The season of goodwill is again upon us.
And what’s currently stirring up goodwill within this writer and fan is how Boro always seem to counter, or come up with answers to, troubling issues or questions that have arisen this season on cue.
Once upon a time, in late September to be exact, I was concerned that we had not won a league fixture at home since the opening day, had not won by more than a single goal, and that Grant Leadbitter and Kike were virtually our only goal sources. Lo and behold, Brentford were dismantled at the Riverside, with Patrick Bamford and Albert Adomah both scoring goals.
But then Bamford went on a drought. By Saturday October 25, I pondered if he was actually right for Boro’s style of play, or if Boro could even do anything for him. That very day, he had his best game of the season to date at home to Watford, and has since scored five times in six games.
The following Saturday, I feared that Boro were overreliant on the inconsistent Lee Tomlin. Yes, you guessed it. Boro strolled to victory at Rotherham that day and Tomlin didn’t even start.
And then there was my statement last week: for all our attacking talent, I said, we need to score more goals.
My joy of being proved delightfully wrong by Jelle Vossen’s first half treble at the New Den couldn’t have been greater. And Tomlin didn’t even play.
Aitor Karanka’s tactical acumen came up trumps in the best possible manner. The return of Adam Clayton took the turbo-charging responsibilities away from a more advanced player such as Tomlin and enabled our head coach to field what proved to be a highly effective 4-4-2, with Albert Adomah in his preferred right-wing position and the constantly improving Adam Reach on the left.
Our front men deservedly got showered in praise, and I’ll come to them later. But to me, what really helped make a difference at the New Den was our balanced four man midfield, the ideal combination of power, poise, vision and discipline, players who knew their roles and played in their most favoured positions.
It was not full of Roy Of The Rovers “heroes” who try to win the game all by themselves! (Yes, Steven Gerrard, I’m talking about players of your ilk.) Under AK’s tutelage, Reach has moved far beyond that stereotype. His hold-up play and intelligence, visible in his assists for Bamford’s first goal and Vossen’s second, was something to behold.
But on to the forwards – the men who scored the goals that gave us our joint largest away win of the Riverside years: exactly five years and one day to the afternoon of another London mauling, Boro’s 5-1 triumph over QPR at Loftus Road. Back then, reuniting two strikers who understood one another – Leroy Lita and Dave Kitson – paid dividends.
Last Saturday, it was all about playing Vossen where he is most suited – in the outright striker’s role. His hat-trick was a combination of audacity, placement and opportunism, qualities reminiscent of a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink-type player. (If he goes on to score free-kicks like Jimmy did, I certainly won’t complain.)
Bamford continued to establish qualities I had already noticed at Wigan and at home to Blackburn – nifty footwork, strength and invaluable hold-up play either as a goal scorer or goal-maker. These are all attributes that remind one of Mark Viduka on his best days.
As for Kike, while his record of two goals since September 20 and his heading ability (or lack of it) remain issues, his teamwork, persistence and vision cannot be ignored. He is not like Yakubu – he is not the kind to go entirely missing on his worst days, rather, he is the sort of forward entirely in sync with Boro’s current style of play. Better, perhaps, to liken him to Hamilton Ricard, except not as enigmatic – a footballing front man who always offers something to the team.
So where do Boro stand now? Well, still at a crossroads of sorts. The strength of the squad’s not in doubt (it never really has been for much of the season, even at our lowest ebb) but, as the aftermath of two other famous 5-1 wins – England’s over Germany in 2001, and our own win by the same score line over QPR – taught us, such great occasions bring no promise of success, even in the Championship.
Vossen’s hat-trick could either be the beginning of a big goal spree or a one-off happenstance, as Afonso Alves’ double against Manchester United in 2008 and Carlos Marinelli’s double against Derby in 2001 were. Not likely, but not impossible, and consistency has always been Boro’s Holy Grail. And, worse still, Derby, Bournemouth and Ipswich also won last week, keeping Boro in 4th place. But in another way, that is a good thing: it encourages Boro not to rest on their laurels. And when Derby come to the Riverside, we most certainly won’t.
Even without Karanka on the touchline, it’s time for Beefy Boro to cheese off Big Mac again.
(Originally published online at GazetteLive on December 12, 2014.)
No comments:
Post a Comment