I have been on the injury list for almost a month, so this was my first game since the Bournemouth game. That first half was a revelation. We attacked, and we pressed, but even as I watched and reveled in our play and our goals, I was wondering aloud whether we would be able to hang on in the second half. I greeted Bassi’s second goal as I normally greet a winner. It was as if I knew what was coming. The problem with the press is that it is impossible to sustain as the players tire. When they can no longer apply pressure on the opponent with the ball,or close down quickly on his passing options, there is more time for the passes to be directed accurately, more time for the pass to be timed to coincide with a teammate’s run. Wolfe, Bassi, Quina and Morris were out on their feet after an hour, but our first change was at left back, where Vita was being destroyed by Jones. He conceded a penalty and was then booked for another desperate challenge. Unfortunately, he had to go. But that meant that we had just 2 substitutions available to replace 4 very tired individuals. Having said all that, I did not understand the logic of Asbaghi’s substitutions. It is not like it was a sudden reaction. Asbaghi debated his first substitution for 5 minutes, whilst Vita was being torn apart. When he made his move, it was Kitching who replaced Vita and Asbaghi also strengthened our right side by bringing on Brittain and asking him to play in front of Williams. Kitching coped no better against Jones than did Vita, and his name was soon in the referees book alongside that of Vita. Kitching is a left sided centre-back in a back 3. He is not a left full back. We had not strengthened the team, and the tired mid-field players in front of our back 4 were finding it impossible to protect them because the could no longer get to the man with the ball in time. In the last 20 minutes, our goal led a charmed life. I was sure the shot that hit the post was in and a stream of dangerous crosses were missed, before one finally counted. The luck was with us, but at 3-0, you do not expect to be hanging on for grim death later in the same game. The real problem was that one team had come to play 90 minutes, and the other team could only manage 60 minutes because they invested all of their energy into that first half. I hope those who read this do not see me as negative, because I have not criticised either the management or the players when we were losing games earlier on in the season, mainly because I saw the problem as bad luck and injuries/COVID. I hope that other do not believe that I just want to be contrary. I have not read other thoughts on the game, but I expect the team to be praised, and rightly so, for that first hour. However, I came away from the game barely satisfied, when after the first half, I would have been effusive in my praise. This is what the indexes are for. They take away emotional reaction and replace it with hard core statistics, and the statistics are not great, because the statistics say that Middlesbrough were the better team…. by a long way. My MotM is Carlton Morris. He allowed us to play in the way that we did in the first half, and that was what our discussions were about at the end of the first half. The question was, what is the difference between our early season form, and now? Many will point to Bassi and Quina, and they have certainly contributed. However, if Cauley Woodrow was still trying to play out of position in Morris’s place as our one up front, the results would have been no better, in spite of those two acquisitions. Entertainment Index: Barnsley 33 Middlesbrough 150 Match 183 Performance Index: -87 PotM Carlton Morris
Do you give the points out on Eurovision too . They seem way out to score boro nearly 5 times higher than us .
Thought Viita was struggling against their winger in the second half - we needed to do something . Whether Kitchin was the answer is very debatable though
Glad you’re back and no longer injured. The only thing I immediately disagree with is that Kitching is not a left back. He has played 43 games at left back and 58 at centre back. He has also scored all his career goals playing at left back and got all his career assists at left back. He didn’t do a good job there today though.
The problem quite simply is Kitching isn’t good enough whatever position he plays. The likes of Kitching, Palmer, Benson, Odour, & Moon are the reason why we are where we are, they were regulars not so long ago. The right move would have been Brittain for Vita but Williams moves over to left back. Then maybe Halme on for one of the Midfielder’s.
Rubbish mate, Kitchen did get booked early after coming on so I think he did really well from there on coping with Jones on a caution. Jones is a handful for any defender, you are as wrong on this as you were last season when you were wrong about Ismael, you went on long term gardening leave after your expertise had been proved wrong then lol.....good night!
P.s......I sit in east stand lower towards away end, so had a good view of what was happening regarding Vita v Jones second half....if Vita had remained on pitch much longer then Boro would have definitely scored again before they eventually did down that side, I rate Vita but he struggled today and Asbaghi made the right move....end of!
