't you think?  In the second half it changed a bit, and we looked far less comfortable on the ball as a result.  They have a talented group there but hopefully Bruce will nullify that.

It seems that Jones will again be really important for us.  He's still the only player we have who can beat a man, when he has the confidence to try that is.  I hope that side of things isn't being coached out of him in favour of those early pass/crosses.  On the other side, Giles put a lot of crosses in today, and by virtue of that he was a threat.  I think he will be more reliant on the team/tactics getting him open maybe.  Nothing wrong with that like, it's just a different style of play.  He's like Marvin Johnson, without the drive and skill(!) of Johnson, but with a much better delivery.  He's essentially a fullback who can't defend, a winger without the skill, and a wingback without the athleticism.  He will give you plenty going forward but there is a price to pay for that.  Even with our goal, if you look he is actually walking back after we've lost the ball, and it's only a really bad touch from a Norwich player that sends the ball to Howson, and gets us back on the attack.  Opposition players won't always do that, and when they don't he will be nowhere for us, like with their goal where he is on the half way line when they score.  I don't think it was coincidence that they had more joy down our left hand side in the second half, and it's something we'll need to get much better at as a team over the course of the season.

I thought Lenihan looked decent in the first half, but maybe less so in the second half, and I didn't realise quite how slow he is.  If you want someone to attack a ball played forward then he's your man but if teams start sliding passes into the channels then that could be a bit of an issue for us as he just doesn't have the pace.  It was also a bit of a concern to see him muscled off the ball a few times, albeit Dike is one big bugger in fairness.  Wilder has a bit of work to do with the defensive side of things for us overall I'd say.  It's early days yet though, and that wasn't our best back three today.

At the other end, Akpom did ok, got involved with the goal at least, and with a few other bits and bobs.  Watmore managed to be offside again, which is comforting in these chaotic times.  I had to chuckle when Forss came on and immediately hit that shot 10 yards wide mind - great clinical finisher elsewhere but moves up here and he's shooting like a pub player - that's what Boro does to you mate!  The midfield was a mixed bag.  When West Brom dropped off in the first half they looked comfortable and could pretty much do whatever they wanted.  In the second half it was a different game for them.  The midfield was hardly terrible though, and while I'm sure people will say we missed Tavernier (and we did), that's as much about missing a good player as it is his particular skill set.  We do need legs in there though.  When we are controlling possession it's fine but when it breaks down teams can just run by us, that's not just a midfield thing however, we lack pace all over the park.  I was confused about Crooks not getting a yellow card though but perhaps he was just ill or something.

Waffled on way to long now but I will continue for a bit more. anyway.  In a month's time we should be a better team, in two months time we should be better again.  There's plenty to build on, we know the areas that we need to improve, and I'm sure we'll get those things done, both in terms of transfers and working on things with the players already here.  But there is work to be done, and possibly more than we perhaps thought?

[Changing Times 12,343]

I bet you didn't even read it, Brunners.