Founded1879 chats to Dominic Shaw, Football Writer with the Northern Echo, to get the inside scoop on Middlesbrough ahead of the derby/not derby on Saturday (its not!)
F1879: Middlesbrough embark on Michael Carrick’s second full season in charge, with two wins, two draws, and one defeat so far. What are the early expectations for the club this season?
DS: In a word, promotion. Boro finished last season strongly and ultimately paid the price for their wretched start – they failed to win any of their first seven games. That strong end to last season was followed by an extremely impressive transfer window, in which all of the key boxes were ticked and several top targets landed. Boro’s start has been slightly underwhelming in terms of results but Carrick is encouraged by performances. Boro had 50 shots on goal against Derby and Portsmouth and somehow only picked up a single point. The head coach admitted after last week’s draw with Preston – another frustrating outcome – that Boro must start “killing teams off”.
F1879: Boro finished eighth last season with a net spend of around £13.5 million. After another big summer, the club spent approximately £15 million when factoring in player sales. It seems Carrick has been fully backed in the transfer market. Yet he lost both Akpom and Rogers last season. Do you think those departures were a major reason they fell short of play-offs, and do you believe the team will be stronger this season?
DS: The squad now looks extremely balanced and strong. It wasn’t just Akpom they lost last summer but also Cameron Archer, Aaron Ramsey, Ryan Giles and Zack Steffen, who’d all been influential loanees. Boro effectively had to start again 12 months ago, hence their slow start to the campaign. Losing Rogers in January was a blow but I don’t think even Unai Emery would have predicted he would kick-on as impressively and quickly as he has. And while Boro would prefer to have kept Rogers, his rapid improvement at Boro and move to the Premier League has been quite the sales pitch for the club’s recruitment team this summer – as has the progression of Rav van den Berg and Emmanuel Latte Lath.
F1879: What can you tell us about Boro’s style of play this season? Has there been any noticeable changes introduced by Carrick during pre-season?
DS: In terms of style, no, it’s similar to the way it’s always been under Carrick, with a fluid forward line of three attackers playing off a central striker. Aidan Morris has come in and made an immediate impact in the middle of the park and struck up a good partnership with the fit again Hayden Hackney. Key to Boro’s success two seasons ago was Giles down the left. Replacing Giles has been a problem but Boro have high hopes for Brazilian Neto Borges, who arrived late in the window.
F1879: Finn Azaz tops the Championship table for total shots, with 17. Despite registering two assists, he is yet to score. Is there a story behind that stat? It seems like it’s only a matter of time before he finds the back of the net if he continues in this vein. Should the Black Cats be worried?
DS: In short, he isn’t shy of having a go. Azaz scored seven times for Plymouth in the first half of last season before joining Boro from Aston Villa on a permanent deal. He’s actually quite a divisive figure with fans, but he has a big fan in his head coach:
“Finn is a talented player, and he’s really clever how he plays the game,” said the Boro boss earlier this month. “He’s an important player because of how many chances he creates and how he manages to find those pockets of space and can provide that final pass as well as goals. It hasn’t quite come for him in terms of the end product yet, but I think that’s the case for all our front players at the moment. We’re doing a lot of good things though.”
That said, there’s no guarantee Azaz will start this weekend. Summer signing Tommy Conway has been used at No.10 in the last two games and was Boro’s best performer against Preston. Azaz moved to the left for that game, but Riley McGree is fit again now so Carrick has a decision to make there.
F1879: Another interesting stat shows that Boro has the most touches in the opposition box this season with 208 – well ahead of QPR’s 148 and Sunderland’s 138. Given the club’s current league position of 10th, do you think this reflects a bit of bad luck, or has the team simply not yet been clinical enough?
DS: The latter. And Carrick has admitted as much. Boro will feel they could actually have had maximum points on the board. Their only defeat came at Derby, when it was attack vs defence for most of the game and they were undone by a momentary lapse from Isaiah Jones. Boro then paid the price for individual mistakes in the draw against Portsmouth and should have been out of sight before Preston’s equaliser on Saturday. Emmanuel Latte Lath hasn’t quite rediscovered his form from last season yet but once he’s up and running again and if Conway builds on his impressive start, the issues of the early weeks should be resolved.
F1879: Where do you see Boro’s strengths and weaknesses as a team?
DS: They’re extremely comfortable in possession and plenty of the players now have a lot of experience under Carrick, so know exactly what the head coach is looking for. Their three attacking midfielders are fluid and comfortable switching areas and roles. And there’s a resilience there as well, as demonstrated with the way they recovered from last year’s shocking start. In terms of weaknesses, finding a way to break down teams with a low block has been an issue again and again and at times they look too predictable in their build-up. Preston, for example, were comfortable defending their point for the most part in the second half last week. Not sure much a weakness but injuries have been an issue. Several key players missed large bulks of last season.
F1879: What formation/tactics do you think Carrick will use against Sunderland this weekend?
DS: I don’t expect much change to what we ordinarily see from Carrick’s Boro in terms of set-up. What will be interesting is how Sunderland approach the game. Boro’s best performance and result so far this season came against Leeds in the Carabao Cup when Daniel Farke’s side tried to go toe-to-toe. When teams have set up to stifle and frustrate, on the other hand, Boro have struggled.
F1879: From an outsider’s perspective, it seems like Gibson/Carrick have built good squad depth. Would you agree, or do you think Carrick would have liked to see more reinforcements in key areas during the recent transfer window?
DS: On and off the record, the word coming out of Boro this summer is that everyone behind the scenes was on the same page when it came to transfers and everyone was delighted with the business that was done. Carrick has been left with an extremely strong and balanced squad with no real areas of weakness. In attacking midfield, he now has nine players jostling for three spots, with Liverpool loanee Ben Doak and Micah Hamilton, an exciting summer signing from Manchester City in the summer, among the subs against Preston.
F1879: What do you think Boro’s likely starting XI will be?
DS: If van den Berg is fully fit, he’ll come back into the side; if not, George Edmundson will keep his place alongside Matt Clarke. Aidan Morris will come into the midfield alongside Hayden Hackney after being rested last time out. Conway and Latte Lath will keep their places in attack, I would think. The interesting selections will be on the flank. Is it too early to bring Doak in? Will it be Azaz or McGree? Predicted: Dieng, Ayling, Edmundson, Clarke, Borges; Morris, Hackney; Jones, Conway, McGree, Latte Lath
F1879: Who have been the standout players so far and which ones should Sunderland be most concerned about? Have any of the new signings made a strong impression?
DS: Morris has been excellent. Boro worked long and hard on the signing of the United States international but didn’t expect him to be an immediate hit. He has been. Jonny Howson has been out injured but the skipper faces a scrap to get back into the side. Conway – who we’ll get onto next – has quickly made his mark and looks like man on a mission. Latte Lath has only scored the once but is a real handful for defenders.
F1879: Boro added promising young striker Tommy Conway to the already prolific Emmanuel Latte Lath this summer, and both players have started the season well. How has Carrick used them so far?
DS: Interestingly, Conway has been playing as a No.10. He played all of his football at Bristol City as a striker but Carrick does have history when it comes to transforming centre-forwards into No.10s – think Chuba Akpom! Preston was the first game they’ve started as a pair and the signs were very promising. I’d be amazed if they weren’t both in from the off at the Stadium of Light.
F1879: Which Sunderland player do you think Boro fans will be most concerned about going into the weekend?
DS: On current form, it has to be Mundle. Fair play to the flanker for the way he’s stepped up since Clarke’s exit. Boro also know what Pat Roberts is all about having had the winger on loan, and defensively down the left Carrick’s side were weak against Preston so that might be an area Sunderland look to exploit. Morris and Hackney vs Bellingham, Neil and Rigg in midfield is a mouthwatering battle.
F1879: Which Boro player do you think Sunderland should be most worried about?
DS: I know he doesn’t have the goals he’d hope for yet but I think it has to be Latte Lath. I’m not sure there was a better striker in the Championship in the final couple of months of last season – hence Ipswich offering £20m late in the summer window. He’s a livewire, is always on the move and, as mentioned above, is already showing an understanding with Conway.
F1879: Where do you predict Sunderland and Middlesbrough will finish in the league?
DS: I fancy both to be in the mix. Sunderland were something of an unknown quantity before a ball was kicked this season after the struggles in the second half of last term and the fact Le Bris was untested in the Championship. But they’ve been hugely impressive in the early weeks, and I fancy Boro to find their feet. I think both will be in the top six.
F1879: What is your score prediction for Saturday?
DS: I can’t see anything other than an entertaining game. I’ll go for 1-1.
Thanks to Dominic. Follow him on X.
