Boro v Plymouth 0-2

[AnglianRed 7,883 18.1k]

15 hours ago, SzilardNemethsCurtains said:

Consistency is key 

Well Boro are nothing if not consistently inconsistent... 

[Redcar Rioja 9,086 8.8k]

4 hours ago, TeaCider24 said:

I was actually surprised just how quickly the crowd in the north stand turned yesterday, considering we'd just had a good win.

The abuse and jeers began when it was still 0-0 and there was a lot of anger about the needlessly dangerous playing out from the back, obviously that then costing us a goal made things even sourer.

All positivity is gone.

I think the team selection and how we set up set the tone before a ball was even kicked. From that point on Carrick was either going to prove the masses wrong or prove himself a genius. A few nervous passes at the back and an opponent on the front foot soon proved the tactics were wrong within just a few minutes. 

[AnglianRed 7,883 18.1k]

15 hours ago, Changing Times said:

He's the second best goalkeeper at the club, and he was probably our best player today.  

Made some mistakes too though. First goal was eminently save-able IMO.  Mind you, it looked like he was trying to do the job of our entire back line at times.

[Hicktonpen10 167 146]

5 minutes ago, AnglianRed said:

Well Boro are nothing if not consistently inconsistent... 

Have we played the same players in consecutive games this season yet?  Know injuries have killed us but don't get the unnecessary changes like Thomas for Engel.  

[AnglianRed 7,883 18.1k]

14 hours ago, RiseAgainst said:

Do you know what's making me rethink my support for Carrick? He isn't learning. Karanka was in post for two or three weeks and had us playing a disciplined and cogent style. I think there was one game where he went gung-ho in response to trailing and lost the plot a bit - a 3-4 defeat to QPR, IIRC. After that, we played a clear style with square pegs in square holes, every player had a defined job, and the players who came in adopted the same role as those they replaced. There were no stars - no Akpoms or Archers - but everyone was drilled and methodical in their play. For better or worse, he had a plan.

Today, we had players all playing out of position up front, then everyone swapped around at half time. We made every substitution we could and looked worse, if anything. Then I think Tees said we went two up front, possibly for the first time ever? Carrick has been here for 18 months and he's still throwing s*** at the wall to see what sticks. Whatever he's doing in training is not working at all. Whatever he says in the dressing room is not working at all. Whatever substitutions are meant to achieve is not working at all.

Carrick isn't a rookie any more. And yet today the team looked like 11 strangers in a Squid Game challenge every time they got the ball. It was witless, clueless, dreadful in every way. What is being learned here? What expectation is there that we'll be even slightly better against Stoke? Are we learning lessons? Because I see nothing in terms of developing, evolving, improving, building. The injured players are coming back now, we're three quarters of the way through Carrick's second season in charge, and we were just as dreadful today as we were against Sheffield Wednesday.

(And before any smartarses try to claim I'm living in the past and I want Aitor back, of course I don't. I merely mention him to underscore the fact that a competent manager with ANY level of experience - weeks, let alone years - should be able to organise a team of professional footballers to at least do the basics. Run in synchronicity. Pass. Catch a ball. Shoot from six yards and not put the ball out for a throw-in. F****** talk to each other.)

Fair points, well made.

After the best part of 2 seasons under his belt, MC can't use the rookie manager excuse any more.

He's had plenty of time to see the lads in training and figure out what they're capable of. Also plenty of time for the coaches to drill them in the skills & style Carrick wants them to play.

Maybe we have some players that simply can't adapt for whatever reason (on yesterday's evidence that would be most of them) but if we had a halfway decent coaching setup I'd have expected to see some improvement by now. But we seem as bad as ever at everything - technique, awareness, communication...

True we have some good days, such as the Leicester game, but they're beginning to feel more like the exception than the norm. Like we're just catching teams on an off-day. We are just so bafflingly inconsistent from one week / game to the next, it really does feel like Carrick is drawing names out of a hat and hoping for the best.

 

[wilsoncgp 10,212 20k]

13 minutes ago, Neverbefore said:

We're awful defensively yet our centre backs very rarely have particularly poor games. Changing the defence would do nothing. 

Indeed. We've definitely had moments where Clarke's kind of... eccentricities?... have led to blunders but I think by and large, our central defenders have looked alright. Especially given we've often had to change the 2 fairly often this season. Really do need that midfielder to help them.

[AnglianRed 7,883 18.1k]

13 hours ago, TLF10 said:

Might sound utterly bonkers but I would try the novel idea of playing your best available players in they strongest positions.

That kind of logic has no place on this forum! 😆

[AnglianRed 7,883 18.1k]

4 hours ago, Barnaby said:

Picture this...Mighty Boro sitting pretty 7 points above their opponents faced with a near 1000 mile round trip what could possibly go wrong...Well a couple of things 1....Plymouth didn't read the script 2...They forgot Barnaby's extended family so 1000 of em got Charabangs and piled 500miles up the motorway wiped their feet on the mighty Boro and took the 500mile return trip in their stride and the three points...all this managed by an actor from Eastenders...all bow to the mighty Green army 

Bet you got some stick from your relatives. 😁

[AnglianRed 7,883 18.1k]

2 hours ago, Leesider said:

I agree we need that type of player but i think it goes beyond that.  Its not about 1 player imo.We need a stronger defensive mentality  from keeper to centre forward.Not in a Pulis sense but  i would love to see players putting their bodies on the line to stop a cross or a shot  just for once determined to keep a clean sheet. Mentally we seem very weak & crumble far too often.

Given the way our players get injured even when they don't put their bodies on the line, I think we'd end up having to field a full U18 team. 😕😬

[Redcar Rioja 9,086 8.8k]

Stoke away next then Norwich at Home. Two bad results would leave us looking down and nerves stating to twitch. We need a few more points more than a preferred style of play right now. Having said that we will probably lose to Stoke then revert to a back three and beat Norwich.

[Dynamo Kev 1,819 6.4k]

2 hours ago, BoroSmoggie said:

I’ve never seen a boro team so vulnerable and weak on the transition after losing the ball under Carrick. This goes to last season as well. 

It’s extremely worrying that he seems so incapable of putting a team out that’s defensively somewhat structured. I think the last few months have very much warranted people to question Carrick. Apart from a run of 7 games, our form and performances have been so disappointing. 

Just got to get a few points together now to make sure we don’t end the season looking over our shoulder. Feel for the fans like myself who now have to go to games with absolutely nothing to play for. 

their second goal, we were going to the ball closing the players down. barlaser just stood in space not marking their number 18 i think. he gets a simple 10 yard pass to feet turns and has free range to pass to their cf who is in miles of space. vdb is left pretty much stranded and he picks his spot and scores. absolute piece of *** goal for them. we have a team full of ball watchers. no defenders in midfield. barlaser has barely made a tackle all season. hes not suited to our team at all. him playing just exposes how weak we are in midfield more. whoever decided to sign him make a mistake. 

i personally think hes over coaching them. they are forgetting the basics all the time because they are struggling to carry out their instructions. sack carrick for me. hes not taking us anywhere.

[AnglianRed 7,883 18.1k]

26 minutes ago, Hicktonpen10 said:

Have we played the same players in consecutive games this season yet?  Know injuries have killed us but don't get the unnecessary changes like Thomas for Engel.  

I'm fairly sure Carrick kept the team the same where possible at the start of the season and during that short winning streak.

Once the injuries started piling up - fair enough...nothing he could do about that.

 

My comment was more about how polar opposite Boro can be from one game to the next...our last 2 being prime examples. This time I really don't think Carrick helped himself after he found what appeared to be a working formula against Leicester, only to change it up for the Plymouth game...with abysmal results.

[TheJew 3,662 6.1k]

We were garbage at the start of the season, and Carrick refused to start McGree.

[BoroDave4 1,655 3.5k]

5 hours ago, Dynamo Kev said:

i'll try not to over react after that *** show.

recruitment: is nothing short of embarrassing. we signed thomas and ayling in jan due to injuries and they are totally cack. far worse than our injured players. azaz i like though. but selling rogers and not bringing in a striker is utter ***. its fine to bring is second class fullbacks but never bothered with a stiker and played loads without a striker because of it. carrick and scott u are useless. 

performances: we continue to have to play players who clearly are to *** for us. the likes of the loanee's and barlaser etc etc. teams not good enough, which is a joke. 

tactics: carrick is a fool, trying to play clever set up and such. all he's doing is confusing his players. yesterday in that game silviera mcgree and azaz looked lost. they didnt know what they were supposed to be doing. 

the play our from the back tosh, is infuriating, the keeper is crap at it, barlaser is crap at it, the defenders clearly dont like doing it. they can't be enjoying passing across the backline. us fans hate it. its costing us goals almost every game wtf is carrick trying to achieve. he's a fool. 

 

my verdict, Sack carrick now because i absolutely do not want to see another season of this utter garbage. we are going nowhere under him. had a good run last season when he took over, what have we dont since? we are a bottom half side now. probably about right apart from the great start carrick had. i dont care about injuries we've had either, the blades had loads all last season and still won every week. its not an excuse. 

i've had enough of a middlesbrough team turn up at the riverside and barely put a tackle in. pathetic, CARRICK OUT!!!!!!!!!

Just braved watching the highlights, barlaser in involved in all the plymouth goals and big chances in a negative way. glover for their first goal. carrick is a fool starting him if dieng is fit. all on him.

I'm glad you tried to not over react Kev 

[LinoJo3 5,820 13.6k]

I think Carrick has fallen into the trap of the ‘genius up coming manager’, over thinking, over complicating, trying to hard to come up with some crazy game plan. It’s what cost us at the start of the season aswell.