By Daniel Ragusa
Since arriving on Teesside in the summer of 2014, Adam Clayton has gone on to establish himself as one of Boro’s most important players.
During his four seasons at the club Clayton has played his part in Wembley heartbreak, cup giant-killings, a dramatic final day promotion, a disappointing relegation and an underwhelming play-off campaign.
To say that he’s has had his fair share of ups and downs would be an understatement.
When Aitor Karanka signed Clayton from Huddersfield Town, he was immediately thrown into the heart of Boro’s midfield alongside established captain Grant Leadbitter.
The duo formed a brick-wall of a partnership that became the beating heart of Boro’s 4-2-3-1 and complimented an already impressive back line. Clayton tended to sit back, whilst Leadbitter pushed forward and supported the attack.
The then 25-year-old quickly won the fans’ favour and impressed with his ability to break up opposition play, receive and distribute the ball and his willingness to put his body on the line with his infamous tactical fouls.
Clayton, along with the whole of Teesside, enjoyed a fine season with great memories such as playing and beating his former side Manchester City in the FA Cup.
However, despite their unheralded success, Boro would end the season disappointingly in a 2-0 Play-Off Final defeat to Norwich City.
A year later, Boro had bounced back and won promotion to the Premier League. The 2015/16 season was one in which Clayton built on his strong relationship with Leadbitter as well as his brilliant form of the previous season.
As the Premier League approached, fans wondered how he would adapt to life in England’s top flight, especially considering that Marten De Roon’s arrival had placed question marks over whether he’d maintain his regular first-team slot.
In the opening day draw with Stoke City, Clayton started alongside De Roon in a 4-2-3-1. As the season went on, Boro typically started with three central midfielders – usually Clayton, De Roon and Forshaw.
This more defensive shape meant that Clayton usually deep, allowing Forshaw and De Roon to push forward.
He impressed in this role and Boro on the whole were fairly good defensively during their spell in England’s top flight; it was the lack of goals scored which ultimately saw Boro relegated come May.
The man who signed Clayton, Aitor Karanka, was sacked towards the end of the 16/17 season and when Boro returned to the Championship, Garry Monk took charge.
When the new boss arrived he already had the backbone of a side which only 13 months ago had gained promotion.
Unsurprisingly, Clayton was one of those players, even while Monk juggled his selections in the search for a winning formula, who was a go-to man in the middle of the park, starting the first 12 league games and playing the full 90 minutes in 10 of them.
However, new summer recruit Jonny Howson was preferred alongside Leadbitter when Monk switched to a 4-2-3-1 in mid-October.
The interesting point was that Adam was getting left out of the squad entirely, a very unfamiliar position to find himself in and interestingly, seemingly as a consequence, Boro seemed to be leaking more goals than usual.
As January loomed, rumours were flying about Clayton’s impending departure and as expected, almost every club in the Championship were swooping in to try and capture the experienced midfielder’s signature.
However, on the pitch, expectations weren’t being met and Garry Monk’s chapter at the club came to a stubborn end on the 23rd December.
Just three days later, Tony Pulis was appointed and two games later Clayton was restored to the bench. Over the next few games he became a player who was brought on towards the end of matches in order to nullify any last-gasp action.
He may not have started a game until the 6th of March but he was still a crucial player to have around the squad, as Pulis often stated in press conferences.
Clayton started more and more games towards the end of the season as Boro headed for the play-offs in impressive form. A solid defence was what drove Boro towards their 5th place finish, and Boro’s number 8 played a huge part in that achievement.
Unfortunately, the play-offs didn’t go to plan but nevertheless, there was hope that Boro could build on the foundations built in the 2017/18 season went on and mount a promotion campaign next time round.
Throughout the summer just gone, Clayton was linked with a move to Nottingham Forest that would have seen him reunite with his former manager, Aitor Karanka. However, those rumours never materialised into a permanent move.
Since the season began on the 4th of August, Clayton has played every single league game in the new five at the back system.
As part of this, he sits in his usual defensive midfield role in which he picks up the scraps, breaks up opposition play and wins the ball back.
As the wing-backs push on, he sits back and helps cover the back three behind him, offering his support in the press as well as springing counter attacks for Boro.
He drifts across the pitch in a sidewards crab-like motion and picks up late attacking runs from opposing players. In doing so he takes pressure off his teammates and allows the rest of the midfield to focus on attacking as they know they have Clayts covering their backs.
He will be fully aware that he’s not the quickest of players, so his positional awareness has been essential in mastering the defensive midfield role.
His most impressive performance this season came against Leeds; he earned the Sky Sports Man of the Match award as his side drew 0-0 in an industrious performance which perfectly suited the man at the heart of Boro’s midfield. He stopped everything that came his way, a difficult feat when playing against free-scoring Leeds United under Marcelo Bielsa.
As well as his defensive strength, his ability to keep possession in tight spaces and to play long balls up to the likes of Britt Assombalonga and Martin Braithwaite has been crucial for Pulis’ side going forwards.
He’s got a queue of proven defensive midfielders behind him with the likes of Leadbitter, McNair, and Besic all being able to fulfil that role with ease.
However in my opinion, not one of those players would play it anywhere near to the high standards that Clayton has set.
For years, complaints have been made by many Boro fans.
“He’s too negative.”
“He only passes sideways and backwards.”
“He’s too slow.”
“We’d be more of an attacking threat without him.”
If he wanted to, Adam could reply with all of the stats that have surrounded his industrious time with Boro.
The clean sheets, the tackles, his ball retention, never being sent off, the ground covered, his MOTM awards, his POTS awards, even his TOTS card on FIFA.
The minority of Boro fans who still want him out of the starting XI would only realise how crucial he is to the side once he’s gone.
His consistent excellence should be more appreciated.
The records are clear: when Clayton plays for Middlesbrough, we’re defensively rock solid.
It’s crazy to think that he’s already played 158 league games for us, and you wouldn’t rule him out of playing 158 more. He has all of the leadership capabilities and could easily carry the weight of the captain’s armband.
It’s no coincidence that Boro have only conceded three goals since the season began, helping them towards a current second place position.
He’s the key to solidarity in the side and you can already tell he’s going to be one of the most significant players in a season that will hopefully end with Boro returning to the Premier League.
A car can’t run without an engine. Clayton is Boro’s engine.
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