Boro V Reading

[Uwe 3,545]

Was one of the biggest criticisms of Mowbray not that he set up to counter the opposition and didn't cater to our strengths?

 

Was thinking the same thing. People on here heavily critised Mowbray for always adapting to the opposition rather than letting them worry about us.

But in this instance the only explanation could be that, Tony concentrated on neutralizing the opposition where's as Karanka works on changing to exploit them. That's why we look so dangerous on both slow build up attack and quick counter attack

[BoroDownSouth 60]

Spot on UFH!

 

Mowbray looked to make us avoid being beaten by them, whereas Karanka seems to be looking to exploit them as you said.

[p_mards 1,365]

For the first half we were solid in defence under some pressure and Reading only created one clear cut chance that Given done brilliant to save. We played quite a lot of long balls up to Juke which he done a good job of holding up. Great work rate all over the pitch and tactics worked brilliantly. Second half though we were poor, as where Reading when they went down to 10 men we looked a shambles and couldn't keep the ball. We weren't helped by Juke hobbling for 15 minutes before Karanka eventually substituted him off. The second half had no tempo and didn't seem like a contest after Gorkss was sent off which surprisingly gave Reading a lift and we lost focus but we still had the solidity to dig in and play ugly to grind the 3 points out. Many good performances from the team but Ledesma was probably MOM after his 2 assists and great cross for Juke to set up Adomah's goal.

Given: 8 -Solid all game and made 2 very good saves that could easily have went in. His first save from close range on about 20 minutes when it was 1-0 turned out to be vital as it would have been a totally different game if that went in.

Varga: 7.5 -Done well and was always alert to danger.

Ayala: 8.5 -Defended brilliantly and headed everything that came his way. A real rock at the back.

Gibson: 8 -Solid game and looked assured, especially considering he was up against two experienced strikers like Pogrebnyak and Sharp.

Friend: 7.5 -Defended well and was more disciplined going forward.

Whitehead: 8 -Probably the best game he has had for us. Got stuck into tackles and was good with the ball.

Leadbitter: 8 -Gave great protection to the defence. Done well alongside Whitehead and his first goal was a screamer. Calmly slotted his penalty away.

Ledesma: 9- Brilliant with the ball and his ball to Juke to set up Adomah was great. He didn't get the ball much in the second half but he still kept working very hard off the ball to keep solid. Far better defensively today than the Burnley game, good to see he has learned. Within one minute of playing CAM he ran into the area and got took down to win the penalty.

Emnes: 7.5 -Was braver taking on shots today which I was pleased to see. He missed one 1 on 1 that he should have done better with, even though the ball from Adomah wasn't the greatest which narrowed the angle down. He worked hard tracking back.

Adomah: 8 -Good performance and tracked back very well like Ledesma to help us keep solid. Great finish from Juke's knockdown that was a very difficult finish.

Juke: 7.5 -Held the ball up well and his knockdown for Adomah's goal was brilliant. Worked hard until he went off injured.

Main: 6 -Worked hard when he came on but didn't really get onto the ball too much.

Carayol: N/A

Butterfield: N/A

[FoggansFlyingPig 24]

Can't disagree with what anyone has said about todays performance. Just very very solid.

 

However what i have been keeping very quiet about is what a good Christmas/New Year we have been having. Usually this time of year is a total washout for Boro but if we pick up something at Bolton this will be the best Festive period i can ever remember (shhhh - whisper that very quietly).

 

Maybe we have rapidly adapted to Spainish culture - my understanding is that the 6th of January is the most important day in the Spainish festive period so maybe we are waiting till then for everything to go to hell in a handcart. But i doubt it as you can slowly start to see confidence growing in the team and the belief that they can find a way to win matches rather than contrive ways to lose them.

[boroinbishop 65]

Doesn't look like my ratings posted but they are pretty much what LukeR Wrote

 

The penna couldn't have been more obvious.

 

Biggest disappointment for me once again was the North stand, was sat in the south and never heard a chant out of them all game, the 100 odd reading fans were louder.

 

I was in the North Stand and heard plenty of Shay Given and Albert Adomah songs... probably that wretched drum drowning everything else out

 

I never heard any, think i heard one chant of we're the finest team in football etc. at one point but that was about it, probably was the drum drowning it out, i don't like it that much but after the north stand died i've started sitting in the south for the atmosphere.

[FoggansFlyingPig 24]

Was one of the biggest criticisms of Mowbray not that he set up to counter the opposition and didn't cater to our strengths?

 

Was thinking the same thing. People on here heavily critised Mowbray for always adapting to the opposition rather than letting them worry about us.

But in this instance the only explanation could be that, Tony concentrated on neutralizing the opposition where's as Karanka works on changing to exploit them. That's why we look so dangerous on both slow build up attack and quick counter attack

 

I am not so sure i see huge tactical differences from one game to the next with Karanka. I think in general terms though game by game we are gradually stretching teams more than we did - that and the fact we do seem to start games (and halves) quicker than we did.

[2plus2 290]

Feeling preeeetty chuffed with all things Boro right now.

 

The AK appointment is looking more and more like a stroke of genius every day.

[jamesp 125]

were pretty awesome arnt we :D

 

forgot what it was like to be a good team

[p_mards 1,365]

Mowbray set us up to play pretty football, Karanka sets us up to be solid and win games. I know which one the vast majority of fans prefer. :)

 

I'm starting to see parallels between Chelsea in Mourinho's first spell and us under Karanka. Solid in defense and a great counter attacking side(and a bit direct when needed).

[boroinbishop 65]

Was one of the biggest criticisms of Mowbray not that he set up to counter the opposition and didn't cater to our strengths?

 

Was thinking the same thing. People on here heavily critised Mowbray for always adapting to the opposition rather than letting them worry about us.

But in this instance the only explanation could be that, Tony concentrated on neutralizing the opposition where's as Karanka works on changing to exploit them. That's why we look so dangerous on both slow build up attack and quick counter attack

 

I am not so sure i see huge tactical differences from one game to the next with Karanka. I think in general terms though game by game we are gradually stretching teams more than we did - that and the fact we do seem to start games (and halves) quicker than we did.

 

We play the same formations, but Mowbray never really understood how a 4-3-2-1 should work with the movements, patterns of play etc. you could tell by just watching us they didn't know what to do, whereas with Karanka i can see the players dropping into the areas they should be and playing the right balls.

 

IMO that is the biggest difference

[HoyteForLeftBack 194]

Just got in, that was awesome, we were awesome, RF were awesome, performance was awesome, everyone was awesome, expect for reading, they made Millwall look organised. Wooooooooo

[Guest Changing Times]

Well what a fantastic way to end what has been a miserable year for Boro!

 

I felt we started this game with a bit less intensity than the Burnley game, which is perhaps not surprising given the number of games played over the festive period. We had a decent couple of mins before the first goal where we seemed to get going a bit more on and off the ball and then we scored and came close-ish soon after. It seems a strange thing to say but I never felt in any doubt that we'd win this game. I say strange because it's been a while since I've felt that confident about us. In part that was down to Reading who didn't offer a great deal. In a way they reminded me of how we used to look at times under Mowbray and they weren't helped by Kaspars Gormless who was a red card waiting to happen pretty much from the off. I guess he fancied a night out on New Years Eve.

 

I was a little critical of Ledesma's efforts when we don't have the ball the other day and I believe Karanka and the coaching staff have impressed upon him the need to track back and get involved in that side of the game. Well he does just that and it leads to our second goal so you have to applaud him for immediately improving that side of his game. As I said after the Burnley game, it's really nice to see someone who apparently works incredibly hard in training and clearly is taking on board the staff's comments, having things go so well for them. I had him and some other fringe players written off a few months ago but he is absolutely proving me wrong at the moment and I'm delighted for him. Long may it continue.

 

Again the back four looked mostly solid although I felt Varga had a ropey moment or two for the first time but he still looks to me a decent bit ahead of the other right backs we have available. What has been interesting to see is the fact that we've been able to change the central defenders on this mini run and yet we've kept three clean sheets anyway.

 

I thought Leadbitter would come into the side but I wasn't sure who it was for and it turned out to be Smallwood. It was a wise move from Karanka if for no other reason than I think Smallwood has got through a lot of work in the last two games. Despite his recent illness he looked more than up to speed. I think a few players now are looking around and suddenly seeing good performances all over the place so they know they need to be at it themselves or they'll be out of the side. Another positive for us.

 

It was great to see us getting more than the one goal, something I have been banging on about recently and it does make a difference. I would like to say a word for Juke here because he took a bit of a kicking at times today but he fulfilled his role really well. Whatever changes we look to make in January, if we bring in a striker it can't just be a finisher as some have suggested. We need a player that can lead the line and take the punishment as he did today. Adomah looked a bit better than the previous game and to be fair I thought Emnes showed well enough but to me he is still a bit off what we need from him. He is at least trying to make things happen, which is an improvement on what we saw last season so that is a positive sign.

 

All in all it was a solid and efficient performance. Reading looked like a team in decline and we most definitely did not. Looking at the league table as it stands I think we'll need somewhere around 72 points to finish 6th, maybe 75 depending on how things go. I don't think 68 points will be enough this season as it was last time because the table isn't going to be as compact. Only 14 points separated 22nd and 6th last season. This time around I would expect the relegated sides to be somewhere in the 40 points area rather than 50 plus and if the other sides down there also continue to be relatively weak then the rest of us will have more points to gain so the points needed will likely increase. So if that is the case then that means we will need 43/46 points or so from the remaining 23 games. That is pretty much automatic promotion form. It's not impossible but we would need to get an awful lot of things right to make it happen. One thing in our favour is that there are a lot of teams probably thinking the same thing so that means lots of teams fighting it out. It's nice just to be even thinking along these lines.

 

This post was extra long just for NB4's benefit :)

[HoyteForLeftBack 194]

I think what changing times is trying to say is "boro are going up, we're going up, we're going up" :) :)

[p_mards 1,365]

I'm surprised not many have mentioned how poor the second half was from us as well as Reading. If we put in that second half performance against a good side we would have probably blown our 2 goal halftime lead. We kept our shape well but we just invited unnecessary pressure by not being able to keep the ball.

[Weasel 966]

I wanna hear the emnes interview :(