By Nathan Rayner
Throughout the season so far, Boro fans have grown increasingly frustrated and concerned about their team’s performances, style of play and also the way in which the club is being ran. After only picking up one point from a possible twelve in the last four games, the Boro faithful’s frustration looks to be reaching boiling point.
During pre-season, Boro fans had aspirations of finishing in the top two and gaining automatic promotion to the Premier League at the second time of asking. Tony Pulis had brought the playing staff back into training a lot earlier than the rest of the league which furthered optimism around the club as well as the belief that they were really going to go for it this season.
For a while, it seemed that the team was following suit, with Boro sat in and around the automatic promotion-chasing pack up until mid-December. They had the best defensive record in the Championship (and still do), with only nine goals being conceded until the turn of the year. However, the forward line was far from as effective, and continues to be a major problem.
Having only scored 40 goals from 37 league games this term, Boro’s strikers have not been firing at all this term. Much of the fan-base do not pass blame onto the frontline though, but rather to Tony Pulis’ style of play. It is evident for everyone to see that Pulis has not been able to find the correct blend of fluid, attacking football and defensive prowess that proved to be such a success under the hands of Aitor Karanka from 2014 to 2016 in the Championship. In key areas of the pitch, Boro lack what has worked for the promotion-winning teams of recent Championship seasons, something which is at least partly down to the manager.
One of these key areas is the rigidness of Boro’s wing backs. A centre-back by trade, Ryan Shotton has been a fantastic pro for Boro; however, I don’t believe he has the pace needed to run the channel or consistently deliver the ball into the box with accuracy. Similarly, fan’s favourite George Friend struggles to cope, in some games, with the intensity of those who attack him. In recent years, top Championship sides have utilised their wing-backs, in order to create and defend, and these are immensely important to their systems.
Take Wolves last season as an example. With Barry Douglas (now of Leeds) at left wing-back and Matt Doherty at right wing-back, Wolves had two incredibly agile players who had the ‘legs’ to control their respected channels. Together, these two players chipped in with 9 goals and 19 assists between them (Douglas 5G, 14A, Doherty 4G, 5A). This is something that will not be seen at the Riverside under Pulis due to his belief in employing tall, strong full-backs in wing-back roles which they are not suited to.
The success of utilising agile, ‘nippy’ players as wing-backs has continued to be shown by the top-three sides this season. At Norwich City, academy products Jamal Lewis and Max Aarons have proven to be mainstays in a domineering back four, whilst Leeds have utilised winger Ezgjan Alioski in the left wing-back role in the place of the injured Barry Douglas, with the Macedonian claiming numerous goals and assists for Marcelo Bielsa’s men. And, arguably, the most successful team using a three-back system, similarly to Boro, is Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United. The Blades employ Enda Stevens and George Baldock as cavalier-type wing-backs who are vital in making their system tick.
You may argue that Boro don’t have the players to play in these roles but Cyrus Christie and Fabio da Silva, two players let go by Pulis, would no doubt suit its responsibilities had they stayed at the club.
Boro’s failure to utilise more athletic players in the wing-back roles leads onto the overall issue of what means of creativity we have on the flanks. Pulis has explained from pre-season, and all the way through the first half of the season, that Boro needed wingers. With Stewart Downing and Marcus Tavernier on the books, it begs the question as to why Pulis wouldn’t start both of them on opposite wings.
However, in early January, tricky Huddersfield Town winger, Rajiv van La Parra, was brought to the Riverside on a loan deal until the end of the season. Since then though, RVLP has only featured in five games and never for the full ninety minutes. Van La Parra has cut a rather frustrated figure as a result, with the Dutchman posting a series of cryptic messages on his social media, perhaps evidencing a strain in his relationship with Tony Pulis.
The issue of creativity has been at the forefront of Boro’s problems and another one of the reasons for this is the saga of Stewart Downing. The Boro academy graduate has been at the centre of contractual problems since December, amid speculation that he could not start another Championship match without a clause in his contract being triggered that would increase his wage packet.
The loss of Downing has somewhat coincided with Boro falling away from the automatic promotion places and into the sights of the play-off chasing pack, with his last start in the league being against Ipswich Town on the 28th of December. Downing is a player who makes the team much better with his quality and experience. The former England international provides a calming influence to the rest of the side, and this, coupled with his passing ability helped Boro massively in the first half of the season.
Despite not being fully appreciated by small minorities of the Boro faithful, it is evident to see that the Teessider is still one of the club’s best players, as was shown when he was substituted on at Villa Park. Despite only playing an hour, Downing was Boro’s shining light in a below-par performance, with lots of attempts to create chances, come deep to collect the ball and play it forward. With his contract set to expire in the summer, it is in the hands of the club and Downing’s representatives whether or not they can agree a compromise and give Downing the chance to start for Boro again.
A lot of the players looked rather dejected and subdued after the full time whistle at Villa Park last week. Watching on from the stands, the team were far from the unit that was portrayed in the huddle in front of the away end before kick-off. Many players sat on the turf, overlooked by the Holte End, dazed and seemingly out of ideas. They rose to their feet and trudged towards the corner to applaud a, now, rather empty away end. John Obi Mikel apologised to the small section of Boro fans still inside Villa Park as the gap to the chasing pack grew increasingly shorter.
Now, with a tough run of fixtures against Norwich City, Bristol City, and Swansea City to come after the international break, is it time for Pulis to make a switch in his rather rigid system? Or is it in the best interests of the team, or even the club’s hierarchy, to force change?
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