Boro v Millwall 0-1

[MBG42 316 669]

1 hour ago, Humpty said:

It slightly worries me that he's had an entire pre-season and he's still put out the team we started with. Everyone else can see that the team you posted above was clearly going to pose more of a threat. Lets see what he learns from it.

The only reason I can see for putting out that team was a message to the recruitment team that these players aren't good enough.

[Humpty 4,910 10.4k]

I don't think Carrick is that unprofessional in all honesty. I wish that was the reason because otherwise where's the logic to that selection?

[Bruce 2,986 2.4k]

22 minutes ago, MBG42 said:

The only reason I can see for putting out that team was a message to the recruitment team that these players aren't good enough.

Nope. Carrick thought it was his best team. It was the team he picked during pre-season when he was putting out what he saw as his first 11 accounting for injuries.

During pre-season his first choice defence was Smith - Fry - Lenihan - Coulson.

When Smith was injured he tried RVDB and McNair there then settled on McNair.

His first choice midfield pair in the absence of Howson was Barlaser & Hackney

His standard forward line was 

Forss - Crooks - McGree

Rogers

No need to engage in conspiracy theories about Carrick putting out a deliberately weak 11 in order to "send a message". He thought it was the best 11 available all through pre-season and started with it for his first game. 

[Redcar Rioja 8,889 8.7k]

21 minutes ago, MBG42 said:

The only reason I can see for putting out that team was a message to the recruitment team that these players aren't good enough.

I can completely see the rationale behind that but as Humpty said I'd hope Carrick wouldn't be that unprofessional as it wanders into Wilder territory and that doesn't bode well for anyone at the Club and would destroy the meme that the Club are now unified and all on the same page. However it did highlight brilliantly how totally defecated we looked without Chuba so in that respect maybe there was a method in the madness.

[boroie 558 1.4k]

1 hour ago, Bruce said:

No need to engage in conspiracy theories about Carrick putting out a deliberately weak 11 in order to "send a message". He thought it was the best 11 available all through pre-season and started with it for his first game. 

But we as football fans will always know more than those amatures in football management. 

Sometimes though, you do wonder what is seen different in training versus us tv/match watchers. As a people manager (in a non-football industry) though, sometimes it really does come as a shock when someone who you think is poor (performance wise, or attitude) is seen as a really popular and performant guy by other individual contributors in your team. Sometimes it can be down to misplaced trust though.  It's probably something similar with football.

[Beep 238 272]

The team was never going to function well with Crooks as a number ten. Love the guy but he isn't consistently good enough to play there, or anywhere really in the team Carrick is trying to build. Coupled with someone not used to playing up front in Rogers who kept dropping too deep and we were left with no one leading the line. 

 

Crooks is a great option to bring off the bench as he has a knack of late goals and can have good moments but it costs the rest on the team in terms of performance. I hope Rogers as a number 9 isn't a hill Carrick is going to die on because I don't think he has the right instincts in from of goal. I think he would do well as the 10. If Akpom goes, and I think he will, Rogers and Gilbert look the two best fits for that position.