Boro v Stoke 0-0

[Bruce 3,777 2.8k]

He said afterwards that the intent with Fry was to get him 20 minutes but he didn't want to risk a full 90. Losing Edmundson in under 5 minutes was the worst case scenario because Fry could have come on then broken down 30 minutes later.

I was surprised to see Silvera at RB. I guess they thought his pace and work rate would let him cope. Ok in the first half but they needed to adjust more quickly when Thomas got swapped. I suspect they didn't want to change too much to often so it was crossed fingers time.

Personally, I would like to see Patterson-Powell and McCormick on the bench at Portsmouth. I would rather have young players in the right position than putting the likes of Silvera in the wrong one. Hopefully Fry can get through a full game at the weekend but if not, it's time for the academy to show it's worth.

[Humpty 6,204 11.2k]

7 minutes ago, Downsouth said:

You do talk some real sense at times Matthew, well done! 

Flattery will get you everywhere Al.

[Neverbefore 16,560 30.4k]

12 minutes ago, Humpty said:

I suppose we have different definitions of what constitutes being well drilled. In my mind to operate a system effectively you need the entirety of your squad in tune with what's required and that includes your replacements. You also need them to be aware of how to adapt in game if tweaks are needed and i don't think they were given the second half performance. As i say, that's not to say it won't come. We still have individual players adaprting to the league i.e. Nypan/Strelec. That's a contributing factor as well. It would've been ideal if those two stayed with us for the international break.

Yeah i agree to an extent but when youre forced into putting a player in a position hes never played before and frankly doesnt have the attributes for for nearly 90 mins without having planned for it, youll always struggle. Its just annoying that AGAIN its the defence that our injuries cost us. Its so frustrating given we saw the same thing at the end of last season and haven't really addressed the issue. 

[RiseAgainst 5,396 4.3k]

It feels to me as though we're starting the players we think should work, based on either their purchase price or reputation. On paper, Strelec and Nypan should start, yet our front three isn't working as a partnership, and hasn't really worked at all this season.

I think we need to start Sene and Hansen in the next game. It's a shame for whoever is dropped, but we misfired badly yesterday, and Nypan's shooting was absolutely atrocious. He didn't look ready for the physical battle of Stoke on a Tuesday night, whereas Hansen went for their throats with no fear.

I have few concerns about the defence - even though Silvera was woefully out of position, we kept a clean sheet and confidence will build, plus hopefully Fry and Brittain will be able to start on Saturday. The front half of the team just isn't gelling (or even communicating) effectively at present. Early days and no need to panic, but we need to try something markedly different against Portsmouth.

 

[Erimus74 5,966 5.9k]

18 hours ago, Plastic Goat said:

My main concern about tonight  is that Robbins has the hoodoo over us.  Maybe tonight is the game that puts that bogey to bed. 

Carricks Boro won 3-1 last season at their place

I would have happily binned Carrick last season when Coventry sacked him, think he's putting together a good, hard working team who, on their second half performance, deserved a point

Saying all that im more than happy with Rob Edwards here 

[Rob 7,421 11.3k]

Good job we tightened the defence or it would have been like last season before everyone clicks and works out how to play together 

reminding me of burnleys path to the prem last year

[DanFromDownSouth 1,820 5.9k]

Cheers @Brunners / @estonpidge.

It sounds like the 4-3-3 has potential, @Humpty raises a good point regarding being well drilled. If we are being honest I imagine a lot of the training ground work has been geared to what appears to be Edwards' preferred formation. Purely from a time aspect, they've not had too long to work with this entire squad on training the 5 at the back system, when you consider how deep some of our business was (Including appointing Edwards himself).

From what I have seen so far, I think Strelec needs some pace around him especially if we are to persist with the 4-3-3, which at the moment I imagine is more a forced decision due to our injuries at the back. With that in mind I wonder if a front 3 of Hansen and Sene either side of Strelec would, alongside a midfield 3 of Nypan and Hackney either side of Morris would be more suited to the 4-3-3? Nypan played predominantly on the lefthand side of a midfield 3 at Rosenborg.

[Marz 314 1.8k]

The Conway and Strelec partnership just hasn't really worked so far. Strelec got in to a great position to play in Conway, but chose to shoot himself. 

They both look incredibly frustrated and over eager to get a shot off when a rare chance comes there way, instead of making the correct decision. 

As others have said, I think it needs to be one or the other, as the number 9, with 2 creative players behind. 

Having Strelec, Conway and Sene as options in the striker role is a brilliant problem for Edwards to have, but he needs to find the best way to utilise our attacking options for the benefit of the team. It feels like we're just giving them minutes to get them "up to speed" still at this stage. 

[Nobby Barnes 1,293 2.1k]

15 minutes ago, Marz said:

The Conway and Strelec partnership just hasn't really worked so far. Strelec got in to a great position to play in Conway, but chose to shoot himself. 

They both look incredibly frustrated and over eager to get a shot off when a rare chance comes there way, instead of making the correct decision. 

As others have said, I think it needs to be one or the other, as the number 9, with 2 creative players behind. 

Having Strelec, Conway and Sene as options in the striker role is a brilliant problem for Edwards to have, but he needs to find the best way to utilise our attacking options for the benefit of the team. It feels like we're just giving them minutes to get them "up to speed" still at this stage. 

I wood definitely be playing Strelec a little deeper with Conway as the spearhead...

[Rob 7,421 11.3k]

Yeah I just don't get why he isn't doing that

[ScarBoro 1,232 1.6k]

18 minutes ago, Marz said:

The Conway and Strelec partnership just hasn't really worked so far. Strelec got in to a great position to play in Conway, but chose to shoot himself. 

They both look incredibly frustrated and over eager to get a shot off when a rare chance comes there way, instead of making the correct decision. 

As others have said, I think it needs to be one or the other, as the number 9, with 2 creative players behind. 

Having Strelec, Conway and Sene as options in the striker role is a brilliant problem for Edwards to have, but he needs to find the best way to utilise our attacking options for the benefit of the team. It feels like we're just giving them minutes to get them "up to speed" still at this stage. 

I think they both had occasions where they could have been played in but it didn’t happen - when Hackney shot (a good shot to be fair), Strelec was in a better position. I also think both Conway and Strelec are trying to prove themselves against the other and therefore more inclined to shoot than pass sometimes. 
Other issue for me is our continued reluctance to play the odd long ball. both Conway and Strelec were pointing on occasions for a ball over the top to chase, when stoke were pushing defence forward. Sometimes a direct route is still best option.

[Redcar Rioja 9,930 9.6k]

The Millwall game tonight is indicative of how tight this league is. A win for Millwall will see them level on points with Stoke (albeit with an inferior GD). A Coventry win will see them two points from us.

Probably unnoticed by many but QPR face Oxford at home tonight and like Millwall a win would see them level with Stoke (but also with an inferior GD). WBA can also pull level with Stoke if they beat Norwich tonight at Carrow Road.

Of course results elsewhere could all go our way and being unbeaten is great but draws, clean sheets and just avoiding defeats can give a false sense of security. We need our front three to get sorted and quickly.

[ScarBoro 1,232 1.6k]

2 hours ago, Neverbefore said:

Tbf to edwards, he wont have counted on losing edmundson and the fact we were able to adjust with silvera at rb and still get a clean sheet was good. And in the first half we were good all over the pitch, final 3rd aside. So I think we were drilled pretty well given it was the first time weve played the system. 

Second half is a different story. Felt like edwards couldn't do anything to counteract the changes stoke made. The players stoke brought on were good, but the simple switch of Thomas to left wing absolutely killed us and we didnt react it until the 82nd minute, bringing fry on and shifting ayling wider to double up on him. Of course that may have been influenced by his fitness, but carrick got crucified last season for putting injured players on the bench, so Edwards should get the same treatment really. 

If Thomas's delivery was even a little bit better wed have been talking about a defeat and it would have been down to our inability to adjust rather than how we were set up to begin the game imo

To be fair, I think Edwards wanted Fry on bench to be able to give him some time at end of match and get him ready for a full game (hopefully this weekend). As he said in his post match interview however, he didn’t want to risk Fry for (almost) a full game, which sounded pretty sensible. That’s a bit different to Carrick last year putting players who weren’t fit to play at all on bench. 
I though we did take a long time to react to Stokes changes at start of second half, but after about an hour we did change formation and it did manage to repel the waves of Stoke attacks somewhat. From then on we were equal to Stoke in amount of attacks, though they were still more likely to score by targeting their left wing. 
I thought he might have left Silvera on left side and moving Ayling across - but then presumably they would have attacked both wings - Silvera for ability and Ayling for speed, and we would have lost Ayling height in middle. 

[Plastic Goat 978 1.4k]

My feeling is that Hackney will go in January. Some PL club will offer possibly £30 million or so and Boro will accept it. Hopefully Scott has got Hackney's replacement lined up as well as a RWB. We could end up with a stronger and more dangerous team without Hackney. To be fair to him he deserves to test himself in the PL. Mustn't forget the man mountain coming from USA too.

 

[Dan1234 1,343 3.2k]

I think Conway might be an issue for us this season. Edwards really wants him in the side obviously for his work rate, but for me that's where Conways strengths kinda end. Last season after Lath went it was widely acknowledged Conway just wasn't good enough to play as a lone striker for a team looking at playoffs. After his work rate Conway is a 6/10 for everything really. Not particularly quick or skillfull, quite weak, quite greedy, decent feet but hardly a dribbler. 

Now the team is setup more defensively its even more vital the few players we have in those positions are creative. Everyone has their own opinion on who it should be. Personally I'd like to see Nypan and Hansen behind Strelec. You'd have 5 really technical footballers with Morris and Hackney who look to play quick passing moves. I think Conway would be better coming off the bench to hassle tired legs.