Middlesbrough Post Match 1-0 Defeat

[jmono84]

1 minute ago, Thequickbrownfox said:

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.

You don’t think they were defending deep??

[TheStig]

HMS Piss the League.....

[Lillehamring]

6 minutes ago, Nod.E said:

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.

yes - a back heel from vestergaard on the edge of the box was the real brain fart here.

[Matt]

Didn't sound great, sounded very frustrating but as i've said before without going full Pep, Klopp, Man City, Spain, Liverpool or Rodri the opposition we're always going to make it tough for us, not 'play our game' and not play into our hands, obviously, that's the idea and credit to them they did it well.

 

It's up to us, Enzo, the players to find a way around that - We have shown we can mix it up, play in different ways but we need to improve on that, big time!

 

Very frustrated, not happy but 2 losses in a row now, get angry, use the bitter sting to make them focus and they've got 2 weeks now to stew on it and work on it - use that for positive change!

 

Edited 11 November 2023 by Matt

[Supergray22]

5 minutes ago, jonny_wright said:

Pathetic our front 3 really, Vardy, nacho and Daka haven’t done themselves any favours if they they aspire for moves (Vardy aside, he’s just past it)

I don’t think it was just nacho today. Our wingers were ooor. At least fatawu had a go at beating his man when he came on and showed a bit of direct wing play. We hardly got any balls across the back line all game. Midfield was not so bad. I thought we missed Ndidi more against Leeds to be honest. Winks and Ricky were decent and kdh was good in midfield but wasteful in attack particularly with his shots. Defensively again we were a bit meh but our attacking play let us down today and we seem to have lost our way a bit in this respect over the last few games. 

[Unabomber]

Just now, TheStig said:

HMS Piss the League.....

Personally I would stick with enzo as I think Pearson couldn’t help us now but makes you think. 

[WigstonWanderer]

9 minutes ago, oxtonfox said:

Plan B Wiggo? You're having a laugh - it's Plan A with intensity, clinicality, frustratingly, possessiony. Very frustrating....

Wiggo? I like it 😂

[jmono84]

Just now, Lillehamring said:

yes - a back heel from vestergaard on the edge of the box was the real brain fart here.

He looked good again today but doing that was fvcking stupid.

[Jonezy]

We really created enough openings to win this, but holy moly was the front three underperforming massively. Kelechi looked like he had been on the smoke all morning and Mavidid running into blind alleys all game. Just the kind of game where a well playing Jannik decides to top the brainfart charts for todays match with that backheel ending up giving the freekick. Kudos to Greenwood for that top bin belter though.

 

Frustrating stuff and really dissapointed with this reaction after the Leeds defeat. Enzo needs to get them fired up again.

[Trent Steel]

is Enzo another Rodgers and no plan b ?

 

seems like it, just keep playing the same way and hope we scrape it......

[Joe90lcfc]

I’m hoping the bottle mentality doesn’t creep back in from last season, 

[fuchsntf]

Knee-jerk,I know..

But Mavididi and Nachos 2 left feet,( or is it 4 left feet) stopped us scoring ..

Vestergaard cost us the draw..

 

This was coming,because our urgency and disciplined ball control,in last third in first half

let us down again..

The interpretation of Enzoball is getting ridiculously too slow..Arrogance..??
 

After Leeds I did expect a better tighter response,just on today Mavididi , Mcateer,Nacho we’re really

off the pace and team wave lengths.

 

That said , it was on the cards ( dropping points) away from home against an emerging team.

The championship is now settling down, next 5 games,test our mettle for the rest of the season..

And yes across the board,too many fans & pundits spoke too soon..

I hope I can still keep my feet on the ground…Our season starts after the International break,big test

first. Up No Winks…!

[Unabomber]

Just now, Trent Steel said:

is Enzo another Rodgers and no plan b ?

 

seems like it, just keep playing the same way and hope we scrape it......

You think enzo is another Rodgers? Seriously? 

[trugerkem]

Just once in a while when we have a free kick 30 yards from goal I would like us to cross it into the opposing area instead of it being passed backwards and ending up with Hermanson …. Apart from that … we had enough chances to win 3 games ….  

[DerbyshireFox]

Middlesbrough looked out on their feet after the hour and we didn’t capitalise on it. The only chances they had were from set plays. Couldn’t work out who was playing where first half, everyone seemed all over the pitch. Nacho had a shocker, was in our own third getting the ball off Mads first half and didn’t stretch their backline at all. Wasted a couple of good chances. Felt like the goal was coming but went their way. Credit to them, great free kick. Hopefully just a blip. 

[Lillehamring]

6 minutes ago, tickler28 said:

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.

But we played today exactly the way we played when we won 13 games out of 14.  The three games we have lost this season have all really come from bad form in the final third, nothing to do with our tactics.

I do agree that we need to be more versatile, but as for overcomplicating, on the contrary he's actually over-simplifying things.

[Lillehamring]

7 minutes ago, lee7 said:

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! 

It doesn't really help things that the 'focus' of our attack is nacho, who might as well not be on the pitch.

First half KDH knocks back a header for an easy tap in, nacho didn't even move.

[Trent Steel]

3 minutes ago, Unabomber said:

You think enzo is another Rodgers? Seriously? 

no i dont but he seemed not to be able to change it when it started going south, seemed to run out of ideas

[Unabomber]

Just now, Trent Steel said:

no i dont but he seemed not to be able to change it when it started going south, seemed to run out of ideas

We were well on top they scored a fk. Not sure what he should do

[kingfox]

As dominant as we’ve been in terms of points, certain elements of this team still look unconvincing.

 

Our ‘8’s, wingers and strikers have all been too hit & miss so far this season, certain players need to start showing some consistency in their performances, otherwise we’ll end up getting caught sooner rather than later.

[dannythefox]

Once again no plan B, could cost us heavily this.

[David Hankey]

Can't score, won't win. Fairly simple really.

 

Perhaps Enzo needs a refresher course with Pep?

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, dannythefox said:

Once again no plan B, could cost us heavily this.

If plan A was strikers who can finish, not sure what plan B looks like in this instance 

[Guest Sideshow Faes]

First half was even but in the last few minutes they created two great chances.

 

Second half we were the better team and pushing for a goal before they got one.

 

It wasn't a disaster but we are a little light when it comes to quality at the top end. Needs to be resolved in January and hopefully these results and Enzo clearly not believing he has enough on the bench will lead to further movement in January.

[Thequickbrownfox]

8 minutes ago, jmono84 said:

You don’t think they were defending deep??

Teams aren't going hell for leather against us, but they aren't completely sitting back and almost happy to only lose 2-0 now. Teams will be quite defensive against us, but it's a subtle and worrying little change at the moment.