Match Thread Middlesbrough (3 Viewers)

Winny the Bish

Well-Known Member
If the wingbacks are getting forward in a 4-3-3 though isn't that leaving us incredibly open to the counter. I'm assuming in the system Kelly would drop back to seep in front of the two defenders or even as a makeshift third when we're going forward but I'd worry about the lack of pace there.
We currently play 3ATB and still look prime to be done on the counter. 3 CB’s is meant to make us defensively sturdy and hard to score against. You have to sacrifice an attacker to do it so lose some goal threat.

But we still don’t look solid at the back AND we’ve sacrificed our goal threat in the process, so something has to change. We might as well give it a go instead of getting 10 men behind the ball against a Neil Warnock team.
 

SkyblueBri

Well-Known Member
I think I'm going to stop watching away games, last night we set up to draw, ie lose you can't expect to defend for 90mins. I had the away sound on so listen to Middlesbrough commentary all they kept saying was we've got to score, then maybe they'll attack. Also they couldn't believe how we tried to play out from the back too dangerous
 

Esoterica

Well-Known Member
If the wingbacks are getting forward in a 4-3-3 though isn't that leaving us incredibly open to the counter. I'm assuming in the system Kelly would drop back to seep in front of the two defenders or even as a makeshift third when we're going forward but I'd worry about the lack of pace there.
Well only one wingback goes at a time and the other tucks in a little to make a back 3 with Kelly sitting, ready to go out to where the break comes from. The vulnerability is the crossfield diagonal but we've defended the box from wide crosses pretty well this year.
What it does though is give us at least 5 in attack - the forward 3, a wingback and 1 of the central midfielders. A significant upgrade on the 3 attackers feeding off scraps we saw yesterday and Godden doesn't need to be just a target man in that situation because he has 2 runners around him.
 

hopesprings

Well-Known Member
I think some on here need to get to grips with a few basic facts. All the teams in this league bar the 3 promoted teams were playing tough competitive football throughout June and majority of July. They by en large have settled squads from that time playing to a higher level than we were playing up to March. That is a massive difference in likely fitness levels and cohesion. We have been unfortunate with injuries and absences of some of our better players AND we have to get used to playing in empty stadia..all the other teams also had that experience for many games during June and July. It is not going to be easy, never was and the above facts only highlight some of the difficulties. The squad do not need berating they need our support in whatever way we can give it to them PUSB!!!!
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
I think I'm going to stop watching away games, last night we set up to draw, ie lose you can't expect to defend for 90mins. I had the away sound on so listen to Middlesbrough commentary all they kept saying was we've got to score, then maybe they'll attack. Also they couldn't believe how we tried to play out from the back too dangerous

Mind you they also called an open goal a great finish
 

SeaSeeEffCee

Well-Known Member
I think I'm going to stop watching away games, last night we set up to draw, ie lose you can't expect to defend for 90mins. I had the away sound on so listen to Middlesbrough commentary all they kept saying was we've got to score, then maybe they'll attack. Also they couldn't believe how we tried to play out from the back too dangerous
They were trying to be fair to us all night to their credit but you could tell they thought we were shite
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
I think some on here need to get to grips with a few basic facts. All the teams in this league bar the 3 promoted teams were playing tough competitive football throughout June and majority of July. They by en large have settled squads from that time playing to a higher level than we were playing up to March. That is a massive difference in likely fitness levels and cohesion. We have been unfortunate with injuries and absences of some of our better players AND we have to get used to playing in empty stadia..all the other teams also had that experience for many games during June and July. It is not going to be easy, never was and the above facts only highlight some of the difficulties. The squad do not need berating they need our support in whatever way we can give it to them PUSB!!!!

I may be clutching at straws but I'm really hoping the extended break we had is as big a factor as some people are making out and we start to see massive improvement in the coming weeks.
 

Winny the Bish

Well-Known Member
Some stats from last night:

Screenshot 2020-10-28 at 11.03.39.jpg

Screenshot 2020-10-28 at 11.04.55.jpg

Oh and Boro's CB Dijksteel played more key passes than any Coventry player. That's how bad we were going forward last night.
 

oldskyblue58

CCFC Finance Director
Thought we generally kept our shape well and made it difficult for Middlesbrough. Individual errors and decisions cost us. The championship is not as forgiving as L1. We gave the ball away too easily and too often at times. Never really looked like winning it from the get go although I thought we were improved in the second half.

We provide little quality service to Godden who doesnt have any great pace to worry defenders. Midfield is inconsistent and so far lacking quality for much of the games. Wing backs look reasonable going forward but i am not convinced defensively. The 3 at the back are generally OK but prone to errors or lack of concentration. Goal keeper didn't have a great game last night some of his distribution put pressure on his team mates.

Neither side looked that great. We have to learn quickly and toughen up. Early days still but we need to stop this slide quickly. But it is all fixable so not going to panic yet, we can stay in this division
 

PVA

Well-Known Member
Thought we generally kept our shape well and made it difficult for Middlesbrough. Individual errors and decisions cost us. The championship is not as forgiving as L1. We gave the ball away too easily and too often at times. Never really looked like winning it from the get go although I thought we were improved in the second half.

We provide little quality service to Godden who doesnt have any great pace to worry defenders. Midfield is inconsistent and so far lacking quality for much of the games. Wing backs look reasonable going forward but i am not convinced defensively. The 3 at the back are generally OK but prone to errors or lack of concentration. Goal keeper didn't have a great game last night some of his distribution put pressure on his team mates.

Neither side looked that great. We have to learn quickly and toughen up. Early days still but we need to stop this slide quickly. But it is all fixable so not going to panic yet, we can stay in this division

Good post, agree with pretty much all of this.

For 80 minutes it was an OK away performance.

Could have been so different if Shipley was a yard quicker and got to that chance first.
 

chiefdave

Well-Known Member
The championship is not as forgiving as L1.
This pretty much sums it up. In L1 you could make a handful of defensive blunders a game and the opposition still wouldn't get a shot on target. Different story in this division, make a mistake and up pops a £10m striker to punish you.
 
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Sky_Blue_Dreamer

Well-Known Member
If you think about it. the Championship now is a lot stronger than it used to be, as the PL has filled up with foreign players and a lot of old PL standard players have filtered down into the Championship. Fans need to stay patient (fat chance!) and 4th from bottom will do just fine (although if we win our next 10, I want the play offs!!)

PL has been full of foreigners for ages. But now teams have massive squads and hoard young talent in their U23's or send them out on loan. So I don't think quality has particularly filtered down to the Championship or beyond. Any that has has done so mainly because those clubs paid a lot of money to get them there.
 

shepardo01

Well-Known Member
Sheaf outpassed Hamer last night and finished with a better %. Gus's constant 45-yard balls behind their defence didn't help.
There were also numerous instances where Hamers passes were decent progressive passes but our players were not on his wavelength or totally flat footed.
 

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