Command, Composure And Confidence From Boro: Just In Time For Christmas

It hasn't always been easy to enjoy Boro's league games in 2015-16.

Despite regularly hovering around the top, if not at *the* top, of the Championship, doubts have lingered over whether Boro can make it count by May.

That the team's attacking qualities aren't being fully utilised, that they might not be able to fully bounce back from the most serious setbacks, and so on.

Almost every single element in those doubts was extinguished by a display of clinical, composed professionalism on Saturday afternoon: a crucial, confidence-building, hoodoo-breaking victory, the ultimate riposte to anyone who thought Aitor Karanka's Boro were simply all about stifling the opposition, winning ugly, clinging on to one goal leads and anything else associated with catenaccio.

Last season, when Boro had visited Ipswich and a promotion rival on the South Coast, they had walked away with 2-0 and 3-0 defeats respectively.

How delightful it is to head home for the Christmas season knowing that both scorelines are reversed, in performances that fully merit the scores, making it three wins out of five against top six teams this season.

(It may have been four but for Johnny Russell's late goal for Derby in August. No wonder Aitor was angry.)

In many ways, I believed Brighton to be 2015-16's Championship Bournemouth: South Coast Underdogs turned Top Dogs who seemed to regularly get the right result at the right time, with the added bonuses of an attacking style and some players who can really make a difference, including a talented Wilson up front.

A closer inspection will tell you the similarities stop there: where the Cherries scored by the bucket load, the Seagulls hadn't won by more than a single goal and had drawn too many.

Furthermore, Boro arrived at the Amex with a hugely impressive recent record at the stadium: three consecutive victories prior to Saturday, with one goal conceded.

Still, those were no reasons to take Brighton lightly. Chris Hughton's spirited side have, at least so far, shown themselves to be more than up to keeping pace with the other promotion challengers. Their until-recently-unbeaten league record is testament to this.

It was an occasion that called for organisation, creativity and ruthlessness from the men in red. All three qualities were present in the performance, the perfect table-topping Christmas present for Boro fans.

Even at 3-0 up, and with his currently unemployed mentor watching in the stands, Karanka had undoubtedly drilled a "no slacking" mindset into the team, his determination to keep yet another clean sheet passing through to them once more.

Every time, when one Boro defender slipped up, another player was ready to clear, tackle or bring the ball out in his place.

For a clean sheet is a statement of three C's – command, comfort and confidence. The less goals you concede, the more results you will get, and the more confidence will build, encouraging more openness in your play.

And there was plenty of that on Saturday. The first goal was as good as any Boro team goal I've seen this year, a string of passes featuring intelligent link play and off-the-ball movement along with individual skill from Adam Clayton and Albert Adomah.

It seemed a given that the hungry and eager-to-prove-a-point Kike would convert Adomah's cross. He later provided a cross of his own, converted by Cristhian Stuani. A resurgence worth celebrating, although we might not be celebrating it at all but for David Nugent's recent moment of madness. But that's football; one player's absence opens the door for another to surprise us all.

More surprising still was that Boro looked like they were doing a Typical Boro to Brighton! That is to say, it was not Boro, but Brighton who choked when the opportunity to establish themselves at the top presented itself, conceding at the worst possible times. All their possession simply didn't, or couldn't, matter.

With Emilio Nsue, Diego Fabbrini, Clayton and especially the imperious Dani Ayala all having notable cracks at goal, you felt Boro could score from anywhere, any time.

But perhaps most commendable was the way Karanka organised the "attacking three" behind the lone front man.

Kike, or Nugent, plays as a combination of a “False 9” and an actual number 9; that is to say, someone who can hold up the ball and run for the team, in addition to scoring goals. A true team player.

Sometimes, however, too much is demanded of the No. 9, to the point where he may be too exhausted to take the chances that come his way.

In my view, AK got around this at Brighton by playing Stewart Downing in his now favoured No. 10 role, giving Downing and Adam Clayton the freedom to pass the ball around in attack while Grant Leadbitter shielded the backline.

The offensive flanks, meanwhile, were nicely balanced: one orthodox winger to take on defenders and cross, one "supply striker" to carry the ball forward and cut inside if need be. Stuani was very good at this, especially on the break; his powerful presence on the right allowed Kike to move around accordingly in the area. By Kike's substitution, on the hour mark, they looked to have formed a good understanding.

If you then go with John Powls' theory from late November, that Nugent can be effective on the left, you have two options of a well balanced flank, with Adomah moving to his natural right in that case. Even if Adomah's not available, there's always Nsue; and with Tomas Kalas still around and with injured players to return, there will be plenty of cover at right-back.

That's all very well. But there is still room for improvement as we approach the transfer window. The idea of two wingers on the flanks as a game changing option is still tantalising: will AK recall Adam Reach or Yanic Wildschut while Carlos De Pena continues to settle in? And if he does, how will they adapt?

But that's for another time.

For now, Happy Holidays... and Up The Boro!

(Originally published online at the Teesside Gazette on December 23, 2015.) Read more...

Boro Are Looking Stronger Than Ever... But A Little More Magic Wouldn't Go Amiss

As the final whistle blew at Hillsborough nearly a fortnight ago, ending a hoodoo stretching back six years, my attention turned to the man-of-the-match performance of Aitor Karanka's Mr. Reliable, Daniel Ayala.

Towards the end of last season he brought a tear to the eye for both good and bad reasons – against the same opponents. Directly after a Carrow Road victory that would do more harm than good in the long run, it was impossible not to admire Ayala's progress under Karanka.

Once upon a time, he had been erratic, inconsistent and temperamental. Now he was a tower of strength, an indisputable force. (So too, incidentally, was Fernando Amorebieta in his brief substitute appearance, which is why Karanka's re-signing of him pleases me. Although I don't know what that means for Dael Fry. Maybe AK still wants him under the radar?)

That was just one of a series of consistently excellent performances from Ayala in 2014-15. Unfortunately, one tends not to be remembered for the quantity disappointing showings, no shows or mistakes, but the quality. When Ayala slipped up, it just happened to be in the play-off final at Wembley, and the one time he was beaten in the air at Derby this season, it led to an equaliser from the home side.

It's possible that AK couldn't turn on his protege, so he turned on Albert Adomah: one of many things that led to Albertgate. Although hopefully that's all water under the bridge now Adomah's back in training this week. We'll have to wait and see.

But any fears that Albertgate might wear the team down against Sheffield Wednesday were unfounded. UTB, aka Up The Boro, became UBK, aka United Behind Karanka, as Boro pulled together and produced the away performance of the season so far.

Naturally, there were pre-match grumblings. Why Adam Reach? Why is Muzzy Carayol being sent out on loan again? Why can't AK and Albert just work out their differences? Why is Christian Stuani playing on the right wing (even though he has played there for Uruguay)? Why Emilio Nsue, not Tomas Kalas? And so on.

But those issues shouldn't have mattered, and ultimately didn't. What mattered was that the players Karanka put out on the pitch had a job to do, and they went out there and did it well. Kike, Reach, Stuani, Diego Fabbrini, Stewart Downing, David Nugent and every other red shirted player on the pitch all stood up to be counted, exhibiting a strength in depth that was amplified with another cracking cameo from Adam Forshaw.

Ah yes. Adam Forshaw. I'm sure many will be hoping that Karanka “comes to his senses” and starts him in place of either Grant Leadbitter or Adam Clayton in the next game. And I personally admit that it would be good to see him given a start against MK Dons. But I'm also aware that many were clamouring for Reach to be given more games under Tony Mowbray when virtually all we knew him for were those Reachy Rockets. We may want to see more of the Frys and Forshaws at the expense of more established players, but AK will be all too aware of the danger of getting ahead of ourselves.

He'll also be aware that we have hardly had the most consistent opening to this campaign, despite a record that pretty much mirrors that of 1997-98's first five league matches: two wins, two draws, one defeat and seven goals, with the defeat at home to an unheralded side (for Bristol City today, read Stoke City back then).

Then again, it is arguable that consistency can be over-rated in some ways.

As Len Masterman has said on Untypical Boro, fear of failure, or making mistakes, is damaging to creativity. Over-emphasis on control and the right result at all costs runs the risk of nullifying spontaneity, mystery and imagination.

Take the record-breaking Wayne Rooney. He may have been scoring goals regularly for years, and may continue to score them regularly. But what happened to those eye-popping runs, jaw dropping finishes and game-changing moments that briefly had numerous punters and pundits believing they'd seen the English Pele?

We will always welcome consistency (there's that word again) and teamwork, yet it is football's unpredictabilities, even its frustrating imperfections, that make the sport, those who play it and the clubs we follow what they are. It's what separates the Adam Claytons of this world from the Diego Fabbrinis and Lee Tomlins: we will always admire the former, but with the latter, there will always be the chance that you'll see something you won't quite believe.

This is why I wholeheartedly applaud the arrival of Carlos De Pena.

He looks like a genuine "wild card", the relatively unknown joker in the pack who might just turn a game or amaze us all with a pass, turn, shot, dummy or cross. Or maybe all five.

He's given us another reason to look forward to Saturday: the possibility that there might be a little more magic on the pitch.

And for that, I am exceptionally grateful.

Up The Boro! Read more...

Wembley Heartbreak Must Be A Springboard For Greater Achievements

One of the biggest challenges any football person – be he or she a fan, a writer, a player, a manager or a chairperson – faces, after a season packed to the brim with what if's, if only's and happy memories ends on what feels like the saddest note of them all, is this: how do you regroup, recharge and brace yourself for the task that lies ahead, knowing that everything that's happened could be just as spirit-crushing as revitalising?

I was as devastated as any of you when Mike Dean got ready to blow the final whistle on both the play-off final and Boro's hopes of promotion in 2014-15. For what seemed like quite a while, I sat there with my head in my hands, and not a word was spoken or written as I came to terms with the harsh reality of a season that promised everything ultimately amounting to nothing.

But I am prioritising reflection over sentiment. I cannot, and I will not, dwell on near misses, stories of injustice and hard luck stories. They happen for every club. Everything adds up over the course of a season. It would be far too easy to point fingers at the two defeats to rivals Leeds that were hardly deserved, the dropped points against Blackburn, or two points out of twelve, and a solitary goal, against the two automatically promoted teams.

You could just as easily point to the one point from four games against Sheffield Wednesday and Reading. There is no guarantee that Boro would have gone up automatically had they taken six points, not two, from the Blackburn games. Nor is it certain that Boro would have gotten all the right results if Daniel Ayala, and later Patrick Bamford, hadn't succumbed to injury. Teams adjust and try to improve according to their rivals' results, their own disappointing results, and their own injuries. That's football.

It comes down to how one looks at it. Some may look back on the season as a whole and acknowledge that Boro were simply found wanting when it mattered most, that they just fell short at the final hurdle against superior opposition. Others may refuse to accept that Boro's class of 2014-15 were simply not good enough to win promotion, let alone the Championship, however attainable both aims may have once seemed.

Yet the fact is, painful though it is to admit it, Alex Neil's Norwich made Boro look ordinary. And for those who believed that there was no way Boro could not go up after that Jolly January, that was an extremely bitter pill to swallow. The season's magnificent memories, which were aplenty, were temporarily replaced by something akin to the post-Eindhoven hangover, a year's work seemingly wiped out in a matter of minutes, the brave Boro heroes being outclassed, out fought and outplayed.

The hidden fear of Aitor Karanka's over reliance on composure, control and clean sheets exploded into a plodding and painful reality on a Bank Holiday Monday. It was a problem evident from the very beginning of the season. As far back as Boro's 1-0 defeat to Leeds last August, the team had exhibited a preference for stylishly imposing a platform of dictation on their way to victory. Later on in the season, early goals, extremely stingy defending, or both, would tend to lead to memorable wins.

All of those things were on display at Wembley – from the team in yellow! Sebastian Bassong was everything Daniel Ayala normally is and a little bit more, a tower of strength with great positional sense and a muscular build. Ayala himself will be remembered for the wrong reasons, his gamble on Mike Dean awarding a free kick that never game horribly backfiring. Whether Dean was wrong or not is irrelevant. Footballers have a responsibility to play to the whistle, and Ayala didn't, opening the door for a slightly unexpected Cameron Jerome opener and a heartbreaking second from Nathan Redmond not long after.

We hoped that the team would summon the Spirit Of Steaua, that they would adapt to such unexpected setbacks. But this wasn't Brentford, Huddersfield or Blackpool. This was a Norwich side with plenty of Premiership experience, who had learned their lessons from losing twice to Boro in the league. They repeatedly marked in trios or quartets, squeezing the penetration out of Boro's passing and skilfully cutting off all supply to an isolated Patrick Bamford.

Boro had built a reputation on making strong attacks, especially Manchester City's, virtually redundant by not allowing them the time and space to do their thing, draining their confidence and gleefully poking holes in their defence. What felt most painful of all was Norwich's reversal of the roles: to put it simply, Alex Neil's side did a Boro on Boro.

Once again we had learnt the hard way that things were all well and good until Boro played a team good enough or pacy enough to rough them out of their rhythm, to upset their mentality. Heretical though this sounds, the tag of Boro's Clean Sheet Kings was both a blessing and a curse. We weren't so commanding when we didn't keep a clean sheet or didn't score the first goal.

We now face 2015-16 in a less certain state of mind. Everyone now knows how to play Boro. The stock of both the manager and certain players has risen; hungry vultures may be gearing up to swoop and put a spanner in Boro's works. Bamford, Dean Whitehead and Ryan Fredericks have already gone, and more will surely follow.

I can hear the voices. “Like Liverpool last year, we may never get a better chance than this to succeed...”, “We only had to draw against Watford and Bournemouth...”, “We've underachieved...”

Wait, hang on. “Underachieved”?

Looking at the final match of the season from another point-of-view suggests that Boro might have, in fact, overachieved a little. We actually have plenty to be proud of, as the Gazette writers and my fellow bloggers have rightly pointed out.

Behind the gloss of being managed by The Special One's Apprentice and attracting some big names of the future, albeit on loan, it should also be remembered that Aitor Karanka is only in his first full season, and the majority of most of the squad's experience is in the Football League. Being shown up as a slower and more ponderous version of Norwich during one game simply suggests something that Karanka may have known all along: pace was never going to be Boro's strongest point, so he prioritised faith, work rate, organisation, power, placement and control. True, we also lacked width and spontaneity, but there is nothing to suggest that these can't be worked upon in the close season.

Remember too that Boro's was the best defensive model in the division. That's “defensive model”, not just “defence.” By sticking to this blueprint, Boro will retain the foundations for a promotion campaign no matter who remains in charge of the Riverside. Or who plays.

A properly prepared model is everything. It took Southampton seven years to return to the top flight, but along with Swansea, they are arguably enjoying the most consistent level of success out of all the teams promoted to the Premier League since 2010. This despite a relatively frequent changeover of managerial and playing personnel.

What Boro proved in 2014-15, and Karanka would surely agree with this, is that they were almost, but not quite, good enough for promotion. It is time for Boro to appreciate their achievements and push on rather than lament on a “near-miss”. For appreciation encourages improvement, and the chance for Boro to expand the methods that have served them so well recently into something more expressive. That way, the season will not be thought of as a missed opportunity, but a learning experience.

Here's to that. And Up The Boro!

(Originally published online at GazetteLive on June 4, 2015.) Read more...

The Final Countdown... Keys To Success At Wembley For Aitor Karanka's Lads

Boro's big day, perhaps the biggest of all, is getting nearer, hour by hour, minute by minute. The nerves and excitement inside every fan of this proud football club are rising to what must breaking point as the £120 million Wembley challenge approaches.

The Championship Play-Off Final. It hasn't been as big as this for Boro since, well, the UEFA Cup Final in Eindhoven, and that was nearly a decade ago. Time really waits for no one. At once we are equally fearful and equally cheerful ahead of a match that does not seem more equally balanced than this.

We are facing a Norwich side managed by Alex Neil, the 33-year-old Championship managerial darling of the moment. The Canaries have not lost a single game away from home throughout his reign. And there's no such thing as Typical Norwich. While Boro may well feel burdened by years of historical near misses, Neil's men claim to be treating this like any other game, as if there is no pressure on them whatever happens. A 20% success rate in cup finals post-1995 doesn't exactly bode well for Boro either, with Cardiff in 2004 being an exception rather than the rule.

But, as my friend and fellow Boro fan Paul Ahdal has pointed out, Norwich have failed to score against Boro this season, both league games ending in 4-0 (albeit under Neil Adams) and 1-0 (albeit rather unluckily) Boro victories respectively. Additionally, Norwich's Nathan Redmond has labelled both wins "lucky", stating that his club have the better players. Perfect motivation for Aitor Karanka, who has shown, time and time again, that he doesn't do Typical Boro.

And as for Neil... the question remains. Is he truly a brilliant manager or is he simply riding the crest of a wave, basking in the glow of a honeymoon period that a top notch Championship squad have contributed to? Memories of how Stuart Pearce very nearly guided Manchester City into Europe at Boro's expense in 2005 come to mind; although Boro had been in the driving seat for much of the season, as they have been this season, Pearce's City found the right, revitalising momentum at just the right time to take the battle right to the wire. Less a case of managerial magic and more of a team unified behind the cause, if you ask me.

Boro approach Wembley with a bit of both, in the perfect state of mind to take on their formidable Championship challengers. Here, in my view, are a "magnificent" seven keys to Boro succeeding tomorrow.

MAKING ATMOSPHERE COUNT. As the Gazette's Anthony Vickers has put it, we don't want another Eindhoven where a day's worth of partying and drinking left Boro fans outsung by the Sevilla fans in the stand. And Boro's team were ruthlessly outfought and outclassed by Juande Ramos's side. We simply can't let that happen again.

We're not going to get a Giants Stadium circa 1994, where the first round match between Ireland and Italy in New York saw observers feast their eyes on a cascade of green with Italians nowhere to be seen. But we've got to try. We've got to make our voices heard tomorrow for the right reasons. And judging by what I've seen in photos from Trafalgar Square tonight, we can do it.

JELLE VOSSEN. The Belgian's goals, or lack of them in contrast to goalden boy Patrick Bamford, have become secondary to his value as a supply striker. His persistence and good footwork is the perfect compliment to either Bamford or Kike. If Vossen and one of Boro's two other forwards combines well, Boro will play well.

LEE TOMLIN. Like the Brazilian Ronaldo, he has been mocked for being overweight. But "Tomlinho" is a man for the biggest stages of all - his turn at the Etihad and his brilliantly taken strike in the semi-final second leg are proof of this - and more miracles are possible.

THE SPINE. Dimi Konstantopoulos. Daniel Ayala. Ben Gibson. Grant Leadbitter. Adam Clayton. The central players, the engines of the side, the inspirations to all of those around them are the main reason why Boro have had such a mean defensive record this season. Their ability to keep things tight and keep things ticking over while the likes of Albert Adomah, Tomlin, Vossen, Kike, Bamford or even Adam Reach do their magic will be paramount. And let's not forget George Friend either....

DOING IT FOR MOGGA. It's easy to forget that nine of the fourteen players who played against Brentford in our last match were either signed or developed by Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus; the local heroes' invaluable contribution to the Karankanaut should not be cast aside. If that can't help inspire the lads on the pitch tomorrow to "do it for Teesside", I don't know what can.

KIKE. I know that the temptation to recall Patrick Bamford will bein Karanka's mind, but I genuinely think that allowing the £2.7 million signing to keep his place will be his best bet. While Bamford is only just recovering from an injury and has not scored since the 2-1 win over Wolves, Kike is fit, firing and surely in the mood to do more damage after that beautifully taken goal against Brentford. Mood defines many a striker's momentum; I think starting Kike is a risk worth taking.

THE CORRECT PSYCHOLOGICAL MENTALITY. Boro have already shown that they can adapt to going a goal down. But the final battle in this long war will surely be psychological. Here's why.

Back in January, at the Etihad, Boro were able to adopt a "Nothing To Lose, Everything To Win" mentality. With less pressure of expectation, the team were less inhibited, and simply focused on going out there and giving it their best. They knew that there was something to fall back on even in defeat, and, once they realised Manchester City were there for the taking, both belief and composure enhanced, paving the way for a deserved triumph.

Tomorrow, the expectations will be much higher in an atmosphere of no second chances, an atmosphere with big prizes of enhanced status and much more money at stake. As a certain Nigel once put it on Anthony Vickers' UntypicalBoro blog, it is a situation where "all we have to win" becomes "all we have to lose".

And, as he added, such negativity can drain the power from players, filling them with uncertainty and damaging the team pattern. This, in turn, transmits itself to the crowd, who are weighed down by the prospect of ending up as The Nearly Men.

Boro can't let this happen to them at Wembley.

And, knowing both Aitor Karanka and the team, they won't. There is enough of a positively charge around to suggest that this gifted coach and his well-organised charges are truly up to the task ahead of them tomorrow.

Need I say I'm now looking forward to it?

Here's to a wonderful Wembley experience.

Up The Boro! Read more...

The SAM Index - Structure, Adaptation, Mentality - Is Key To Boro's Jolly January

We reflect on key issues and memories from that rarest of Januaries for Boro – a generally happy one

It's been uttered ad infinitum, or worse, ad nauseam, that “Boro come down with the decorations”.

That any Boro squad who fill us with hope and glory in the closing months of one year will almost certainly let us down at the very beginning of the next, if not for longer.

The three straight league defeats that threw MoggaBoro's promotion push right off course in January 2012 come to mind. It was even worse the following year with the run of FIVE straight league defeats that began at Pride Park at the very beginning of 2013, a year of very few thrills for Boro.

Going back much, much further, who remembers when the “wise old heads” who won at Old Trafford before Christmas 1998 alarmingly metamorphosed, as one newspaper put it, into “horribly one-paced, goal shy pensioners” when they played at Elland Road in January? Even in the successful promotion campaign of 1997-98, we didn't escape January unscathed, a 3-0 hammering at Charlton being a lowlight. (Good job we only played twice in the league that month.)

Aitor Karanka's Boro and their delightful bucking of said trend has been more than a breath of fresh air – it's been, despite the odd hiccup, a pleasure. Five wins out of six in league and cup with a solitary goal conceded have hugely lifted spirits amongst Riversiders and the travelling Parmo Army. Especially the travelling Parmo Army who were there at the Etihad.

What's our secret? What have AK, Steve Agnew, Leo Percovich, the rest of the coaching staff and the players – for it really is a collaborative effort – done to create a side that, all being well, looks like it could be the most robust, solid and durable of the Riverside years?

There's no easy answer, but I put it down to what I call the SAM Index – Structure, Adaptation, Mentality. All three of which were fully in effect against Manchester City.

We will talk of Lee Tomlin's chipped pass to Albert Adomah, of Dean Whitehead keeping Sergio Aguero in his pocket, of Tomas Mejias finally winning over the doubters, of Patrick Bamford's dogged persistence, of Kike ending a goal-scoring drought and a “Tomlinho” turn that left Vincent Kompany for dead and deserved a goal it didn't get.

But there was no one hero from the display (although, if I had to pick one, it would be Daniel Ayala) – it was truly a team effort, build on rock solid foundations, flashes of maverick-like skill (from Tomlin) and the correct mental and organisational approach to the circumstances at hand.

In the centre of the park, Boro work best in pairs. That much is clear. And with our first-choice centre back pairing of Daniel Ayala & Ben Gibson available, and the engine room of Grant Leadbitter and Adam Clayton on song, the patient, probing passing game of Manchester City – which reminded me very much of our own passing game – was eventually drained of its effectiveness and induced with a panicky streak.

Boro, billed as the underdogs, thrived in the guise of such a tag; the reality was that one good team was taking on another, with the pompous and entitled bubble of the Premier League Champions set to be punctured.

You sensed that AK suspected that City were there for the taking, and told the players so at half time. And so it was that as City tired, Boro grew in confidence and countered their passing movements with penetrating, direct breaks through the centre of the park – two of which led to goals. Boro had adapted while a strong defensive structure and positive mental attitude had been maintained.

A degree of praise should be offered, too, to the previous managerial regime that helped lay the foundations for this success – Whitehead, Ayala, Gibson, George Friend, Leadbitter, Adam Reach and Albert Adomah, half of the fourteen who featured on the pitch, were all initially signed by or came through under Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus. It's enough to make any Boro fan feel immensely warm hearted.

Alas, there are downsides to all of this.

We talk about “strength in depth”, but those three words can so easily be exposed as myth when the right players are missing. It's not about quantity, but quality, and City have always lacked that extra zip in the absence of totem Yaya Toure. Nor should it be forgotten that once Manuel Pellegrini brought on a genuine midfield match winner in Frank Lampard, he almost got City out of jail.

The arrival of Adam Forshaw, who looks right at home in Boro's engine room, has given us much needed back-up in the centre of the park, but even so, are we anywhere near as effective without the pivotal Grant Leadbitter? Leads has been referred to as “Boro's Xavi” and while that is rather hyperbolic, his presence elevates the entire team performance.

And it was needed against Brentford last Saturday. Boro may have passed the Promotion Test of “winning while playing badly”, but virtually every note about that performance rang false. Mentally, it only differed from the Portman Road defeat in that Boro didn't get punished for not being at the races, particularly during one moment in the second half where all the defenders seemed to converge at the near post for a corner. So much for organisational skills.

Boro suffered the curse of a raised media profile, which leads to every opposition manager starting to pay more attention to your team. Lee Tomlin's three goals in two games and barnstorming match in Manchester hadn't gone unnoticed; every Brentford player seemed to have their eye on him. Mark Warburton's side worked hard to deny us room to break through the middle, forcing Boro to resort to almost aimless long balls, except the one that led to the converted penalty.

For a team that has, in my opinion, the three most technically gifted front men in the league and has shown endless attacking alternatives this season, it was surprising how short of ideas we seemed. Hopefully this will only be an aberration.

There were, of course, positives: our usual solid defending (once we'd woken up), Leads leading the way as only he could, Forshaw's commendable cameo and Ryan Fredericks working his way back to fitness. He will offer us an extra attacking outlay from the flank that we've been lacking recently.

But what of Albert Adomah? What, indeed? While Mogga-era players like Friend, Reach and Gibson have successfully adapted to and even improved under the AK regime, the flying winger we signed from Bristol City a year and a half ago doesn't look entirely comfortable.

His lack of confidence in front of goal is all too clear. It's quite probable that he would have converted that chip against City and that missed chance against Brentford last year. Such misses seem consequential of a change in footballing identity from individual match-winner to consistent team player. One who is more defensive and disciplined than daring and, arguably, directly visionary.

Clearly, AK believes in Adomah, but not in the way Adomah wants AK to believe in him: you sense Albert thrives on being the centre of attention in attack. I think if AA re-invents himself fully and gets back on the goalscoring trail, like Andy Cole did after a similar painful period at Manchester United years ago, it may well be one of the stories of the season.

And on that note, it's time to look forward to February - starting with Charlton.

Up The Boro!

(Originally published online at GazetteLive on February 6, 2015.) Read more...

Karanka Trumps Big Mac – On The Pitch And Off It

Last week, I asked for Boro to be consistent – and boy, did they respond.

Consistent, that is, at passing or at least surviving the big tests. We are unbeaten against our closest rivals, with two draws and a near victory against Bournemouth, Watford and Blackburn respectively, and commanding victories against Brentford, Norwich and now Derby.

Beefy Boro did more than cheese off Big Mac – they flamed and grilled him with a winning whopper of a performance! One of the joys of being a football fan is seeing your team not just meet your expectations, but exceed them. To not merely relieve but virtually banish every legitimate doubt you had. Aitor Karanka’s Boro appear to be doing just that.

Yet the definitive moment of the game for me was not yet another well taken goal by Patrick Bamford (Bam Bam reduced the Rams to rubble, as John Powls brilliantly put it). It wasn’t Grant Leadbitter’s spot kick either, or even the performance itself. Rather, it was the sight of Karanka locked away in the stands, punching the air in delight as Boro got the second goal they deserved. A celebration of Southgatian proportions, a sign of a manager and man at one with the club he manages and we support. It was heart-warming.

After just over a year in charge at Boro, Aitor Karanka appears to have transcended the basics of his position and become "part of the furniture". He believes in us, and we believe in him - we truly are confident he can take the club forward. The right results are one thing; the right identity is another. And while it may be tempting fate to say it, it really does look like our Basque-born manager has found both.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that when AK was hired by Steve Gibson, he was given the difficult modus operandi of suppressing or undoing Typical Boro clichés. For that reason, he is often compared to Jack Charlton at both Boro and Ireland, the manager who got an undeniably potential-filled team over a hurdle that they couldn’t quite traverse... and proceeded to earn some sort of mythical or legendary status.

That brings us to the ugly side of success. If Charlton at Boro feels worthy of comparison to Karanka, Charlton with Ireland is more worthy of comparison to Steve McClaren. It’s said that real heroes are not renowned for needing adulation, but for doing their job both well and responsibly. And while no one doubts the achievements of Big Jack’s Ireland or Schteve’s Boro – in fact, I hugely admire them in many ways – it’s also very hard not to feel cynical about their tenures. For Charlton, the right balance between the Ireland job and his identity was eventually superseded by image and ego.

You could arguably say the same about McClaren: was it all about what he could do for Boro, or what Boro could do for his career and image? We paid the price after Eindhoven and, financially at least, we’re still paying it.

This is the trap that Aitor Karanka needs to avoid: to maintain a positive image amongst the Boro public without getting overly subsumed by success. To avoid being classed as one of the dreaded Me Generation: those who blatantly prioritise personal glory ahead of the needs of their club. McClaren turned many Boro fans against him by obviously wearing his ambition on his sleeve: as if the Leeds, Newcastle and England circuses were not bad enough (they were), how about brazenly stating that he had all the qualities to be the next England manager ahead of a Boro home match on Sky? (Which we lost 3-0, by the way – it was against Alan Curbishley’s Charlton.)

All this makes managers like Karanka, and Ipswich’s Mick McCarthy, a true breath of fresh air. McCarthy had his limitations as a player and made mistakes as Ireland manager, but has learned from his mistakes and deservedly earned respect in the eyes of most, if not all, of his fellow professionals. Loyalty is a word often associated with the boss of our upcoming opponents, yet I think his greatest quality is that he doesn’t feel disingenuous. He feels sincere.

And sincerity is the very asset which we should hope AK and our players will display, and continue to display, throughout the rest of 2014-15 and beyond.

(Originally published online at GazetteLive on December 19, 2014.) Read more...

Booming Boro Can Strike It Lucky Again

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.) Read more...

WORLD CUP 2014: Argy Bargy, And The Third Place Final

We review the second semi-final, picks our tournament winners and make a case for the third place final

The worry for the second semi-final of Brazil 2014, in advance, is that Brazil vs. Germany raised the bar so high for astonishment, entertainment and clinical finishing that it was always going to be a tough, even impossible, act to follow.

In the event, Louis van Gaal’s Holland did not possess quite enough Argy Bargy to see off their marginally more determined opponents in Sao Paulo. It was a case of sad history repeating itself for the Dutch; sixteen years before, they had lost 4-2 in a penalty shootout to a worse-looking South American team on the day, with the shootout hero being a much-maligned goalkeeper. For Claudio Taffarel, read Sergio Romero, as his brace of saves carried Argentina into the final and continued their proud record of never losing a semi-final match.

The match itself was disappointing, a turgid tactical battle between, as Liam Brady put it, “two boxers who (wouldn’t) drop their guard”. There were strong, persistent spells of passing and probing from both nations, but these ultimately amounted to nothing, with tiredness and tentativeness taking precedence as the match went on. Suffocating the middle of the park, and not giving the totems – Lionel Messi, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and a clearly unfit Robin van Persie – room to dictate, seemed key for teams who appeared to prioritise not losing over the desire to win. Result: a safety-first stalemate where penalties seemed the only solution.

If this match will be remembered for any reason, it’ll be held up as an example of a defensive collective triumph. Each back four excelled, with Javier Mascherano’s exceptional tackle on Robben deservedly marking him out as man of the match.

WHO WILL WIN?

Most neutrals, who desire goals and excitement above all else, will plump for Jogi Loew’s Germany to lift the famous golden trophy this weekend. I’m not so sure.

As they’ve proven repeatedly in this tournament, the Argentine back-line are not likely to be anywhere near as accommodating as Brazil. Nor is Loew likely to field a defensive midfielder to nullify Messi, as Van Gaal did with Nigel De Jong, then Jordi Clasie. That would be going against his principles.

My instincts, and the knowledge that Germany have more obvious match winning individuals, still point towards a narrow German win, but something more akin to the dramatic encounter in the Azteca Stadium in 1986 than the filth of 1990 which left Diego Maradona in tears. If Messi does cry tears of defeat, I fear it may not be his fault. The tight solidity of this unspectacular Argentina side, surely brought upon them by haunting memories of Marcelo Bielsa’s failures of 2002, is not the sort of environment for an individual like Messi to really prosper. Neither the opposition’s tactics nor his own team’s structure are really letting him play his game – it is clear that at Maradona’s zenith, Argentina were more cavalier – and fatigue, fear and frustration look to have caught up with him, to the point where he seems a shadow of the goalscorer he was in the group stages.

Football hopes that Messi can find something in the tank to dazzle us all with, regardless of the final outcome.

THIRD PLACE FINAL – YAY OR NAY?

Going by Louis van Gaal’s recent comments that the third place final in the World Cup is “unfair”, “should not be played” and, ludicrously, “has nothing to do with sport”, I can see why many might look upon the consolation match as pointless.

However, if you put van Gaal’s own self-interests aside and look upon the fixture as purely a football match, I think the fixture generally provides an enjoyable spectacle and has produced matches that are even better than the World Cup Final itself, especially in the modern era.

Without so much at stake, the fear of conceding significantly decreases in relevance and teams are encouraged to play more freely. The result? Goals, goals, goals. Only two third place matches have produced less than four goals since the 1980s (Italy vs. England in 1990, and Croatia vs. Holland in 1998). But the match also opens the door for new stars to emerge, new records to be set and individual awards to be won. In Bari, Toto Schillaci crucially netted his sixth goal of Italia 90 to clinch the Golden Boot that year; Davor Suker followed suit in France 98 as his superb strike against Holland, also his sixth of the tournament, gave Croatia third place. Elsewhere, Hakan Sukur set the record for fastest goal at the World Cup finals in 2002, Bastian Schweinsteiger rose to prominence with two humdingers against Portugal in 2006, and a then unknown Bolo Zenden fired a swinging strike into the roof of the Croatian net in 1998. That's not even taking the 3-2 "thriller" of four years ago into account (watch it below).

Flowing football, new heroes, goals and Golden Boot winners. What more could you want?

(Originally published at Pulp Interest on July 11, 2014.) Read more...

WORLD CUP 2014: The Magnificent Seven

And we thought Spain’s 5-1 hammering by Holland was staggering. Read our musings on Germany’s incredible 7-1 victory over Brazil in the World Cup semi-finals

Belligerent Brazilian brutality was trumped by Grand German efficiency in a tub-thumping, eye-opening, record-breaking spectacle in Belo Horizonte. For both Germans and neutrals, it was a joy to watch, delightful advertisement for clinical, mouthwatering attacking team play. For Brazil, it transcended disaster. A record five World Cups will be scant consolation for the nation who hoped that this would be the year that they would finally win it on home soil.

There will be sympathy for the fans, but there ought to be little sympathy for a team who had illustrated as far back as their opening match that they frankly weren’t worthy of winning the World Cup. A team who had survived to this stage through a mixture of friendly refereeing decisions, dour, functional tactics, luck and the odd moment of individual brilliance, mostly from Neymar.

The lasting impression of Brazil 2014 was threatening to be left by these non-Brazilian Brazilans, for many the undeniable villains of the piece. And the price of kicking the elegant Colombians out of the tournament, surely hard to forgive in the eyes of many purists, was paid in the most emphatic fashion, with both captain and talisman unable to face Germany through suspension and injury respectively. One cannot even begin to comprehend just how much this enormous loss will impact a nation so thoroughly steeped in positive football culture.

David Luiz, whose commitment and classy free kick papered over many cracks against Colombia, was left utterly exposed without Thiago Silva alongside him. I also recently theorised that one man doesn’t make a team; one can amend that theory to “one man does make a team – but only if you allow him to.” That point of view turns a solitary playmaker or front runner into, as fellow football writer Jared Browne has put it, the team’s “own Limerick Junction”: everything has to go through him. And so it was with Neymar.

Germany have no such weakness. Firstly, their defence, for all its limitations, works for one another as a collective. The reversion of captain Philipp Lahm to his traditional full back role has made room for the presence of an old-fashioned No. 9 – Miroslav Klose.

Klose illustrated the value that a role seemingly deemed defunct in today’s game can still offer, his hunger, sharpness and persistence in breaking his own World Cup record passing through to the rest of the German team.

Stunned at going two goals down in a match for the first time since 1998, Brazil fell into a spell of shock and the previously blunt Sami Khedira briefly looked imperious.

It was a night for true match winners: Brazil had one, in Neymar, and he was pole-axed. Germany, on the other hand, had many: Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos, the aforementioned Klose, Manuel Neuer and later Andre Schurrle, to name but a handful.

Their fight to keep a clean sheet even though it seemed irrelevant, their tug-of-war between maintaining a compact system and going for more goals, and their disappointment at conceding a goal in the end is symptomatic of the high standards they have set for themselves following two consecutive semi-final failures.

It’s third time lucky for the Germans, and deservedly so. There have been better German sides, man for man, over the years, but few more admirable in terms of youth, vitality, fluidity, unity, determination and incisiveness.These record breakers have registered the biggest World Cup semi-final knockout victory ever, beating the 6-1 wins of Argentina vs. USA and Uruguay vs. Yugoslavia respectively in 1930, and West Germany’s 6-1 win over Austria in 1954.

Were they to score three goals or more in the final and win it, they would become the highest-scoring winners of any World Cup, beating the current record of 19 held by Brazil’s immortal class of 1970. They are already on course to be the highest scoring team in the World Cup for the third tournament running, having scored 14 in 2006 and 16 in 2010.

That is something no team has previously achieved in the history of the World Cup finals.

And the lesson? It took a complete overhaul of a stagnant, restrictive results-driven system in the mid-noughties, which has revitalised German football and played a major part in changing the international game for the better.

Perhaps, on this evidence, Brazil need a similar overhaul.

(Originally published at Pulp Interest, July 9, 2014.) Read more...

WORLD CUP 2014: It's A Knockout – And Quality Is Telling

In eight battles of aggression and ambition, aesthetics have counted – but only just. We look ahead to the quarter-finals of World Cup 2014 with much anticipation

The second round of Brazil 2014 has followed a strict, but quietly spellbinding, pattern: no tactical stalemates, almost no mismatches, just a mixture of quiet penetration and wholehearted physicality from virtually every country involved, with quality ultimately prevailing in the end. It is not a battle of managerial tactical "wits", but a war of aggression, attrition and ambition, with aesthetics ultimately prevailing. The best footballers, man for man, are finishing on top in a knock out stage where, barring Switzerland and Uruguay, every nation has entered the sporting arena with a will to win. Nothing overly mechanical. Nothing too complicated. Just "having a go". A refreshing simplicity that sometimes dazzles and often inspires. Roy Keane would be proud of it.

One should still be reluctant to laud this competition as a "truly wonderful" World Cup, like many pundits have; the over-praise for Brazil 2014 is based on a theory of relativity. The knockout stages in 2002, 2006 and 2010 were so dour and defensive that any remotely exciting World Cup knockout stage this year was likely to be regarded as nirvana. And the question I now ask is: is it likely that the upcoming quarter-finals will match the high watermark of those in the United States in 1994?

The USA '94 quarter-finals produced fifteen goals - that's an average of 3.75 per game. Italy 2-1 Spain, Holland 2-3 Brazil, Bulgaria 2-1 Germany and Romania 2-2 Sweden (with the Swedes winning on penalties). Almost entirely Euro-centric, but were we spoiled for choice or weren't we? It felt like a clash of attacking titans: Roberto Baggio vs. Jose Luis Caminero, Dennis Bergkamp vs. Romario, Hristo Stoichkov vs. Jurgen Klinsmann, Gheorghe Hagi vs. Tomas Brolin. A true football feast, with at least one major upset bound to happen (it did).

Today we look forward to Brazil vs. Colombia, Holland vs. Costa Rica, France vs. Germany and Argentina vs. Belgium; or, if you prefer, Neymar vs. James Rodriguez, Arjen Robben vs. Joel Campbell, Karim Benzema vs. Thomas Muller and Lionel Messi vs. Eden Hazard. Not quite as mouth-watering - Campbell is modest rather than mercurial - but Rodriguez, the tournament's top scorer at the time of writing, has been a real find. He could be this competition's Stoichkov, or better.

Perhaps one should be fairer on Brazil 2014, however. It is so easy to pick holes in modern international tournaments in today's oversaturated age of social and televisual media. We need to remember that the competitions we hold so dear - especially Italia 90, where dramatics glossed over the negativity - were seriously imperfect themselves.

These quarter-finals have one truly important thing going for them - they do not feel predictable. We cannot tell who will win this World Cup, let alone these matches. Were this set of games to successfully build on the sound second round, then we could have a treat of a tournament.

With the exception of bus-parkers Switzerland (try not to let Blerim Dzemaili's late, late missed sitter mask their "park the bus" tactics) and a Uruguay team demoralised by the Luis Suarez fiasco, every team in the last sixteen should be pleased with themselves. The quality has been varied, but the general performances have been laced with considerable endeavour, proving Roy Keane's adage that "having a go" is indeed winning half the battle in international competition, where the "best" teams are often overrated and fragile.

How right that can be. Russia started Euro 2012 with a bang, becoming favourites to win their group; and then they were found out by Greece. Four years earlier, Marco van Basten's Holland side of Euro 2008 stormed through the group phase with three wins out of three, before unexpectedly coming a cropper against Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin. Croatia and the Czech Republic fell victim to the colourful Turks in extremely unlikely circumstances that same year. And all because Greece, Russia and Turkey were unafraid to "go for it".

It's extremely refreshing. As modern football has developed, luck has taken more of a back seat as tacticians have stepped to the fore, and their keenness to establish control has drained colour from the game. Germany 2006 was the epitome of this malaise, starting well before deteriorating into a tournament for control freaks. The paucity of goals from the quarter-finals onwards spoke volumes. Only in the extra time period of the Germany-Italy semi-final did both teams let the shackles loose and produce a brutally compelling game.

This theme ties in with nearly every knockout game in Brazil 2014 to date; high quality teams pacing themselves over ninety minutes, hunting for openings while fighting hard not to let in any themselves. Then, they step up a gear in a mostly successful attempt to win the game without the lottery of penalties. Which, really, is how it ought to be. No, the physical, pacy, counter-attacking goal fests of the group stage are no longer so prominent, but with more at stake, that's understandable. Teams must work harder to break deadlocks. And, unlike the late nineties and early noughties, teams are no longer so fearful of conceding in extra time. The additional thirty minutes are therefore more enthralling, more about quality and stamina than luck and mood. The Golden Goal idea has been fully exposed as the misfire it was.

The elimination of Spain has been even more of an eye-opener, shattering the illusion that rigid, controlling tactical systems would always win the day. Teams would now have to do the difficult things to stand out and win; a footballing romance, of sorts, has been recaptured in a more adventurous, unpredictable tournament. And that's exactly how we stand at the last eight of the twentieth World Cup finals.

Costa Rica, man for man, are arguably the weakest team in the quarter-finals, but as CONCACAF's sole representative at this stage, they will not need motivation. Nor will the gifted Colombians, currently living up to their FIFA World Ranking of 5th. The sole "Europhile" encounter could see France and Germany cancel each other out, or Germany's statuesque and confused defence - fortunate not to be exposed by the limited but entirely admirable Algerians - will be punctured by Benzema and Paul Pogba. Holland will, naturally, be favourites, but since the Game That Rocked The World against Spain, they've yet to fully convince. And Belgium? The star trio of Hazard, Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku appear to be hitting form at the right time, though most neutrals will be hoping Messi can do a Diego Maradona as far as opponents Argentina are concerned.

Which brings us back to Suarez. The "one man makes a team" myth is simplistic: Argentina in 1986 weren't all about Maradona, Brazil in 1994 weren't all about Romario, Colombia aren't all about Rodriguez, Brazil aren't all about Neymar, and France aren't all about Benzema. Their teams could still win without them. But it is they who have that canny ability to make everyone else in the team dance to their tune when they are on top of their game. One mercurial man doesn't make a team, but he makes a difference; he inspires when he fires. A Messi, Benzema or Cristiano Ronaldo proves Jorge Valdano's point that while teamwork is very important, you need individuals to go to the next level.

USA '94 didn't have an extraordinary team, but it had several extraordinary players. It just goes to show that for all the teamwork, tactics, organisation and pacing you toss into football, there is no substitute for outstanding individualism. And that's what we will hope to see in the Brazil 2014 quarter-finals: unexpected, outstanding, spontaneity, from teams inspired by the the hearts and feet of incredible individuals. Read more...

WORLD CUP 2014: It's Been Good So Far. And It Can Be Great...

Si's Insights muses on the 2014 World Cup to date...

By the time you read this, it might be all over for the not yet fully convincing Brazilian hosts, and the dazzling Colombians, spearheaded by the fearless James Rodriguez, will have fallen prey to the Greek Gods. Alternatively, Jose Pekerman's 100-per-centers will continue to enhance their reputation with their first ever quarter-final place, and Neymar will continue to reign supreme.

This unpredictability, the joy of seeing the latest set of already established and newly established world stars react, perform or non-perform in the media has already made Brazil 2014 the best World Cup since 1998. It is, however, hampered by not having much competition. Too many upsets, not all of them legitimate, robbed Japan/South Korea 2002 of quality. Germany 2006 started well, with plenty of stunning goals to savour in the group stages, before deteriorating into dour, defensive play.  Similarly, the flashes of individual brilliance we saw in South Africa in 2010 became more sparse as the tournament went on and teams prioritised results, as if it wasn't already bad enough that the vuvuzelas were drowning out the atmosphere. The over praising of Brazil 2014, then, as an “epic” and “wonderful” competition, is like enjoying a very good meal at a restaurant where the last four or five meals haven't been much cop in your eyes. It's not a great meal, in the same way this World Cup is not a truly great tournament, but it feels like one.

But, unlike the meal, Brazil 2014 can be a great tournament.

And it is the knockout stages that might make it so. Today, we will find out the answer to at least four questions. Will Brazil really play like the team their two wins and seven goals suggests they can be, or will Neymar's knack for popping up in the right place at the right time draw a veil over their frailties again? Impressive though the Chileans have been, do their individuals have the spark required to overcome the World Cup's most successful nation in their own backyard? Now that the quality of James Rodriguez is no longer so unknown, will Colombia be so effective? Will the hullabaloo surrounding Luis Suarez crush the spirit of the Uruguayans or fire them up to prove a point to their press and the watching world? And so on, and so on...

Pacy, physical, counter-attacking play with a sprinkling of innovative individual invention has defined this World Cup. There has been no place for a limp, lightweight and uninspired England, nor a Spanish side cursed by age and a footballing identity crisis. The Real Madrid-Barcelona trifecta of Xavi, Alonso and Iniesta were all thirty or older, and even when Spain were in control during the earth-shattering 5-1 defeat to Holland, they seemed torn between sticking to the tiki-taka they knew best and adhering to the more direct Diego Costa experiment. (Frankly, cups of Costa Coffee would have given the lumbering World and European Champions a bigger kick.) It is impossible to overstate how revelatory Robin Van Persie's game-changing equaliser was; when roughed up, robbed of their aura and denied of their typically possessive control, Spain had no answer. That both David Villa and Fernando Torres scored against Australia spells further trouble; where do their replacements come from, let alone Xavi's, Alonso's and eventually Iniesta's? The “champs to chumps” cliché couldn't feel more apt.

If Italy, Bosnia and arguably Ecuador can count themselves unlucky to be eliminated, every other “favourite” to make the last sixteen feels like the architect of their own downfall. England were beaten by genuinely better teams, though their failure stems not so much from Roy Hodgson and his players as the culture that spawns them. The technical skill they actually have feels submerged beneath a “battling” stereotype that translates into a general lack of organisation in defence and quality up front.

The likes of Croatia, Portugal, Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Luis Suarez have all dug their own graves. The overall quality of players like Modric, Rakitic, Mandzukic, Gervinho and Yaya Toure counts for little when you cannot come good at the right time. To point a finger at the debatable (but ultimately correct) last minute penalty for the Greeks would be to gloss over the Ivorians' failings. The “Golden Generation” did not have the acceptable excuse of being dumped in an “impossible group” this time (Argentina & Holland in 2006, Brazil & Portugal in 2010) and still failed to make the second round. Perhaps they are destined to be the Scotland of Africa?

As for Suarez, he should simply ask himself if he wants to be remembered as the phenomenally talented footballer he is or as someone who exists to literally provide some bite to the headlines. It is probably best to think, instead, of the positive headlines provided by world class like Lionel Messi (above), or the up-and-comers who have pleasantly surprised us all, like Nigeria's Ahmed Musa (below), a diamond in a very rough-and-tumble side.

I shall return to ponder further events at the World Cup in due course. Until then...

Enjoy the games!

Read more...

WORLD CUP 2014: Boro's Own World Cup Odyssey

For this writer, one of the highlights of any World Cup Finals, or international competitions as a whole, comes from following the fortunes of players then associated with, or soon to be associated with, the Boro.

Who didn’t feel a sense of pride in seeing Christian Karembeu win Euro 2000 with France, though his forthcoming sole season with Boro would be sadly underwhelming? And while Mikkel Beck disappointed both at Euro 96 and with Boro, one can’t admit that he or she didn’t at least look forward to seeing him in action when “football came home”. But those were the Euros. This is the World Cup. And since Italia 90 launched football into the consciousness of an audience beyond the working class, Boro have had no end of heroic and, er, not-so-heroic representatives at the finals.

Everyone loves Bernie Slaven, for better or worse. His Boro goals, punditry and, ahem, a few other things (remember when he literally hit bottom in Binns’ window?) have rightly earned him cult status. And his goals earned him a place in the Ireland squad for Italia 90, even though he sounded as Irish as Ray Houghton (yes, the ancestry rule came into play again). Sadly he wouldn’t enjoy anywhere near the same international success as Houghton; Jack Charlton judged his front men not only on their sharpness, but also their physicality and aerial prowess. It would appear poor Bernie didn’t have enough of the latter two for the gruff Geordie’s liking. Hence “The Wolfman” found himself on the bench throughout the whole of Jackie’s Army’s Journey to the quarter-finals. But at least he got to meet the Pope, albeit in his Ireland tracksuit. (No, Ireland didn’t have suits!)

Jaime Moreno was a little luckier, at least on the international stage. Part of a Bolivia side who made history in 1993 by becoming the first team to beat Brazil in a World Cup qualifying match, he managed 67 minutes of action in Bolivia’s three winless group games at USA ’94 before joining Boro. For both Boro and Bolivia, he appeared little more than a bit part player; a mere twenty league appearances and a solitary goal in two years speaks volumes. Moreno returned on loan in 1997 as striking cover during Boro’s promotion campaign; though slightly portly, he still hung around long enough to score an invaluable winner away to Stoke before returning to the MLS.

It’s hard to imagine a more striking contrast between Boro World Cup “stars” than Paul Merson and Hamilton Ricard. The former was Boro’s Player Of The Year, the latter was a figure of ridicule. A year later, the former would be remembered with ridicule, and the latter would be Boro’s Player Of The Year. How the tables would turn.

Looking back, neither distinguished themselves in France 98. As a substitute against England, Ricard was, as we expected, calmly swallowed up by a classy backline featuring Tony Adams, Gary Neville and a young Sol Campbell (how things have changed!). Glenn Hoddle’s emphasis on solidity did Paul Merson no favours when he came on against Argentina; “Merse”, as we called him, was reduced to running at and harrying the opposition, his elegant passes and shots nowhere to be seen. I imagine that, having not played at the highest club level for an entire season, Hoddle didn’t trust him to dictate. At least he scored a penalty in the shootout though.

By the time Alen Boksic played in his first World Cup, in 2002, he’d left it more than a little late. Some veterans of Croatia’s 1998 semi-finalists remained, but they’d all seen better days, and no one could find a reliable partner for Boksic, even though on his day he could be the best in the world. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he scored no goals, Croatia didn’t make it beyond the first round, and his retirement was imminent. Gareth Southgate, despite having the season of his life at Boro, didn’t play at all in England’s run to the quarter finals, though displacing Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell back then would have been a big ask. Geremi, soon to sign for Boro on loan, and Joseph Job, soon to return to Boro from a loan spell at Metz, both featured for Cameroon, although Job got a mere 10 minutes of action compared to Geremi’s ever-presence. Like Croatia, however, Cameroon made an early exit; hyped up as “dangerous underdogs”, the 2000 Olympic Champions flattered to deceive and ran out of steam.

As for Juninho, I’m not so sure he’d like to remember that he eventually lost his place in Brazil’s midfield to Manchester United reject Kleberson. Admittedly he was a pale shadow of the player he once was, but one should give him credit for adapting his game to cope with injuries and the passage of time both in the Far East and with McClaren’s Boro. Players of his calibre never lose their vision and finishing ability.

In Germany, Mark Schwarzer and Mark Viduka lined up for Australia regularly after strong finishes to the 2005-06 campaign, although one must remember how close both were to leaving and being alienated from the club, respectively; Schwarzer’s transfer request and Viduka leaving the Riverside once he realised he was only a sub against Chelsea will not be easily forgotten. Credit where credit’s due, however, they turned things around and would have more to offer Boro in future seasons. The Australia squad, which reached the last sixteen, also featured former Boro man Luke Wilkshire. What happened to him?

And then there was Stewart Downing. Relatively fresh off creating three goals in the game against Steaua that we all talk about, he appeared twice for England, as a substitute against Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago. He would soon create three goals in England’s friendly win over Greece, although before long he would be castigated for not being “international class”. The belief that perhaps Downing would have to move to improve was growing. Robert Huth, soon to join Boro, managed just one start in Germany’s run to the semi-finals, against Ecuador; Jurgen Klinsmann preferred the Mertesacker-Metzelder partnership in defense.

Lots of representatives, but as yet no goals, I hear you say. And Chris Killen wasn’t about to change that. He’d arrived at Boro on loan in 2010, scored some goals, missed a penalty, then disappeared. He was a typical Gordon Strachan player; the sort you’d associate with “results without progress and development”. Perhaps it was ironic, then, that his native New Zealand didn’t lose a game in South Africa, but didn’t win one either; they got results, to be sure, but they weren’t enough to ensure progression to the second phase.

We’ve had “stars” at the World Cup before 1990, however. The great Alan Peacock, who formed a formidable partnership with Brian Clough and scored 24 in 34 games in the season following Clough’s departure, lined up alongside Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves as England defeated Argentina and drew with Bulgaria in 1962. Twenty years later, Ballymoney’s own Jim Platt would feature in Northern Ireland’s brave campaign in Espana ’82, playing the full ninety minutes in a 2-2 draw with Austria.

But neither has matched the international feat of the truly legendary Wilf Mannion, the only Boro representative to score in a World Cup finals. His goal for England in the 2-0 win over Chile turned out to be the highpoint for both England and Boro that summer.

And on that note, it’s “goodnight from me”, and over to Albert Adomah and Kenneth Omeruo. How will they do in their nations’ remaining games?

(Originally published online at Middlesbrough's Teesside Gazette on June 20, 2014.) Read more...

Si's Insights Goes Green! (Again...)

Yes, it's that time once more...

The World Cup is almost upon us. And as our players (well, most of them anyway) settle into their summer breaks, Si's Insights will be taking a break from Boro-related matters to bring you the best from Brazil.

Look out for my first World Cup 2014 column soon! Read more...

The Curse Of Ordinariness

With Boro's play-off hopes almost certainly out the window, we reflect on the mentality currently affecting the club and fans, examining its origins

"Gazza cried, football died."

This popular four-word poem is both slightly misguided and extremely simplistic, but it swiftly illustrates the malaise that has afflicted modern football since the early 1990s.

Paul Gascoigne for England, Jack Charlton for Ireland, Bryan Robson for Boro. Three men who took English football, Irish football, and Middlesbrough FC out of their working class origins and into middle-class, even high-class interest. Seemingly from nowhere, everyone became football experts. Things became more about the journey and the stars than football itself.

One unfortunate legacy of the World Cup in the USA in 1994 and Boro's 1996-97, however exciting they were at the time, is their value as spectacle. Regardless of the problems behind the scenes, and there were plenty in both cases, it felt more about the glitz than the game. No one involved with international football and Boro, respectively, had seen anything like them before, leaving said experiences impossible to replicate in the future.

Worse still, they left the impression that any club or national football team could be "big" if they had the cash, the stars and the glitz to paper over their cracks. Pretensions of grandeur have always existed in football, but I strongly believe that prior to USA '94 and Boro’s Year That Had It All (it did), they had never been so apparent.

Everybody, especially my dreamy teenage self, wanted to hop on the bandwagon: the futuristic, space-age stadiums, the enormous crowds, the fashionable, American-style kits. It all seemed so mouthwatering. But the early 1990s were cursed that way: short-term solutions to maximize the profitable potential of the times with little thought to how it would affect the future. They weren't the greatest heights of football; but we were naïve and fresh-faced enough to *elieve they were. The internet and corporatization of the modern game hadn’t taken over to the extent they now have.

The children and teenagers who grew up on board Robson's "Revolution" believed that it was normal for Boro to compete for the best players and amongst the biggest names. Almost as if we were entitled to it.

And any seasons that don't match up to the thrills 1996-97, and indeed the other best seasons of the last two decades, presented - however painful the eventual outcomes might sometimes be - are usually met with at least a little bit of disappointment.

What does this have to do with Aitor Karanka and today's Boro? I'll tell you.

In the very wise words of Anthony Vickers, today’s Boro have been struck down by "the curse of ordinariness. After twenty incredible years with at least one spell of drama every season - promotion or relegation battles, cup runs and superstar signings - (Boro) have settled into flabby humdrum mid-table ennui... (slipping) from crazy rock and roll high jinks to cocoa and Radio Four and early nights."

While I would argue that not all of those years were "incredible", of course, I currently feel, albeit reluctantly, in agreement with virtually every word.

And last Saturday, we found ourselves "Bourne" Of Frustration on the South Coast, once again hit by the almost certain probability that, Muzzy Carayol or no Muzzy Carayol, this current Boro squad is just not good enough to truly challenge the top teams in this division.

This team, in my view, simply isn't built for consistency. AK has been given the tough task of making the inconsistent consistent. One should give him more than enough credit for at least managing to do half the job.

Even then, the legacy of our past hangs over us like a dark cloud. Do we expect too much of our players? As I've pointed out before, we have artificially raised the standards of the current Boro squad because we've seen our "magic men" – Emmanuel Ledesma, Muzzy Carayol, Albert Adomah, even the departed Marvin Emnes – do magical things. Either that, or we miss the power, speed and excitement that comes with the English game when it works.

And people don't simply want results. They want to feel excited, to be inspired, to be dazzled, and to enjoy a spontaneous spectacle. These are what put bums on seats, for obvious reasons: we pay big money to attend games, so we find ourselves almost unreasonably demanding the best from football on a regular basis. It is a curse of the modern game, where the quest for perfection is remembered more than any kind of consistency or results. We might almost certainly prefer it if AK surrendered some of his apparent principles of organisation and solidity for some more instantaneous excitement.

But for a club in Boro's situation, would the cost be worth it?

(Originally published online at the Evening Gazette on March 21, 2014. Photos courtesy of the Evening Gazette.) Read more...

Can Boro Let The Dance Begin...? Perhaps...

Si's Insights analyses Aitor Karanka's first win as Boro boss and looks forward to tonight's match against Derby

"The Tinnies"

Not far from where I live, near Shay Given's birthplace, Lifford, lies a work of art entitled "Let The Dance Begin".

Affectionately known as "The Tinnies", these five steel structures stand tall on the border separating the north and south of Ireland, artistically unifying communities on both sides of what was once a metaphorical hurdle.

And Shay Given's arrival at Boro on loan allowed Teesside's own Men Of Steel, and their Spanish manager, to cross a "hurdle" of their own, bringing Boro their first victory under the "new" Karanka regime.

As poetic as I'm making it sound, of course it wasn't pretty; the first half was cagey, with both Karanka's Boro and Freedman's Bolton cancelling each other out in a war of tactical attrition. And the second half was permeated by at least three let-offs, all involving Jermaine Beckford; a missed chance, a missed penalty and a penalty claim that looked legitimate.

Most will tell you this is par for the course with a player who was once hyped up to be the next big thing just because he is English but never lived up to the hype, but here you could genuinely argue luck was on Boro's side.

But maybe Karanka earned it. It's always said you learn more from defeats, or setbacks, and AK clearly learned much from his coaching debut at Leeds. He realised that, in Ayala's case, it takes more than a couple of well taken goals to cover up defensive deficiencies.

Shay Given at Boro. Photo: Evening Gazette

Therefore, he chose the more dependable Ben Gibson to partner Woodgate. Recalling Jacob Butterfield and keeping both Emnes and Main on the bench gave the team extra attacking options, and also a Plan B if either Carayol or Adomah weren't at the races (and the former definitely wasn't) or if, tactically, we were too pragmatic to break down an equally cautious Bolton side.

Yes, Plan B was a little risky - substituting two midfielders for the sake of a victory charge sets you up for 89th minute heartbreak if everything goes wrong. But luckily, just about everything went right; Emnes won the penalty, Leadbitter converted it, and we can look forward to facing Steve McClaren's Derby tomorrow night with confidence.

Naturally, there are still some major team issues. As inspired a signing as Given was - and I'm not just saying that because I'm from the Emerald Isle myself, as he inspired our whole backline and possibly a watching Steele - what does this mean for Jayson Leutwiler? It's probable that neither Leutwiler nor Konstantopoulos may be part of Karanka's Boro Plan, but give Leutwiler credit; he performed ably against Leeds.

Then there's Williams. It is funny how you can misread things. No one in the Twitterverse has seemed at all impressed by his performances of late, even going as far as to call him a "liability".

Yet going by the "Redcar Red" view of the match (see Anthony Vickers' blog), Williams, while not quite the "Rolls Rhys" we once built him up to be, gave a performance worthy of the Man Of The Match award, working hard to nullify Baptiste and Lee in addition to playing a crucial part in winning Boro a penalty... at least until the last five minutes.

It's all too easy to focus on the "big moments" - like the penalty Williams gave away and the penalty Williams should have given away - instead of the bigger picture. Whereas Leadbitter and Carayol's Roy Of The Rovers-style heroics (never mind that Leadbitter made several mistakes and Carayol had an awful match) ensure they get off far more lightly.

Perhaps, on the above evidence, Williams should be encouraged.

And when you remember how effective he was in midfield during the Southgate and Mowbray years, and that Leadbitter will be suspended tonight, it might not be such a bad idea to deploy Williams in the centre of the park once again, against Derby.

Unless, that is, the disappointing Dean Whitehead finally proves his worth.

(Originally published online at Middlesbrough's Evening Gazette on Tuesday December 3.) Read more...

So Long, Sir Alex

Opinions vary about Sir Alex Ferguson, but his managerial achievements speak for themselves. In a rare non-Boro related column, Si's Insights shows our appreciation for the Godfather of football managers

All Middlesbrough fans know that we have an enormous mountain to climb to reach the dizzy heights that we once took for granted. But we can do it. It may take many years, but we can still do it. And I personally don't believe that there's anyone better to learn from than the Godfather of football managers himself, Sir Alex Ferguson.

As the fiery Scot prepares to leave the managerial dugout once and for all, it may surprise some - if not all - that my respect for him has increased ten fold over the last decade.

Almost incredibly, a Manchester United fan was calling for "Mr. Magnificent" himself, Steve McClaren (!), to step into the United hot seat after United's 3-1 defeat to a then middling Manchester City in November 2002.

A question was asked by The Times then, and it has resonated with me to this very day:

“Has Ferguson got the drive, the energy to assemble a third great United team? Moreover, will he be given the time and money to do so?”

That game, and the awful goals United conceded in it, signalled a turning point for United. They lost just twice more throughout the rest of the season - and one of those defeats was at the Riverside! - on their way to clinching the league title.

Moreover, with Ole Gunnar Solksjaer making the right of midfield his own, the sale of David Beckham didn't seem that great a loss.

Unfortunately, by early 2004, it looked like it was. When United played FC Porto at Old Trafford, they were going through a very rough transitional period. Key players were either getting injured or losing form. Rio Ferdinand had been given an eight-month ban in an age where other players had been punished less for more. Then there was the whole "Rock Of Gibraltar" situation.

In the Porto game alone, they'd lost two players through injury and had a perfectly good goal ruled out. Even so, with seconds remaining, United were 1-0 up and set for the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Then Tim Howard's punch conveniently fell to Costinha, Jose Mourinho did that mad dance down the touchline, and... well, you know the rest.

Porto went on to win the Champions League, and Jose's Chelsea went on to dominate English football for the next two years.

But – and this is the biggest but – Ferguson could have given up.

In 2006, the London press appeared to, as Hugh McIlvanney correctly put it one year later, take undeniable pleasure in forecasting an undignified exit for Ferguson.

The press brazenly stated that Fergie no longer had it in him to add to all those titles. They also said that the team would suffer after selling Ruud Van Nistelrooy. They proclaimed that Chelsea were simply unbeatable.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Five titles and a European Cup followed in the next seven years. It could so easily have been seven titles. This is clear evidence that he did not give up. Instead, he did build a third great United team and went on to lay the initial foundations for a possible fourth.

Anyone who really wants to get back to the top after feeling like they've hit rock bottom can, and should, look no further for inspiration than from the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson. And that, more than any of his achievements, is why I think he is worthy of the accolades that have been, and will continue to be, bestowed upon him. Read more...