Boro v Stoke City 1-1

[p_mards 1,365]

I hope Downing attempts more floating balls into the box this season. He whipped in a few very good balls on Saturday, the likes of which were in pretty short supply last season. Adomah, despite his flaws, has a really good floating cross when cutting in from the left. We now have Negredo to aim for in the air so hopefully Downing's crossing ability becomes more apparent with him to aim for.

[Borodane 6,294]

I get that in a perfect world we would have the finances and pull to bring in an exciting specialist left winger with all the right key attributes, but as it is we went into the summer with other areas more pressing for upgrades. We needed a new starting keeper, DM and striker and desperately needed competition elsewhere. So far we have invested quite a lot in those key areas and left wing is still beneath the need for a new right winger who is better than Adomah.

 

For all the flaws Jamie mentions about Downing I still think he has an important role to play. Stoke attacked mostly on the right, despite Shaquiri playing on our left, because our left hand side is so damn solid. Downing is an excellent station and we can definately use him, despite him not taking men on down the left with blistering pace. He will never lose the ball, always find a teammate hence relieving pressure (and we are going to need that a lot). As an example, when United stepped it up yesterday Bournemouth didn't have that kind of player. Instead they had a young winger in Ibe who did nothing in relieving pressure, but rather just lost the ball.

 

Once we get more established we can start looking at bringing in a 24 year old Downing, unless Fischer breaks through. But for now we need a calm head who offers an outlet whenever we are under pressure, and going by yesterday Friend offers a lot of width down the left.

[Humpty 3,260]

I must admit i walked away from the Riverside on Saturday a little dejected with us not having held on for the win. On reflection a point against a top 10 Stoke side isn't the worst start we could've had even if i had secretly expected a win.

 

Valdes was vocal and was put under a lot of pressure at corners. Stoke clearly identifying a weakness. Thought he could've done better with their goal too. Generally i like what i see and an improvement on what we had.

 

Defensively we looked good against a team full of dangerous attacking players. Barragan and Gibson looked liked they'd been playing together for years and Friend looked very solid and more than competent. Nsue on the other hand looked a little naive at times being caught out of possession. I'm still not sure he's the answer at RB.

 

Midfield had a bit of a mixed afternoon. Obviously we were disrupted with the injury to De Roon but i thought off the ball we weren't quite at the races. Clayton and Forshaw struggled to really dominate the game and i think this was partly due to the form of Imbula who looked imperious. I'd also note that i was really disappointed in Clayton's cheap free kick that lead to their goal. It was completely needless and he's going to have to learn to be more diligent off the ball.

 

I think it goes without saying that Ramirez was man of the match. What impressed me most about him was his willing to put a shift in. It really rounds off his game and if he continues, he'll have a great season and we'll do well. I thought we were ever so slightly blunt down the channels, especially 2nd half and mostly due to the threat Stoke posed in those areas. Downing put over some great crosses but we never really had possession of the ball high up the pitch in the final third which i think restricted the type of chances we created. Adomah had a decent game until the last 30 minutes at which point i got really irritated with him. Looking back he looked like maybe he ran out of steam.

 

Very impressive debut from Negredo. I wasn't expecting him to hold the ball up as well as he did but he needs more support from out wide.

 

As i said ever so slightly disappointed we didn't capitalise on the momentum promotion provides but it could've been worse. Win at Sunderland next week and it's a great start.

 

Valdes 6

Nsue 6

Friend 8

Gibson 7

Barragan 8

Clayton 6

De Roon N/A

Downing 6

Adomah 6

Ramirez 8 MOTM

Negredo 7

 

Forshaw 6

Nugent N/A

[sackrobson2 371]

Good post that Humpty.

[Neverbefore 10,933]

Can't believe all the criticism downing is getting already. He's our best crosser of the ball and we now have two players who are very strong in the air playing centrally in gaston and negrado, hes the perfect winger for our formation in my opinion.

[Prowler 197]

Can't believe all the criticism downing is getting already. He's our best crosser of the ball and we now have two players who are very strong in the air playing centrally in gaston and negrado, hes the perfect winger for our formation in my opinion.

 

Yeah but how many times did Downing get in a position to cross, 3/4?

 

He spent most of his time drifting in to let George overlap, pointless him playing on the wing if he's just gonna do that.

[Humpty 3,260]

Downing played like a seasoned Premier League player. He didn't give the ball away, worked hard and created 3/4 great chances. He maybe could've provided a better outlet for Negredo imo and i would've liked to see him push the ball past the full back once or twice more than he did but i was ok with his performance. I think he's the perfect foil for George.

["KM" 1,656]

Can't believe all the criticism downing is getting already. He's our best crosser of the ball and we now have two players who are very strong in the air playing centrally in gaston and negrado, hes the perfect winger for our formation in my opinion.

 

It's getting pathetic, I was the first to have a go at him last season but I don't see what he did wrong on Saturday. He put in a few decent crosses, Adomah should have done better for one of them. He got into the box for an Adomah cross? and so very nearly scored. I actually thought he showed glimpses of his old self. Wish people would just get off his back and give him a ***ing chance.

[Tony 54]

In the main I thought we did well defensively. We held our shape and restricted their chances. But it concerned me a little bit how easy they seemed to go through our midfield on the counter-attack.

 

And agree with the last few comments about Downing. He did was he was asked to do and him holding back a little and letting Friend past him is obviously a tactical instruction from Karanka. He had to check back a few times because there was no-one in the box which wasn't his fault.

[wilsoncgp 9,276]

Can't believe all the criticism downing is getting already. He's our best crosser of the ball and we now have two players who are very strong in the air playing centrally in gaston and negrado, hes the perfect winger for our formation in my opinion.

 

Yeah but how many times did Downing get in a position to cross, 3/4?

 

He spent most of his time drifting in to let George overlap, pointless him playing on the wing if he's just gonna do that.

 

Agreed with you both on this, as I mentioned before.

 

Downing can definitely be a very good player for us because he has an excellent left foot but either we have to push our players further forward when he's on the ball (i.e. get players into the box early to give him someone to aim at) or he needs to look to receive the ball further up the pitch when players are in the box.

 

Unfortunately, the higher we get up the pitch, the more central he seems to find himself, leaving George to do the hard work on the wing, which leaves us limited to what he can do with his crossing.

[Pork Slops 576]

I'll be the first to admit I was in the slate downing club last season but it's clean slate for me this year. The problem we have is because fans are so aware of his capabilities they are completely insatiable with his performances. Everyone crying out for some flamboyant exotic signing like a marks and spencers trifle, Stewart Downing is a certain brand of pork scratchings you haven't ate since you went to the youth club when you were 11. Your constantly going to be underwhelmed for as long as you try and live off past memories and expectations.

[Boro 86 517]

Agee with Humpty on everything here.

 

Like a few others have said I too thought Downing had a steady game and linked up with well with George. He put 1 or 2 lovely crosses over that could have done with someone on the end but all in all a steady display.

 

I worry that Albert does the hard things well and then cocks it up too often but it is only one game in so nothing to get overly worried about. Thought AK might have brought on Fischer and moved Stewart to the right and I would have preferred Rhodes to Nugent but hey ho we are safely in the top half so all is good

["KM" 1,656]

Can't believe all the criticism downing is getting already. He's our best crosser of the ball and we now have two players who are very strong in the air playing centrally in gaston and negrado, hes the perfect winger for our formation in my opinion.

 

Yeah but how many times did Downing get in a position to cross, 3/4?

 

He spent most of his time drifting in to let George overlap, pointless him playing on the wing if he's just gonna do that.

 

Agreed with you both on this, as I mentioned before.

 

Downing can definitely be a very good player for us because he has an excellent left foot but either we have to push our players further forward when he's on the ball (i.e. get players into the box early to give him someone to aim at) or he needs to look to receive the ball further up the pitch when players are in the box.

 

Unfortunately, the higher we get up the pitch, the more central he seems to find himself, leaving George to do the hard work on the wing, which leaves us limited to what he can do with his crossing.

 

Ever thought that's maybe how AK wants him and Friend to play? Friend gave Bardsley a torrid time on Saturday, their fans thought their full backs were woeful. Downing drifting inside is all part of the plan.

[wilsoncgp 9,276]

Can't believe all the criticism downing is getting already. He's our best crosser of the ball and we now have two players who are very strong in the air playing centrally in gaston and negrado, hes the perfect winger for our formation in my opinion.

 

Yeah but how many times did Downing get in a position to cross, 3/4?

 

He spent most of his time drifting in to let George overlap, pointless him playing on the wing if he's just gonna do that.

 

Agreed with you both on this, as I mentioned before.

 

Downing can definitely be a very good player for us because he has an excellent left foot but either we have to push our players further forward when he's on the ball (i.e. get players into the box early to give him someone to aim at) or he needs to look to receive the ball further up the pitch when players are in the box.

 

Unfortunately, the higher we get up the pitch, the more central he seems to find himself, leaving George to do the hard work on the wing, which leaves us limited to what he can do with his crossing.

 

Ever thought that's maybe how AK wants him and Friend to play? Friend gave Bardsley a torrid time on Friday, their fans thought their full backs were woeful. Downing drifting inside is all part of the plan.

 

Of course I did, but that doesn't change that it seems to make Downing less effective in doing so, which is what people are discussing right now.

[Rioch's Braves 711]

We'll have an idea 8 to 10 games into the season who's going to be good enough to play in this league, and like it or not some won't cut it.