It was back to the KC for the Tigers today, following two hard fought draws on the road and looking to end a run of 6 games without a win. It wasn't a must win game but a win was important, for the confidence of the camp, to stop jangly nerve syndrome in the supporters and to give the sports reporters a new stat to dig up for next week.
City carded an unchanged line-up from the Stoke game. The system was much closer to an orthodox 4-4-2 though, Barmby on the left and Marney on the right. Middlesbrough have their fair share of decent attacking players, the quicksilver Afonso Alves, the tricky Tuncay and England winger Stewart Downing. With the impressive David Wheater at centre back alongside reliable captain Pogatetz and with Julio Arca scheming in the middle, they are a fair side who offer a goal threat and can be hard to break through. They absolutely hammered us for the first 3 minutes. They won a corner and packed the box with bodies, the ball flew across the box twice, they refused to let us clear the ball and as we rocked, they crashed in one shot after another. Ricketts produced one of the best blocks you'll ever see and 5 seconds later, Turner did his best to match it. The East Stand broke into a very early chorus of "Come on City". Once we weathered the storm, we faced very little danger for the rest of the half with Boaz making just two comfortable low saves to deny Downing and Tuncay. We struggled to make our mark on the game due to sloppiness in possession all over the pitch. Boro were more controlled on the ball and kept it easily while we treated it like a hot potato. We were playing in spite of ourselves, control was fine but second touch was often poor, players turning into opponents or over hitting the ball. We played too many stray passes, there was miscommunication between Marney and King, Marney and Geo both stumbled over the ball in promising positions and Zayatte was a liability. It continued throughout the half and for lots of the second period too. We battled our way into the game, Barmby, Boateng and Ash fought for the ball and kept the movement simple. Barmby did a lovely job of cutting inside and inviting Ricketts to exploit the space he left and that was our best source of attack, though a lack of numbers in the box stopped us profiting. We started to create a few half chances and then a full one. Boateng hit a super pass, left footed, into Geo in acres of space on our right, he burst into the box and from a tight-ish angle, tried to slide the ball across the 6 yard line for King. It was a pass that was never on because King was always behind Wheater. Geo should've gone for goal, if he hit the target from that distance, the worst case scenario would've been Turnbull parrying the ball towards King. Some great hold up play from the bullish King, despite him being fouled about three times, opened up space for Marney on the right, he curled in a beautiful cross and Geo lost everyone in the box and ran onto the ball 8 yards out and free as a bird. He then produced possibly the worst diving header I've ever seen, missing the corner flag by about a yard. In a game of few chances, it was criminal. Boro were quite as an attacking force; the game was played in the middle and was generally scruffy. Another run and cross from Ricketts lead to another terrible header from Geo, a free-kick from the Brazilian (which was about 6 inches from being a penalty) deflected just over bar. Barmby just failed to connect with a weak Boateng shot when any touch would've carried the ball in, Zayatte rose above everyone from a left wing corner but failed to make contact, while a flick from a Boro head denied Barmby a free header at the back post. The half ended level with neither side having done nearly enough to deserve anything else.
Amusingly, during the first half, the Middlesbrough fans gave us the usual chant of "Where were you when you were s**t?" Fantastic. Is this the same Middlesbrough whose attendances were announced by name before Steve Gibson threw millions and millions into them? A small group began chanting "Stand up if you've been in Europe". To be fair, the other 90% of their support cringed and pretended they couldn't hear them. I hope a few seasons in the top division don't make us as arrogant as they are.
The second half began in much the same vain except Boro came out and passed as poorly as we did. At times, it was "To me, to you" stuff. Geo struggled to impact the game and while King held the ball up well, he didn't really have a lot of options to bring teammates into the game. A couple of efforts Geo dragged wide were all we had to show for the first 15 of the half. Ash was forced to take a yellow card, tripping Alves inside our half to avert a break; he was force to do it because he'd been caught in possession again. A terrific run from Geo ended with a slightly over-hit pass sending King wide and he could only high and wide over. Around the hour mark, Browny made a double change, which we needed. He brought on Mendy and Cousin, withdrawing Barmby and Marney. I would've taken off Boateng. Marney wasn't having his best game but he gives you great energy right up until the last whistle. Barmby was unlucky, he'd had a good game but with Geo, King and two of the three midfielder's certainties to stay on, he was the obvious choice. Geo became the left side with Mendy on the right and Cousin up top. The subs changed the game in numerous ways. Barmby had kept Justin Hoyte in check and allowed Ricketts to play very much on the front foot but with Barmby gone, Hoyte came into the game and Ricketts was left facing two opponents on numerous occasions. Mendy gave us a good outlet on the right and worked both ends very well. While the change made us slightly vulnerable on our left, it also encouraged Boro to commit a few more players in attack and left some big gaps between defence and midfield that Geo tried to exploit.
All young players are taught that they should pass the ball because as well as expending less energy, you can move the ball much more quickly by passing than by running. This theory was disproved this afternoon when Bernard Mendy chose not to run the ball out of defence but instead passed it to McShane on the overlap! I am of course being cruel to our ginger Superman who had a solid game and provided a candidate for best full length dive of the season in the first half. He's very entertaining. The game continued to be quite exciting despite a lack of real quality or chances. The bitty-ness wasn't helped by the referee, or rather, his abysmal linesmen, who interfered too often and incorrectly. Zayatte headed wide from a King corner when he should have done better and then we were hit by the sucker punch. A neat move down their right found Hoyte flying forward again, Aliadiare slid a nice ball around the corner as Ricketts committed himself and Hoyte strode into the box, kept his cool and slid a nice ball in for Tuncay to flick into an empty net. The game had looked so likely to end nil-nil that the goal was terrible blow. So you're having a poor day, you're creating next to nothing and you've just gone behind at home for the 6th time this season with 78 minutes on the clock. Most teams would sulk. Ours hit back immediately. We kept the ball well form the kick-off, looking purposeful. Turner launched it forward, Cousin made a great run in behind, staying onside and drawing Wheater out of the middle. His ball across fell to Mendy who dropped his shoulder and hit a low shot with his right foot that beat the 'keeper at his near post, hit said post and then the 'keeper and crept over the line. A terrific response. Things would get even better a couple of minutes later. Another ball over the top found Geovanni, looking suspiciously offside but allowed to continue, he ran in towards goal, got the beating of the chasing Wheater and then went down when Wheater gave him a little shove. It was as soft as Stoke's penalty last week but there was contact and it was in the box so it was a penalty. Wheater was sent off as he was the last man. King stepped up and just about found the bottom left hand corner as Turnbull got half a hand to it. Phil Brown had obviously noted the problem on our left as he had Halmosi ready to come on. Whether Geo would've come off at 1-1, I don't know, but he certainly did at 2-1. Another astute tactical observation from PB. We got through the last 6 or 7 minutes relatively comfortably, though Turner had to make a brave stopping header, McShane won a crucial header at the back post and Alves saw a free-kick deflected over.
We had a mixed day in defense. Turner had a great day as he tends to do. He was terrific, always in the right position, perfectly timing tackles and winning his share of headers. McShane was also very good, losing very few 1 on 1 challenges and working hard to be an attacking option. Ricketts was great in the first half, particularly going forward, but was badly exposed after Barmby went off. He did give another good account of himself that puts PB in a tough position when Daws is fit. Myhill dealt well with crosses, choosing to punch a couple and clearing danger. He had trouble making Zayatte aware of his presence again as Kamil took on three balls that Myhill easily had covered. One of them was nearly catastrophic. Zayatte was fine in normal defensive challenges. He stuck his head in were it hurt, he made good tackles and he proved the perfect antidote to the blistering pace of Alves. When he had possession though, he looked a nervous wreck; he made stray passes, hurried clearances and poor decisions. That was in addition to the communication problems. This situation needs addressing and quickly. Zayatte has been terrific in possession to date so the sudden lack of confidence was alarming.
It was our first chance to see a four across the midfield for a while and it didn't work all that well. Neither of the wide pair are particularly suited to that role, though Barmby does have some experience of playing out there, it's more of a base for him rather than a home. Our Nicky was the pick of the 4. I thought he was excellent. His work rate was incredible, he tracked runs and made tackles and generally made a nuisance of himself when we didn't have the ball. On the ball, he was the calmest of all the Tigers players and kept hold of it. He made great runs into the box and was unlucky not to pinch a goal. Absolutely deserves the chance to start at Anfield next week on what will be a great day for him. Marney did a decent job positionally, he didn't quite look the fish out of water he has at times when he's played wide on the right. He did a good defensive job and provided a couple of terrific deliveries. He wasn't quite himself on the ball though, failing to link up with King twice as neither could decide what the other one was doing and giving Boateng no chance with two square passes inside. Boateng was decent. Despite looking knackered after twenty minutes, he was still going strong at the end. He put in his fair share of challenges, worked hard to get himself in between the player in possession and his ideal passing target and played some sweet through balls. Like everyone else, he also looked laboured and indecisive at times but he gave us more good than bad. Ash defended OK and kept some of our attacks ticking over but was caught in possession badly on a couple of occasions. On 3 minutes, with the Tigers under the cosh, Ash charged 25 yards to put in a terrific tackle on the touchline that gave everyone a lift. On 15, with City struggling to get going, Ash, McShane and Boateng hammered in tackles that lifted the crowd and their mates. Whether playing well or not, they put in the work without the ball and know what needs doing to inspire those around them. Mendy played on the right for the last half hour and made some things happen. He only has one trick, a drop of the left shoulder and shimmy to the right, but it works. It won two corners and created the space he needed to force the equaliser. He's another who could be more decisive. He picks the ball up in our half and needs to get his head down and run with the ball but he spends too long deciding what to do with it. Again though, he must be knocking on the door for a starting berth. Halmosi barely had time to make an impression but did a good job of closing the space on our left.
Geo had a mixed afternoon. It was summed up by two terrific runs from deep. The first time he kept the ball on the floor near our dugout, beat two men while still rising to his feet, raced away from another two and then over hit his next touch. The other, he beat three men with a superb run from his own half opened up the space to shoot but then tried to play in King with a slightly over hit pass. His decision making wasn't great. He should've taken the shot on when he tried to play in King first half, he should've taken the ball down when he tried his first calamitous diving header and he could've played in Barmby in the second half if he was aware enough to play the ball first time rather than controlling it and taking away the chance. Still, he provided the biggest threat and played a great part in the second goal. When he gets the ball anywhere near goal, the crowd, his mates and the oppo's are all expecting a shot so he's trying to be a bit smarter and use that to his advantage but he's not making the right decisions. Marlon the Bull worked hard and gave us a good base to start attacks with his strength and control but things didn't come off for him a lot. On a few occasions, his first touch was magnificent but his second turned him into trouble. He's still getting caught offside too often; he can look lazy because he doesn't work hard enough to get back into the game. He's definitely not lazy though, his overall work rate is fantastic. I'd like to see him making better runs into the box when the ball is out wide. He doesn't seem to bust a gut to get in front of or behind defenders, he just saunters into the same space each time and it's too easy to mark. Cousin came off the bench and didn't get involved a lot until the equalising goal. It's frustrating to think of how many crosses we put into the box from open play without Cousin (our best header) on the pitch and yet if you think of how many came in when he was on, there was only one and he crossed it. If we're going to introduce him to try and change games, I'd like to see him come on with Halmosi to provide some ammunition. The other disappointing thing about Cousin is that no-one is working to get on the end of the headers he wins. There's no anticipation of where it might drop and no-one making a run in behind. We could do with (dare I say it?) Fraizer Campbell type player to give another option when defences are coping with us playing in front of them. The sort of player who'll play on the shoulder of the defenders and has that blistering first 4 or 5 yards to get in behind.
It was nice to get this win under our belts. It gives us breathing space on most teams around us and gets us closer to the 30 point mark which would be a stupendous achievement to hit before we enter 2009. It's onto another massive game next week and a trip to Anfield. We've got nothing to fear going there. They are a good side but not one that plays anyone off the park. Several teams have gone there and made themselves hard to beat and come away with something. I'd imagine PB will go back to the 4-5-1 we saw at Stoke, but I'd like to see a 4-4-2 again, with Mendy playing on the right. That would leave a straight choice between the experience of Boateng and the energy of Marney alongside Ash. Being Anfield, I'd probably go with Boateng. I think playing Mendy would give us good protection on the right and an explosive option when attacking. He'd support the front players very quickly from every situation. Still, who knows what the gaffer will do? He went to St James' Park and played two wingers and went to the Emirates and played a front 3. We'll trust whatever he decides.
Ratings: Myhill 6, McShane 7, Turner 8, Zayatte 6, Ricketts 7, Marney 6 (Cousin 6), Ashbee 6, Boateng 7, Barmby 8 (Mendy 7), Geovanni 6 (Halmosi), King 6.