22 minutes ago, SouthernSmoggie said:

It would take more than a win to convince me tonight. We could win by virtue of simply having better players or Sheff Wed being even worse than us on the night. 

I want to see evidence of them addressing the issues which have plagued this team for months now. Evidence of something new being tried, underperformers dropped, and players moved to positions where they can have an impact. 

Otherwise what's the point? Who cares if we beat Sheff Wed if it's back to square one against the first competent team we play. 

Same I think we need a good win and by that I mean a 3/4-0 with a performance to match. Solid at the back, fluid in attack, looking the business

Even a brilliant win would only be the beginning anyway.

I'll take any sort of win, and then hope that Southampton's flapping continues.

11 hours ago, LinoJo3 said:

I don’t even mind Carricks system tbh it’s the basic/repetitive mistakes and apparent ghost midfield alongside player selection that annoys me.

Even if we’d have been beat against Blackburn if we’d just looked more assured and cohesive as a team I wouldn’t have minded, it’s the fact the goals are seemingly self inflicted, players walking through multiple defenders, free shots at goal left right and center and leaving players totally unmarked in the box.

they don’t even feel like system related issues more down to rank bad defensive organisation and or communication. It’s frustrating because our defenders aren’t bad players and neither are our midfielders, it seems like it should be a simple problem to iron out.

Its a weird one.

When we're attacking we don't look that bad at all. Its usually only the final ball or finishing that lets us down.

In possession we can look good for spells but often give the ball away cheaply through sloppy passing.

Which leads to my biggest criticism of the team...how woeful we are at closing down & winning the ball back. As you mentioned we so often just allow teams to run at us and have free shots in and around the 18 yard box. Our midfield just cannot contain teams, or break up play when they attack.

Defensively there seems little to no co-ordination. We seem to need at least 8 players back and pack the box, almost like a siege...and even then it doesn't always work because of our tendency to leave players unmarked and failure to spot runners into the box.

 

This is why I've been questioning what goes on in training because there are so many areas where we simply do not function as a team.

18 hours ago, Redcar Rioja said:

Maybe Carrick should pin this on the Boro dressing room wall, with a note "come and hit me hard big boys"?

Knowing our lot they'd probably struggle to find the banjo in the first place.

14 hours ago, Changing Times said:

But not huge enough to play much then I guess 🙃

 

Maybe he was just referencing the time he got an accidental glimpse of Riley in the showers? 😁

12 minutes ago, AnglianRed said:

Knowing our lot they'd probably struggle to find the banjo in the first place.

Interestingly the "Banjo" is actually a type of shovel used on farms and not the musical instrument that most of us believed it to be.

Hence hitting the Cow's derriere with a Banjo!

36 minutes ago, AnglianRed said:

Which leads to my biggest criticism of the team...how woeful we are at closing down & winning the ball back. As you mentioned we so often just allow teams to run at us and have free shots in and around the 18 yard box. Our midfield just cannot contain teams, or break up play when they attack.

At this point you have to think that maybe this is what they are being coached to do either because we don't have the players to press or we think there's some advantage to not contesting the midfield. 

It doesn't just look as though we're not closing down it looks like we're deliberately not closing down. The players look uncertain. They occupy space without really doing anything. Fry, Lenihan, Hackney and Howson have played the best part of a season together, so you would think they would know each others' game. The fact that gaping holes appear implies that they are being drilled to do something new and struggling to implement it. Whole thing looks like a manager trying to be too clever and getting found out.

3 hours ago, SouthernSmoggie said:

It would take more than a win to convince me tonight. We could win by virtue of simply having better players or Sheff Wed being even worse than us on the night. 

I want to see evidence of them addressing the issues which have plagued this team for months now. Evidence of something new being tried, underperformers dropped, and players moved to positions where they can have an impact. 

Otherwise what's the point? Who cares if we beat Sheff Wed if it's back to square one against the first competent team we play. 

I guess the point is it gets us off the bottom of the table, gives us a bit of breathing space & gives us a bit of confidence going forward. Winning being a habit & all that.

Completely agree about playing players in their correct position. Baffling starting 11 last Saturday. Hopefully lessons have been learned.

I think we might sneak a win tonight. I'm going for an unconvincing 1-0 win. Would love to see Latte Lath scoring a belter 🤞

Edited September 19, 20232 yr by Leesider
Spell

Jonathan Howson has by all reports been a great servant to Boro, but his time is up.

He should be nowhere near the starting eleven and should seriously consider pulling the plug on his career asap. He seems to be totally ineffective defensively and that's a liability the team cannot afford.

Hackney and O'Brien as the two deeper lying midfielders with Rogers in front of them and McGree left midfield seems a better option than what's happening at present.

33 minutes ago, Micksyd said:

Jonathan Howson has by all reports been a great servant to Boro, but his time is up.

He should be nowhere near the starting eleven and should seriously consider pulling the plug on his career asap. He seems to be totally ineffective defensively and that's a liability the team cannot afford.

Hackney and O'Brien as the two deeper lying midfielders with Rogers in front of them and McGree left midfield seems a better option than what's happening at present.

think i would rather have hackney further forward. Play him at 10 or wide again. have obrien sat deeper with howson or crooks(crooks sitting). 

i'd go with:

-------------Forss

mcgree----------------latte lath

------hackney---- Obrien

-------------crooks

bangura -lenny -- fry - - vdb.

 

we have a decent finisher as a striker. lath is a quick dangerous player playing him as an inside forward is probably his best position. crooks as anchor. no drifting sitting deep and cover the defense. hackeny and obrien dictating midfield. with mcgree helping out a bit be tucking in bangura pushing forward like giles used to do. 

i think we would plug that defence gap and still carry threats from deep. 

Dieng 

VDB, Fry, Lenihan, Engel (if Bangura is injured)

Barlaser, O'Brien, Hackney 

Jones, Forss, McGree 

4-3-3 no nonsense 

I do think if we score first/get an early goal we could do them by 3 or 4.

Love the optimism. I can see us getting totally spanked.

1 hour ago, Leesider said:

I guess the point is it gets us off the bottom of the table, gives us a bit of breathing space & gives us a bit of confidence going forward. Winning being a habit & all that.

Completely agree about playing players in their correct position. Baffling starting 11 last Saturday. Hopefully lessons have been learned.

I think we might sneak a win tonight. I'm going for an unconvincing 1-0 win. Would love to see Latte Lath scoring a belter 🤞

For sure, some confidence is desperately needed! All I mean is, scraping past a bad team without addressing our major issues isn't a ton of help in the long run. I think our problems run deeper than confidence alone.

Is this the game when we will score first and keep a clean sheet? If we lose tonight I think Carrick will lose the vast majority of the fans. If so he toast.