We close 2013 by praising Aitor Karanka's impact on Boro, while wondering if the transfer window will – or really should – make that much of difference
Yesterday, Aitor Karanka's revitalised Boro gave the Royals a right rollicking to wrap up what was threatening to be our most dismal year in memory on the highest note possible.
Three wins, six goals, three clean sheets, new momentum, newly found confidence, and a new attacking hero. There are few better Christmas presents any Boro fan could ask for.
Before Karanka's first game in charge, I asked three questions: Is he a strong enough motivator? Is he enough of a visionary? And will he choose to build on the positives already inherent in the Boro system, or reshape the whole system in his own image?
I think, so far, we can say that the answers to those questions are: yes, yes, and a bit of both.
The attacking full-backs strategy merged with Teesside "tiki-taka" that I thought might work so well at the start of the season has been virtually thrown out the window.
In its place, AK has installed crucial solidity in the centre of the park – witness his preference of Richie Smallwood or the improving Dean Whitehead alongside Grant Leadbitter, as opposed to the more obviously creative Jacob Butterfield.
Neither the engine room nor the back four neglects their defensive responsibilities – especially not the full-backs, who, in Anthony Vickers' words, have "had their wings clipped and their attacking instincts reigned in." Rightly so, I might add.
For it means that any Boro wide man, be it Muzzy Carayol, Albert Adomah or Emmanuel Ledesma, has a calming, sturdy presence behind them on either flank – currently Jozsef Varga and George Friend, respectively. And I have no doubt that if the likes of Frazer Richardson and Ben Gibson need to be called upon to fill those positions, they will do so with a minimum of fuss. Our defence feels like a collective now, a crucial building block from which Boro first eked out, then enjoyed, their most recent results.
These wins appear to have turned AK into, if he wasn't already, a respected, formidable presence at Boro. Once the pressure was relieved at Millwall, the players began to believe, and freedom of expression on the park is more apparent.
AK seems to have taken a leaf out of both the Javier Clemente and Jorge Valdano books: the former's Basque philosophy of "faith" and "hard work" combined with Valdano's belief that "while the concept of team is very important, you need individuals to go to the next level."
Boro's first and second goals were perfect examples of this: Ledesma was rightly praised for his cross, but Lukas Jutkiewicz's headed knock back for Adomah's beautifully struck shot was also as crisp and decisive as they come. Similarly, Leadbitter's visionary strike followed on from good work by Ledesma. Team work and individualism rolled into one – lovers of The Beautiful Game would find much to admire in AK's Boro at present.
To me, these players, all leftovers from the Mogga regime bar the reassuring presence of Shay Given, have always had potential. Perhaps it just took a managerial change to help them fulfil it.
Alas, there are downsides to this. Whether you deem them to be major or minor is up to you.
Karanka is currently being hailed as a saviour of sorts, but this recent change of fortune, as we know, has arrived unplanned. If Carayol hadn't been forced off with a groin injury, or if Rhys Williams, Frazer Richardson and Stuart Parnaby hadn't been injured or on compassionate leave, would Varga and Ledesma have even had the chance to cement themselves as Boro's new heroes? And would we be celebrating today?
There's also the pressing matter of what to do once the loan spells of both Given and Daniel Ayala end.
Furthermore, AK has not yet built his own team. He has almost entirely taken – let's use those words again – "leftovers from the Mogga regime" and reinvented them in his own image.
Were he to tinker too much in the transfer window, and were this tinkering to prove unsuccessful, crucial momentum could be disrupted and vital team spirit could be damaged.
Of course, as far as Boro managers go, AK is not the sole potential victim of The Dreaded Leftover Curse. Gareth Southgate’s best results in his first season, particularly the 5-1 win over Bolton and 4-1 win over Watford, in 2007, owed a lot to midfielders who had prospered under Steve McClaren (James Morrison, Lee Cattermole, George Boateng and Stewart Downing) and of course a well known Boro strikeforce.
Fast forward to the 3-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa in late 2007, and Boro are described as “half the team they were minus Yakubu and (Mark) Viduka". The leftovers were not adequately replaced – and Boro, and eventually Southgate, paid the price.
Similarly, Gordon Strachan's freak 5-1 triumph over QPR in 2009 and 4-1 win over Doncaster early the next year were mainly inspired by Southgate leftovers, particularly Sean St. Ledger (yes... do you remember his defence-splitting pass at Loftus Road?), Isaiah Osbourne (I know, who?), Gary O'Neil, Mark Yeates, Leroy Lita, Jonathan Franks and of course Adam Johnson.
And even the twelve months of "Moggalution" in 2011 were very dependent indeed on the Strachan spine of Stephen McManus, Nicky Bailey, Barry Robson and Scott McDonald. Even Kevin Thomson (yes!) chipped in with the odd fine pass. As that spine slowly disappeared, so did Mogga's and Boro's confidence – to this day, I wonder if that was a coincidence.
Now, Given aside, Karanka is working with almost an entire collection of Mogganauts.
Perhaps too much tinkering, as a certain Claudio Ranieri once found out, is more trouble than it is worth?
I'll leave you to ponder that as we close 2013. For now, I wish you all a Happy New Year!
Up The Boro!
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