'What went wrong?

' is a question that football fans always ask after their team
suffers such a comprehensive defeat as Middlesbrough's 3-0 smashing away to
Bournemouth. A more apt question this time is perhaps 'what went right?'. The
answer would be nothing.
It began with the decision to revert to the 4-2-3-1 formation that served Boro so
well in the first half of this season. It is a system that will never encourage the
high tempo attacking football that Bournemouth so splendidly showed off,
resulting in the notably lower amount of goals that Boro have scored compared
to their rivals. This disadvantage is off-set by keeping the defence and midfield
tight, compact, and frustrating to break down, before launching into deadly
counter attacking flourishes. It is a system, then, that relies upon a rock-hard,
no-nonsense defence, and any Boro fan can tell you that for the last couple of
months now, it has been far from that. A shadow, now, of the seemingly
unbreakable bastion of the first half of the season, the leaky defence has been
suffering from conceding poor goals frequently. Where once Boro could rely
upon the fact that, if they put themselves ahead, they would usually see the
game out without needing to score a tremendous amount. Now it seems
mistakes and nerves have crept into each and every match.
The injury to Daniel Ayala has crippled the Great Wall of Teesside, and so far
neither Kenneth Omeruo nor Tomas Kalas have shown themselves able to fill
the void left by Ayala's towering presence. The one defender who has managed
to rally the defence in recent games happens to, unfortunately, be the most
injury prone player in the team. The partnership of Kalas and Gibson has
looked disjointed at best, and down-right comical at worst, and any striker
worth his salt will lick his lips at the prospect of exploiting it; step up Callum
Wilson.
The Bournemouth striker must have been wondering how on Earth this defence
had conceded so few goals. On his lonesome, he was pulling Kalas and Gibson
all over the back line like a master puppeteer at work. He created space with
ease and used his pace and sheer strength to keep Kalas and Gibson at bay for
the entire ninety minutes. He forced Kalas into mistake after mistake, not least
of all giving away a clear penalty.
Wilson is a striker unlike anything Boro have to offer; quick, sharp, powerful, a
presence that can lead the line by himself and bring his supporting cast into the
fray. Whilst Kike does reasonably well at holding the ball up, his poor decision
making and inconsistent first touch usually result in the attack breaking down.
Vossen and Bamford, again, are two players who cannot lead a line by
themselves. Technical and intelligent, yes, but certainly not the quickest, and
lacking in any sort of aerial ability or strength. If the money invested in Kike

had instead been spent upon Callum Wilson, I daresay Boro would be a good
few points better off than they are now.
Yet whilst both centre backs were seemingly out of their depth, their defensive
cover was no better off. Bournemouth swapped between deciding to pass their
way leisurely through Boro's midfield, and simply by-passing it all together
with a single effective ball to Wilson, opening up the defence time and time
again. The midfield partnership of Clayton and Leadbitter could not keep up
with the fleet-footed combination of Arter and Surman, who both seemed to be
on another level technically to their Boro counter parts. Their long balls held
purpose they knew that Wilson would be able to latch onto them. That cannot
be said of Bamford who, through no fault of his alone, was being asked to play
a role he simply isn't built for. Their short passing was crisp and assured, swiftly
scything through Boro's midfield almost effortlessly, forcing Clayton into
rugby-tackle lengths of desperation to try and stem the tide. I felt envious, at
times, of the display that Bournemouth put on.
Going forward, Boro were no better. Lee Tomlin dropped far too deep to play
the number ten role effectively. The gap between Bamford, a lonely figure
upfront, and the three players who were supposed to be behind him was far too
big. I still struggle to work out just what Adam Reach exactly offers as a
winger, seeming to lack pace, technical ability, and an end product, whilst
Albert Adomah on the other side was by far the most positive player Boro had
on the day, making a few decent probing runs, and managing some good balls
into the box. All in all, it is difficult to comment upon Middlesbrough's
attacking football, because there was very, very little of it on show.
We are at the stage now where every game is of vital importance. Boro pulled
off two very decent results against Ipswich and Derby playing a balanced 4-4-2
that offered width and danger in attack. Coupled with an experienced head such
as Woodgate mustering the defence, this would be the preferable way for Boro
to see out the season. The talk of Muzzy Carayol going out on loan is very
troubling, considering Reach's ineffectiveness. The direct, fast movements of
Carayol or, failing that, Wildschut is something that I believe would fare
better for Boro at this point in the season. Jelle Vossen simply must partner
Bamford upfront, as neither player is particularly effective without the other.
Controversially, I would also like to see Adam Forshaw brought into the
midfield. Harry Arter showed Boro just how much use a technical, forwardminded player is when playing in the centre of the park, and Clayton and
Leadbitter have shown recently that they are both too similar in style, and offer
little going forward (despite Leadbitter's flattering goal tally). It is still in our
hands, but Aitor simply must settle on a system that we can impose upon the

opposition, as now the trips to Norwich and Watford have become even more
important; and we cannot afford to put out a performance such as we did
against Bournemouth, or Boro will be on the end of yet another hiding.