Our fan panel’s current mission is to discover what has motivated Boro’s upturn in form in front of goal.
Middlesbrough are in excellent form as they prepare for Wednesday’s match. Three wins in three games have propelled them back into the top six, and their goal-scoring ability has played a significant role.
After struggling early in the season to convert chances into goals, Michael Carrick’s team has suddenly gone goal-crazy. They’ve scored 15 goals in their last three games, and they’ve scored four or more goals in every three of them, a feat not accomplished in 77 years.
So, what prompted the turnaround? We asked our Boro fan panel about it. Have they noticed a new emphasis in Boro’s play, are certain players stepping up or doing something different, or is it simply a matter of guys regaining confidence and eventually finishing the opportunities they were constantly creating?
This week’s panel includes Phil Spencer, Dana Malt (Boro Breakdown co-host), Chris Cassidy (Boropolis co-founder), and John Donovan (Twe12th Man).
Dana Malt
Some may believe Boro have swept the board with tactical tweaks, given their significant improvement in front of goal, but I don’t believe anything has changed in terms of how we line up.
The biggest change, however, has been the addition of one player: Ben Doak. Boro now has someone who is not only an outlet due to the system – he is the one who provides width on the right flank – but also someone who can exploit space in behind with his skill set. He’s very direct, using his muscle and quickness to disturb an opposing backline and forward Boro’s play into dangerous areas of the box.
I also believe that Doak has brought out the best in Finn Azaz, and vice versa, and that Azaz and Emmanuel Latte Lath complement each other well elsewhere. It sounds simple, but maybe it’s just a matter of Michael Carrick finding the proper combination of qualities up front.
Perhaps there is also some variation at play. As much as we Boro fans like to believe that the football club has walked under multiple ladders, our bad luck, wastefulness, or whatever you want to call it, was not going to persist forever. As many prophesied, there would come a time when we would smack down a team (or three).
John Donovan
It is tough to attribute our recent surge in goals to a single component of our game or a single player. We performed well in the majority of games, as evidenced by our metrics, but did not receive the results we deserved.
Some of our performances have been below standard, particularly against Sunderland, Bristol City, and Coventry. They call it fine margins, but we were guilty of our own downfall in many games – silly errors, gilt-edged chances missed, key moments in games.
For a while now the general opinion has been that we’ll give someone a good hiding. That has happened in the last three games, and no doubt it will help the confidence of several players. And confidence is something that comes on the pitch with good results, not on the training ground or from a tactics meeting.
Key moments like Tommy Conway’s missed penalty at Norwich, Hayden Hackney’s rush of blood vs Coventry, Seny Dieng’s return to top form against his old club and Latte Lath’s penalty last weekend, can change the course of a game. I think there were opinions exchanged after the Coventry game and we have since tightened up at the back and mixed up how Dieng distributes the ball.
Michael Carrick deserves great credit for handling team selection to keep players hungry and determined to take their chance when it comes along. We’ve had a great week, but this is the Championship, anything can happen. I’m sure the boss will remain level headed throughout. Stay with the boys.
Chris Cassidy
When we were asked at the back end of October what was Middlesbrough’s biggest problem in attack, I wrote about Boro’s conversion rate compared to their underlying data. However, I also touched on personnel. Namely, Finn Azaz and Emmanuel Latte Lath.
At the time of writing, the pair only had three goal contributions between them, zero of which were from open play. They’d also missed a collective eleven big chances. They now have a combined total of twenty-one goal contributions.
It’s not quite as simple as saying they’ve just started putting their chances away, though. Indeed, I’d say there are a handful of reasons for Boro’s upturn in front of goal. Firstly, Michael Carrick’s man management, and mainly his management of Latte Lath.
Despite his poor form, there were still a few raised eyebrows when the Ivorian forward was dropped to the bench against Sheffield United, and even after his match-winner, Latte Lath had to wait another three games for a return to the starting eleven. It’s proved a masterstroke and undoubtedly given Boro’s number nine a bit between the teeth to prove the doubters wrong. Some might even call it a wake-up call.
Secondly, Ben Doak. We all know he himself is brilliant, but I think we’re now seeing the impact his growing reputation is also having on the rest of the team. Often, teams will now double and triple up on the Scottish sensation, and coincidentally that appears to be leaving Finn Azaz with the freedom to pick up really promising pockets of space, but more importantly, the additional time to make the right decisions in the final third.
Lastly, I don’t think the mental aspect of it all can be understated. Up until Luton, Finn Azaz hadn’t even scored at the Riverside. Not even thirty minutes after his first, he had his second. It’s an age-old way of thinking, but it’s no shock that Latte Lath has also gone on a run not long after breaking his goal drought. That part of it might not be able to be quantified in terms of a stat, but it certainly can’t be disregarded.
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