Middlesbrough Post Match 1-0 Defeat

[ARM1968]

First half battle with Boro trying to adopt the Leeds model. They did it pretty well and we made some stupid decisions trying to slavishly stick to the master plan. 
 

Second half they tired and we dominated. But again some stupid decisions, some bad luck and some good saves. Then a Chowders special, which has been coming for about 10 minutes, and an unstoppable free kick. 
 

It is what it is, but we really need to think a little bit sometimes. 

[FoxOnWheels]

Only we could be about 300 points clear and get caught

[lcfcdamo]

2 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Reading some of the comments though I can't tell if we deserved to win or deserved to lose

 

Put it like this Middlesborough had absolutely nothing not 1 single chance second half we had numerous chances dominated the game! Just 1 of them games were it wouldn't go in and Middlesborough score a 30 yard freekick

[DB11]

Frustrating to lose right before the international break, especially two on the bounce now

[EastAnglianFox]

If we do go up its frightening to think how many new signings we'll need to be competitive.

 

Even before the last weeks set of results I had been thinking who are going to be genuine starters for us if promoted?  Mads and Winks for me

[Nod.E]

8 minutes ago, sishades said:

WEF was Hamza thinking????????? Our strikers are useless. 2 defeats in a row. Awful.

He did the right thing, they were through otherwise. When the foul was given were you really worried about him sticking it in the top bin? Can't legislate for that. The error was losing the ball carelessly in the first place.

[whoareyaaa]

we seem to be lost without Nididi to open in the middle and not clinical enough when going forward

[Pita]

Why not play Daka or Cannon. The forwards just not working. 

[Jattdogg]

5 minutes ago, adejo92 said:

Sorry, but I don't get how whenever anyone dares to say anything remotely critical they are shot down by the same people every time.

 

Okay, there are maybe some posts that you think, okay, chill, but some critism is more than appropriate. 

 

Another 90 minutes where we have looked absolutely clueless.

 

You can see the gap closing and looking at us of late, Its only going to continue to close.

 

That was absolute dross .

Didnt say you cannot be critical mate. Some posts are over the top though.

 

We arent going to hms piss the league over 46 games. Its a tough division we all know this from our history being in it.

 

 

[lcfcdamo]

3 minutes ago, tickler28 said:

That was such a dogshit performance. It's like the players just think they have to turn up and they'll win. Not being funny but anyone who thought we were playing well when we luckily beat Sunderland and QPR needs to give their head a wobble. As far as I can tell we've been crap for weeks and teams have well and truly sussed us out...starve us of space and time and we are f***ed. Very very disappointed with Nacho today.... absolutely useless out there.

Dogshit performance 🤣 wow people on here are absolutely braindead we dominated them had enough chances to win 2 games they have 1 wordly free kick and score from it!!

[DennisNedry]

5 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Reading some of the comments though I can't tell if we deserved to win or deserved to lose

 

We probably deserved to win to be fair, just terrible decision making and finishing on our part, then Boro score a worldie and dig in.

[Simonb]

Huge boost to Leeds and Southampton.. gained 6 points in 2 games.. 

 

Been poor really this season, yet I'm disappointed to only be 8 points clear.. hoping Dennis, wilf and yunus are available early after the break.. they'll be a massive boost creatively 

[jmono84]

That Jones player was doing some horrendous dives and got a free kick every time. That ref was a right useless ****.

[adejo92]

Just now, Jattdogg said:

Didnt say you cannot be critical mate. Some posts are over the top though.

 

We arent going to hms piss the league over 46 games. Its a tough division we all know this from our history being in it.

 

 

Yeah, agree with that mate.

[tickler28]

In answer to is Enzo overcomplicating things - the answer is a resounding yes. You don't score points or win matches just for keeping the ball. The one time a player decided to break the mould and go on a run (Faes) he breezed past their players like they weren't there. Enzo needs to appreciate there's more than 1 way to win a football match.

[Metal Lover]

Maybe we can stay in this sweet sweet league longer after all.

[Trent Steel]

Crap simple as, i never thought we were going to score

 

seemed to have lost the plot and we dont have anyone that can score a decent goal

 

we have rode our luck until now and now teams are getting their sh1t together we are getting beat eventually

 

unless there this is a big change in game plan, tactics and mentality from most of the attacking players then we will be lucky, very lucky to make top 2 at the end of the season

 

the championship is a beast and a very very long battle, come on Enzo everyone is creaming themselves about how good you are , please prove it otherwise its play offs for us the way we are playing now

[Tielemans63]

Said it in the match thread. I strongly feel some players have become really complacent. All season the media have been saying how brilliant we are, how we're in the wrong league, best team to play in the Championship etc etc. In the first half some of our boys played like they just had to turn up to win. They need reminding that they need to work harder than ever.

[davelcfc100]

Watched the stream with the Borough commentators. They were annoying, wouldn’t like to listen to them every week. Though they were very worried for the 15 minutes before the goal. Looked like there was only one winner and if it wasn’t for a very well taken free kick, I believe we’d have gone on to win. Harsh but that’s football. 

[lee7]

Playing the ball around the pitch passively at the back and in midfield to move your opposition around and create space i understand but when we get it in the final third the ball needs to be moved much quicker. 

Too many players are wanting 3-4 touches before releasing the ball. 

If we had played first time passes in the final third we could of been out of sight today. 

 

I felt for the second game running Maresca didn't make the right changes at the right time. However that is something he has been superb at in previous matches! 

[Thequickbrownfox]

Teams were sitting back early in the season. Now they've worked out that if they come at us, we can struggle. Recent performances have been quite poor. The international break probably comes at the right time. We've certainly got the players - we just need to have a bit of a rethink and start making a few tactical changes and get some more dynamism into the performances.

[jmono84]

1 minute ago, lcfcdamo said:

Dogshit performance 🤣 wow people on here are absolutely braindead we dominated them had enough chances to win 2 games they have 1 wordly free kick and score from it!!

We managed to win the ball from them which led to good chances from them but we were actually very poor at creating chances in the final third. Defend deep against us and this type of football struggles. Enzo needs to realise this.

[spacemunky]

I feel your pain.

[Aus Fox]

6 minutes ago, Claridge said:

What ???????he was terrible, stupid shots when an easy goal scoring pass was needed

I disagree, I actually thought he was our best player today, consistently looking to carry the ball forwards and make things happen. 
Not a perfect performance by any means but won the ball back and drove us forwards on a regular basis.

It was hard work for the midfield because the front three were not at it at all today, the movement wasn’t there, so at times KDH had to take on the shot. 
It’s a game of opinions, and I guess we all see it in different ways.

[Lillehamring]

Another frustrating result and though the performance was poor, it was an improvement over the leeds game.

I think it's easy to start finding fault with the system or the players, but that game was like the vast majority of games we've had this season.  We were in total control, but for one random phase of the game (not this time the 45-60 section, but the 30-45 section) - the only difference was today we just couldn't get anything to work in the final third.

 

Ricardo is not a #8, this wasn't the game to bring mcateer back and, biggest fail of the game - ****ing nacho - i swear i've no idea how he's getting game time, the guy just looks like he's in a different world.

 

Interestingly, all three games we've lost this season we've hit the post but hardly caused the keeper any problems besides.  Either we need to rethink what we're doing up front or we need to bring in players who can create and finish.

 

We shouldn't forget that boro have only lost one of their last 10, so this was never going to be easy and we certainly created enough to get at least a point, but it feels like something isn't quite right just now.