West Bromwich Albion v Boro 0-1 (Hackney)

[Neverbefore 12,504 26.8k]

1 minute ago, BoroSmoggie said:

McGree bettering his stats from last game in regards to passing. 39/41 (95%), once again the most any forward player has made for us this season. 

Aidan Morris being Aidan Morris with 74/77 (96%) completed passes. Think he’s the most comfortable midfielder I’ve seen on the ball since I’ve had a season ticket (~15 years). 

His partnership with Hackney is blossoming beautifully. They're similar enough to be on the same wave length but different enough to create a great combination of strengths. Morris for the most part keeps play moving quickly and accurately while keeping an eye on danger whereas Hackney drives forward, tries killer passes and provides more quality around the 18 yard box. 

These two can be the best in the league. 

[JTG 3,119 3.1k]

3 minutes ago, BoroSmoggie said:

McGree bettering his stats from last game in regards to passing. 39/41 (95%), once again the most any forward player has made for us this season. 

Aidan Morris being Aidan Morris with 74/77 (96%) completed passes. Think he’s the most comfortable midfielder I’ve seen on the ball since I’ve had a season ticket (~15 years). 

Having McGree back has been such a huge boost for us. I think because of how much of last season he missed, I forgot just how integral he is to how we play. So, so comfortable receiving the ball in tight spaces under pressure and it enables us to play through the press.

[JTG 3,119 3.1k]

6 minutes ago, Neverbefore said:

His partnership with Hackney is blossoming beautifully. They're similar enough to be on the same wave length but different enough to create a great combination of strengths. Morris for the most part keeps play moving quickly and accurately while keeping an eye on danger whereas Hackney drives forward, tries killer passes and provides more quality around the 18 yard box. 

These two can be the best in the league. 

I’ve been so impressed with how Morris has taken to the league. I genuinely thought it might take him a season or at the very least until January to get up to speed.

I think his ability on the ball is what surprised me the most. Very good range of passing and always looking to progress the ball up the pitch. To be replicating his MLS stats in a much more physically demanding league where you get so much less time on the ball is very impressive.

[sackrobson2 398 1.2k]

What a great result to wake up to, not many teams will win there this season.
 

Where we are given all the ridiculous dropped points and the injuries again, Champions this season for sure. 

[BoroAbroad 333 1.7k]

4 hours ago, Downsouth said:

For @BoroAbroad and all other ex pats please enjoy!

https://www.skysports.com/football/video/36398/13226230/west-brom-0-1-middlesbrough-championship-highlights

Thanks DS. good watch that. Thought ELL was very unlucky with the header. Great save. Just a matter of time though. It will click for him with a hat-trick.

[HolgateHero 630 2.1k]

About time we got some fruits of the labour, improved start to the season compared to last season and in fact we've played well enough in enough games to be even better placed. If we kept doing the same things it was clearly just a matter of time before it clicked.

I'm hoping we manage to not sack Carrick for a bit longer (yes - even if we have some more bad results), we are unarguably improving over time and in a sustainable way. 

Keep up the patient, pragmatic and calm approach as far as I'm concerned, we are just a few improvements from being genuinely good.

I've been loving the Carrick era so far, very exciting to imagine where we could reach in the next few seasons. 

UTB!

 

 

[Riverside94 1,085 1.6k]

7 hours ago, BoroSmoggie said:

McGree bettering his stats from last game in regards to passing. 39/41 (95%), once again the most any forward player has made for us this season. 

Aidan Morris being Aidan Morris with 74/77 (96%) completed passes. Think he’s the most comfortable midfielder I’ve seen on the ball since I’ve had a season ticket (~15 years). 

to be honest, I thought our passing from everyone last night was top class. Some of the best passing I’ve seen us play. Some of the balls as they were being played I was thinking where’s that going and then it pinged straight to a man. Passes were fast and slick great to see!

[Denzel Zanzibar 7,336 14.3k]

I dipped out because my stream was 2 minutes behind (and I was also watching my beloved Gunners destroy PSG on Amazon Prime) but what a great result.

Hopefully we can do the same (or better) to Watford on Saturday. 

[Downsouth 6,874 36.4k]

5 hours ago, BoroAbroad said:

Thanks DS. good watch that. Thought ELL was very unlucky with the header. Great save. Just a matter of time though. It will click for him with a hat-trick.

To be honest I would be happy with just one for now just to start him off

[Foogle 2,197 3.6k]

8 hours ago, TeaCider24 said:

Got doubts about xG now I've seen that Josh Maja's outstretched boot barely getting near Mowatt's cross was classed as 0.89 of a goal.

Basically saying it was a virtually guaranteed goal, despite the fact he was lucky to have got anywhere near the ball to begin with and got it nowhere near the target.

McGree missing a gaping net was apparently a third as likely to lead to a goal, given a value of 0.3, to put it in perspective.

It's just a more descriptive version of 'shots on target' really, useful but far from perfect. 

[TeaCider24 14,161 18.9k]

9 minutes ago, Foogle said:

It's just a more descriptive version of 'shots on target' really, useful but far from perfect. 

Neither of those chances were on target.

I had no issue with xG previously, but it's clearly more flawed than I thought if that Maja attempt was rated that highly when he was nowhere near scoring and was lucky to even touch the ball from his position.

[Robin Johnson 814 1.1k]

When we move the ball faster we look a totally different team. Mixed it up with a few long balls . Defensively. Eliminating the silly schoolboy defensive errors makes us a unit collectively that can defend very well.

Coming together nicely. We always knew we had the playing talent to be a major force in the division. Keep up the pace now - in more ways than one!!

[estonpidge 1,569 6.1k]

Thought it was a good performance all round, could have done with a second to stop the stress on the old ticker but 3 pts and on to Saturday.  Morris & Hackney look like the best pair we've had since Clayts & Leadboots' heyday. 

[Humpty 3,976 9.5k]

Posted it on socials last night but that's such an improved defensive display. The best i've seen under Carrick for quite some time. As a team our shape off the ball was superb, concentration levels needed to be at 100% for the entirety of the game and they were, our aggression was on point, we retained the ball well and didn't give it away needlessly too often and we avoided silly mistakes by making simple decisions in dangerous areas. Outstanding. Rav Van Den Bergy certainly helped but defensively, as a whole that was superb.

[Humpty 3,976 9.5k]

Another observation last night was just how well Morris and Hackney played together. They really seemed to finally click as a pairing. Morris did a lot of really great work of the ball that i think went a little unnoticed and Hackney just felt like that young, exciting prodigy again. I loved hearing that he's been working with Leadbitter on his shooting. If those two stay fit, all season we've got a good chance of being there or there abouts.