Match Report: Blues 0-1 Middlesbrough
A former Blue secures three points for Boro to leave Blues winless in five and staring directly at the dotted line beneath them
Riley McGree's first half thunderbolt was the difference between Birmingham City and Middlesbrough on Tuesday night.
A tough watch, it was a game that was always likely to be decided by a moment of madness or quality and the former Blues loanee stepped up to provide the latter.
Blues huffed and puffed but for all their second half territory, offered very little as an attacking threat, failing to register a single shot on target.
Three changes were made. Ethan Laird, Andre Dozzell and Jordan James returned while Marc Roberts and Alex Pritchard retained their places. Cody Drameh, Ivan Sunjic and Juninho Bacuna dropped to the bench. Siriki Dembele missed out entirely.
It took two minutes for a clearly unfit Roberts to cause havoc, a short backpass requiring John Ruddy to step out and deny Marcus Forss. Pritchard had Blues’ first effort with a 40 yard lob that fell the wrong side of the post. Emmanuel Latte Lath then somehow evaded both Emmanuel Aiwu and Roberts and Ruddy was out sharp once more with Paddy McNair firing over from the edge of the box a moment later.
Blues had once again failed to start with any zip or purpose and they were punished on 17 minutes. Blues looked to be breaking but Pritchard took his time, attempted to nutmeg Luke Ayling who walked round the ex-Sunderland man, gave the ball to McGree who fired into the top corner from 25 yards. Lovely finish. Terrible from Blues.
As if to drum home the feeling of apathy, Roberts decided that he couldn’t continue after the goal.
Blues did respond with some tidy play down the right-hand side but James couldn’t find the target on the turn. Boro were soon in our box again, McNair denied by a block before Ayling cut inside and gave Ruddy some handling practice.
Excellent work from Paik, who somehow beat three players before sliding the ball right, deserved a better finish that Pritchard’s miskick. Lath was inexplicably left free from a left-side throw and shot wide before Matt Clarke decided to test our lack of resilience from set-pieces but Aiwu did enough to stop him getting clean contact.
The second half was a total non-event. Blues saw more of the ball but did nothing with it while Boro did enough to slow the game while finding easy ways to break from Blues attacks and re-organise.
The first notable effort came on 76 minutes when Sam Greenwood put a free-kick over the bar. Blues barely mustered anything until 89 minutes when Seny Dieng dropped a cross only for Sepp Van den Berg to beat Lukas Jutkiewicz to the loose ball. George Hall miscued a volley.
A pitiful finish to a poor affair that leaves Blues with one point from five games under Mark Venus.
Lineups
Blues
Ruddy; Laird Roberts (Drameh 19) Aiwu Buchanan; Miyoshi (Hall 46) Dozzell (Bacuna 46) Paik JJ (Jutkiewicz 70); Pritchard (Roberts 78); Stansfield. Subs: Etheridge; Longelo Sunjic Gardner.
Boro
Dieng; McNair van den Berg Clarke; Ayling Howson O’Brien Engel; Forss (Greenwood 66) Lath McGree (Azaz 73). Subs: Glover; Dijksteel Thomas Barlaser Jones Silvera Gilbert.
Tactics
Confession early doors: the rising anger I was feeling almost from the moment this game kicked off meant I wasn’t as switched on as normal to what was going on. Also, Blues were pants, which didn’t help.
Boro will be written up as a 3-4-1-2 but there was an asymmetric feel to it with Ayling pushing high down the right almost as a right-winger, McNair slotting in behind him and Engel deeper on the left. Latte Lath held width but also had license to drift inside.
It meant that they lined up almost as a 4-2-3-1 in possession with Forss and McNair willing runners down the right for Ayling to find or step into vacated space while triangles came into play down the left where Lath, O’Brien, Engel and McGree would get involved.
Blues challenged this almost man for man. James and Miyoshi joined Stansfield in closing the back three with Pritchard and Paik in support on the defensive midfielders. The full-backs then closed the wing-backs with the other full-back tucking in to make it 3v2 at the back while Dozzell watched McGree. Roberts then Buchanan tended to be the spare man with Aiwu responsible for Latte Lath.
It fell down a little with Blues either failing to press and cut off angles sufficiently, allow a Boro player to turn or simply failing to step up onto somebody, giving them time and space to play. However, following the early substitution, Blues were more aggressive with Buchanan and Aiwu sharp out.
In possession, Blues tried a similar approach with Aiwu and Buchanan, then Drameh, either side of Roberts, then Buchanan. Dozzell and Paik showed short with Laird and JJ wide. There was some rotation here with Pritchard showing wide left on occasion and also Miyoshi and Paik dovetailing higher up the pitch once possession was received.
However, things started to become very messy. We had a collection of bodies in the centre of the pitch with little shape and easily countered against, relying on good work from the centre-backs to cut out problems before they arose. Laird was regularly caught down the right by making a poor decision but also had to contend with few options around him with natural or intelligent movement to open space lacking.
It meant that Boro could set up in their shape and be relatively comfortable. The front three stayed narrow and compact to deny Blues centre-backs and central midfield and easy route through the centre of the pitch. Howson and O’Brien were watchful of Miyoshi and Pritchard but quick to pounce if a forward pass was made. Ayling was high on the right and ready to pounce on Buchanan, then Drameh, while Engel tussled with Laird, leaving the back three to marshall James and Stansfield.
They did endure a couple of issues at times. Firstly, Clarke was less willing to step out at left-centre-back, meaning that Pritchard, Miyoshi and Paik were able to find space in a wider right / central position between the lines, albeit Blues failed to capitalise on this with Engel, Clarke and Van den Berg simply stronger than those being fed from that point. And in the second half, as the game opened up, Bacuna was able to find Stansfield in the channel on more than one occasion with a forward pass between McNair and Van den Berg. Again, Blues failed to capitalise on this.
There were positional changes:
Buchanan moved to centre-back to replace Roberts with Drameh coming on at left-back.
Hall was a straight swap with Miyoshi but James moved into central midfield to replace Dozzell with Bacuna out wide
Latte Lath moved to the main striking position with Greenwood to his left
Bacuna moved into the middle of the park with Jutkiewicz up top and Stansfield moving to the left
Players
Let’s be positive first. I want to praise Lee Buchanan who has been excellent since returning from a spell out of the side. He again wanted to play forward, he didn’t hide and was excellent at centre-back despite covering a fair amount of space at times.
Beyond that? Erm. Bacuna at least tried to make something happen but his decision making and quality let him down. Drameh was solid at left-back but is also extremely one-footed which undercut any attempts at attacking. Stansfield worked his socks off despite being isolated. Aiwu showed aggression in his defending and did okay up against the lively Latte Lath but he lacks an assuredness in his play.
The bad? Let’s just pick off the midfield as a collection first. Just soft. Weak in the challenge. Not looking after the ball. Not showing or moving it quickly. Not driving on to support Stansfield. James again struggled from the left and because the team aren’t creating much, the big positive of his run on the left – being a goal threat – is removed.
And Ethan Laird. I’m tempted to give him a pass because this is comfortably the worst he has played in a Blues shirt and to his credit, he didn’t shy away from taking the ball. But he also consistently lost it, made poor decisions and never got the better of Engel. We have two fit centre-halves with Sanderson returning for the weekend so if Drameh gets the nod on the right, Laird can have no complaints.
Marc Roberts. I can’t lie, the mention of his name is enough to wind me up. I don’t get like this with Blues players and I’ve been an apologist for Roberts for a long time, willing to give him the benefit of the doubt every time he steps back into the side because he has shown what he can offer when up for the battle.
I’m also worried that I’m going too big in writing this. I don’t know all the details. I can only judge on what I see and if people can provide tangible evidence to advise me I’m wrong in this, I’m happy to take it on board. However, the departure of Kevin Long means that Roberts is our most experienced, battle-hardened centre-half and somebody we should be relying upon on and off the pitch to set an example. In the last two games, he has:
Been far too easily nudged off the ball by Obafemi vs Millwall when a 50-50 battle came into play
Failed to defend a set-piece in the 90th minute of a crucial game, going down at the slightest of touches. There’s no way that Jutkiewicz or Long are beaten that easily in that situation.
Almost give a goal away in a crucial home game after two minutes and clearly wasn’t fit from the off
Continues to play up until we concede, which is the point he sits on the ground and decides he can’t continue
We’re in a fight for survival. Two big games. Tight matches. That’s the response. Not forgetting his involvement in the final goal at Ipswich Town before he came back out of the side.
Perhaps I’m wrong for saying all that. Perhaps this is seven years of watching Roberts bounce up and down the form scale like a kid on a pogo stick. Perhaps this is the frustration of the position we’re in and beginning to see the worst in those involved on the pitch. Perhaps this is the memories flooding back of Roberts showing the softer side to his defending when we know he’s capable of so much more.
Roberts isn’t the sole reason for our demise or the key reason we have performed poorly over the last two games. Far from it. But that might also be his last game for the club depending on the nature of his injury, the fitness of other defenders and his contract situation. If he does return, I'd love him to prove me wrong. But I’m done expecting anything from him now.
From a Boro perspective, it took me 10 minutes to jot down that Rav Van den Berg has got it. A seriously cool defender. Boro weren’t at their fluid best here and yet nobody stood out as having a poor game, each player knowing their roles and simply looking bigger, stronger, quicker and sharper than their direct opponents. A lack of ruthlessness at the top end of the pitch was the only blight on a solid display.
Conclusions
It’s 24 hours on as I write this and I’ve gone through a range of emotions.
I felt an increasing anger and tension watching the game yesterday. My emotions are getting the better of me watching a team far more capable than it is showing right now. Bad decisions. An inability to win individual battles. A lack of willingness to commit people. All the hallmarks of a team that has lost confidence and is heading one way. It was comfortable our worst display since Leeds United away in Rooney’s last match in charge.
Boro were bright, knew their roles and looked more than comfortable, perhaps owing to the consistency of their approach since Carrick walked through the door. It’s something to aspire to with Blues poor when it came to the important stuff.
I’ve had a lot of conversations with a lot of different people. Some simply feel we’re doomed. Some want a fresh face in the dugout for motivational purposes. Some still believe we’ll be okay.
Taking stock, I don’t think my initial fears from last night are wrong. We are in danger of going down. You can’t perform like that at this stage of the season and not question whether this group are fit for survival. It was embarrassing to watch and the first time I’ve truly felt concerned about our status in the league (at least, since Rooney was dispatched of).
And yet, we’re still outside of the dropzone. Four of our next six are at home. We play Rotherham and Huddersfield Town away. Tony Mowbray should return at some point, which will provide a morale boost to players and fans.
The big thing will be getting a reaction on Saturday. This has to be the low point now. We can’t perform like that again. We have to be up for Saturday and give fans the belief that this team is still alive and kicking.
Do I believe we need another interim to make that happen? No. If we were going to do it, we should have done it immediately. Doing it now just stinks of panic and given these players even more instructions to follow, with the likelihood of Mowbray returning at some point in the next month, seems utterly barmy.
It’s time for everybody to stick together, the fans to get behind Venus and the players and for the players to give the fans something to get behind. It’s still in our hands.
You really know your stuff. Question: were we tactically really that bad under Rooney? I never truly got the weird hate for him.
All my thoughts, only additional comment, i can't understand the constant chopping and changing of the midfield/attackers understand the defensive changes due to injury/suspensions but let's try and keep a settled side.