Boro v Blackpool 1-1

[MMC 1,000]

Can't think of one player who can walk away from that match with their head held high. Blackpool outplayed us and very worryingly could have won 3-1 if they had some form of competent striker instead of a 6 foot 4 donkey. They came with a gameplan and it worked, we barely created any chances.

 

I dont agree with that. We werent outplayed. We were lacklustre and short of a cutting edge. Blackpool grew in confidence following Claytons departure and threw more caution to the wind. They created better chances in the second half and you're right they couldve knicked it had they been clinical.

 

For me our failures lay solely at our door Or in my opinion Karanka and Hignetts. He made too many changes and it showed. We rely heavily on creativity from wide areas and to change both flanks so radically was a mistake. There was zero cohesion out wide and this was our biggest problem. I wouldnt have left out Omeruo, Friend or Kike as a minimum personally. These are our staple players.

 

Where the blame does or does not lie is irrelevant, we were outplayed. Their passing was better, they were tighter at the back, they controlled the midfield and they were threatening coming forwards, all things we were not after the change in shape.

[Naughty Boy 18]

My man of the match last night was Leadbitter, After Clayton went off he was doing the job of two player in the midfield, He had no help what so ever.

[Humpty 3,261]

He looked dead on his feet as well after about 80 mins Naughtyboy. Completely shot. I thought Reach did well first half. His final ball really needs working on, the lack of it is ruining a lot of his good work.

 

MMC not really. We let them in to the game and they became more adventurous. They created two better chances than we did but they werent on top for longer periods than we were. A bit of a *** stalemate with neither side taking advantage. They were awful before their goal and all we lacked at that poiny in the game was a bit of composure. I dint think either manager would say that Blackpool outplayed us.

[Downsouth 6,326]

In cold refection and only based on what I watched both teams were pretty even, either we played well below par (which we did) or Blackpool raised their game.

 

Quite simply we could have lost this game. Results like this happen all the time we have no devine right to win every game but as a team Boro need to get their act together and learn to play as a team

[Tom 2,492]

Their performance was a decent away one. The thing is, if it had have been a cup tie, and they a lower league side, all the credit would be on them, rather than criticism of us.

For all intents and purposes, they ARE a lower league team. I'm 100% sure they will go down this season (had a bet on it since July). That said, they will pick up better results than last night if they play like that.

We should have won though, no two ways about it. Midfield is an issue, and that's been highlighted elsewhere. I think the main problem is that Tomlin can afford to have that floating role when he has two battlers behind him, and when he has to drop deeper he isn't the same player. Kike and Bamford didn't look great up front together, but they haven't been in the same side very often at all.

We are in a good position, especially compared to this time last season, and we just need to target a game down the line to make up for last night (get a win against Watford in a few weeks, for example), and we're back on track. I was downbeat last night, but pleased to see AK pulling no punches in his interview, and I hope to see us go all out on Saturday, with a refreshed Kenneth, Albert, Deano and Vossen in the side. UTB.

[Essuuaitch 330]

Am i wanting or expecting too much.....So we have aspirations of promotion or play offs at the least , then what i,d ideally lke to witness, especially at home is a high tempo attacking style of play akin to what Leicester and Derby regularly produced last time round , they seemed to go for the jugular whenever i watched them relentless forward pressure and if they didnt storm into early leads they eventually battered the opposition into submission, thats what i want to see from us but in too many games we seem too cautious to impose ourselves in areas wher we can actually hurt the opposition .

im optomistic still that we will be there or there abouts but i dont have the same gut feeling that i had in past promotion achieving sasons( Slaven. Merson, Hignett, Fuchs . Wilkinson era,s ) .

Away from home we seem set up really well for results and im really optomistic going into those games but im consistantly on edge about what our home performances will be.

[Humpty 3,261]

Good post and i agree with a lot of what you say especially the gut feeling ( i thought i was on my own in that respect). I would say however that we did start off well yesterday. We were moving the ball fast and had a very attacking mentally especially whilst Clayton was on the pitch. Momentum seemed to die after that everything seemed laboured and hard work.

[2plus2 290]

As long as we make the relevant changes and react in the right way in the next game then this will go down as just a blip. And blips will happen regularly to us (and everyone) in this league this season. So I'm not going to panic yet, and I certainly won't be overly-critical about our chances as a result of this.

 

Ledesma has to be dropped. I think probably Ayala too. Bamford should only start if Vossen is still not fit. Adomah needs to slot straight back in. Reach isn't really the right type of player for home games. We have to play two up top, which either means dropping Tomlin or playing him behind two strikers (I'd opt for the former given our formation preference). And Friend should be back after that logical rest. Can't comment on Wildschut as I still don't know enough about him.

 

---------------------- Dimi ----------------------

--------------- Omeruo - Gibson ----------------

- Freddy -------------------------------- Friend -

-------- Leadbitter - Clayton/Whitehead --------

- Nsue -------------------------------- Adomah -

------------ Vossen/Bamford - Kike -------------

 

For me that's quite clear cut. And it's worked before. I'd be a little disappointed if AK strayed too far off that.

["KM" 1,656]

As long as we make the relevant changes and react in the right way in the next game then this will go down as just a blip. And blips will happen regularly to us (and everyone) in this league this season. So I'm not going to panic yet, and I certainly won't be overly-critical about our chances as a result of this.

 

Ledesma has to be dropped. I think probably Ayala too. Bamford should only start if Vossen is still not fit. Adomah needs to slot straight back in. Reach isn't really the right type of player for home games. We have to play two up top, which either means dropping Tomlin or playing him behind two strikers (I'd opt for the former given our formation preference). And Friend should be back after that logical rest. Can't comment on Wildschut as I still don't know enough about him.

 

---------------------- Dimi ----------------------

--------------- Omeruo - Gibson ----------------

- Freddy -------------------------------- Friend -

-------- Leadbitter - Clayton/Whitehead --------

- Nsue -------------------------------- Adomah -

------------ Vossen/Bamford - Kike -------------

 

For me that's quite clear cut. And it's worked before. I'd be a little disappointed if AK strayed too far off that.

 

I think we'll start with Vossen and Kike up front. Bamford has been pretty ineffective in the last two games. He's more of an impact sub player (i.e. Liverpool) I reckon.

[AnglianRed 6,320]

Missed the game and from the sound of things, it may not have been a bad thing.

 

Rather shocked we couldn't score more than 1 against a team with such a poor defensive record.

 

Seems like the congested fixture list and Karanka's changes to the team are conspiring to disrupt our performances.

 

Hopefully once things calm down a bit, AK can start fielding relatively unchanged sides and we can start getting a bit more cohesion within the team...and better performances...

 

As well as the tough fixture list, I did foresee it would take time for all the new players to settle in (if they do at all) so I guess we can expect a few more games like this.

 

Disappointed, but at least we've maintained our unbeaten run.

[ExiledSmoggy 5]

Ok it was a bad result - as DS said, we have no divine right to win every game, and the pressure of playing a "struggling" team is always going to give us problems. Like I said before I think we will be back a*** the goals on Saturday. Although I think people need to chill a little, one game does not make or break your season this early in the season. We are still a relatively young squad, and couple that with the ole' contingent we still need some bedding in.

 

The main point for me is that we didn't lose, a point which is already been made on here multiple times. I agree with a lot of folk on here we need another CM, but Smallwood wasn't the right choice and was rightfully let go. Morris will come good but he's still a kid. Expect some activity in that area if the problem continues!

[2plus2 290]

It's like some people have forgotten that in the last home game we won 4-0. Do some expect that every week? We're still a new team too remember. Also, we have a squad for a reason. They're not going to languish on the bench and never be used, and we will continue to pick up injuries unfortunately - so to some extent we won't see that much consistency throughout that whole season really. Apart from starting Ledesma over Nsue, I can't really argue with the team AK put out there. We were poor - some reasons for that were beyond our control and others were not. That's football. Nor are we titans of football who should be expected to win every week.

 

If I did have one criticism/concern however - performance aside - it would be that these injuries are showing that though we have excellent players to come in, we are still a little short in some positions. Time will tell how important that will be, but effectively having 3 CBs and 3 CMs are top of that list in my opinion. Less concerned about the RB position as if Freddy got injured I'm sure we would replace him asap rather then utilise a less natural defender there long-term, and not too worried about having 3 regular wingers in the squad as Carayol will be back hopefully sooner rather then later + Wildschut might be utilised there eventually. Goalkeepers, strikers and supporting strikers too - enough. Could even make a case of 'we'll be ok' at CB given the quality of that trio, Woodgate being fit occasionally, Williams back at Christmas and maybe a recall option on Hines? But those central midfield positions - the spine of our team - are fairly crucial and pretty specialist, and we are lacking in numbers. If there was one addition I'd now really like us to strengthen in it would be there. Unless faith is shown in Morris, which doesn't seem likely yet.

 

I think we'll start with Vossen and Kike up front. Bamford has been pretty ineffective in the last two games. He's more of an impact sub player (i.e. Liverpool) I reckon.

 

Can't argue with that, assuming Vossen is fit. And I hope you're right. Though I do still see Bamford as a useful addition to our team/squad. He's had some poor showings, yet has still tucked 2 away.

 

Ok it was a bad result - as DS said, we have no divine right to win every game, and the pressure of playing a "struggling" team is always going to give us problems. Like I said before I think we will be back a*** the goals on Saturday. Although I think people need to chill a little, one game does not make or break your season this early in the season. We are still a relatively young squad, and couple that with the ole' contingent we still need some bedding in.

 

The main point for me is that we didn't lose, a point which is already been made on here multiple times. I agree with a lot of folk on here we need another CM, but Smallwood wasn't the right choice and was rightfully let go. Morris will come good but he's still a kid. Expect some activity in that area if the problem continues!

 

+1

[Humpty 3,261]

The reason most people are disappointed is because the fans have aspirations of promotion (rightly or wrongly) and Blackpool at home is the type of game any auto promoting winning side would've ground a result out against.

 

We couldn't do that and i think it's brought a few fans back down to earth. It was an opportunity to make a real statement of intent and we failed.

["KM" 1,656]

It's like some people have forgotten that in the last home game we won 4-0. Do some expect that every week? We're still a new team too remember. Also, we have a squad for a reason. They're not going to languish on the bench and never be used, and we will continue to pick up injuries unfortunately - so to some extent we won't see that much consistency throughout that whole season really. Apart from starting Ledesma over Nsue, I can't really argue with the team AK put out there. We were poor - some reasons for that were beyond our control and others were not. That's football. Nor are we titans of football who should be expected to win every week.

 

If I did have one criticism/concern however - performance aside - it would be that these injuries are showing that though we have excellent players to come in, we are still a little short in some positions. Time will tell how important that will be, but effectively having 3 CBs and 3 CMs are top of that list in my opinion. Less concerned about the RB position as if Freddy got injured I'm sure we would replace him asap rather then utilise a less natural defender there long-term, and not too worried about having 3 regular wingers in the squad as Carayol will be back hopefully sooner rather then later + Wildschut might be utilised there eventually. Goalkeepers, strikers and supporting strikers too - enough. Could even make a case of 'we'll be ok' at CB given the quality of that trio, Woodgate being fit occasionally, Williams back at Christmas and maybe a recall option on Hines? But those central midfield positions - the spine of our team - are fairly crucial and pretty specialist, and we are lacking in numbers. If there was one addition I'd now really like us to strengthen in it would be there. Unless faith is shown in Morris, which doesn't seem likely yet.

 

I think we'll start with Vossen and Kike up front. Bamford has been pretty ineffective in the last two games. He's more of an impact sub player (i.e. Liverpool) I reckon.

 

Can't argue with that, assuming Vossen is fit. And I hope you're right. Though I do still see Bamford as a useful addition to our team/squad. He's had some poor showings, yet has still tucked 2 away.

 

Ok it was a bad result - as DS said, we have no divine right to win every game, and the pressure of playing a "struggling" team is always going to give us problems. Like I said before I think we will be back a*** the goals on Saturday. Although I think people need to chill a little, one game does not make or break your season this early in the season. We are still a relatively young squad, and couple that with the ole' contingent we still need some bedding in.

 

The main point for me is that we didn't lose, a point which is already been made on here multiple times. I agree with a lot of folk on here we need another CM, but Smallwood wasn't the right choice and was rightfully let go. Morris will come good but he's still a kid. Expect some activity in that area if the problem continues!

 

+1

 

I don't expect us to win 4-0 at home every week but I do expect us to beat teams like Blackpool. Blackpool are at the bottom for a reason, they didn't even have a proper team until after the season started.

[Tom 2,492]

 

Ledesma has to be dropped. I think probably Ayala too.

 

Harsh on Ayala. I think he can suffer the occasional lapse of concentration, but his form has been decent (was excellent at Anfield and solid at Charlton), and he is a threat from set pieces. I don't think anyone across the defence deserves to be dropped.