Does Carrick get an easy ride?

MidlandsBoroFan said:
This is the most confident I’ve been in years with the squad we’ve now got. Ok, there are weaknesses. A few players aren’t good enough (in my opinion). But I can’t - in nearly 50 years - remember us playing this style of football and dominating every single game like we have this season. We’re a good watch (mostly). And I wouldn’t say we’re playing particularly well.

It will click, I’m sure of it. We do need to play a little faster. But we’ve also had absolutely no luck.

Sooner or later we’ll stop having ridiculous injuries. We’ll stop missing sitters and giving away stupid goals. A deflected shot or ricochet will fall to one of our players for once. Seriously can’t remember the last time this happened.

A keeper will play against us and make a mistake. How is it possible that keepers can have absolute howlers the week before, but play like Gordon Banks at his best as soon as they play us? Keepers in our league let balls through their legs every week, or play stupid passes straight to a striker. Not against us though. It will change.

Player for player we are among the best in the division. Difficult to challenge the recently relegated teams over a season with their budgets, but we won’t be far away. MC has been here a while now and seems to have a happy dressing room. I think we’ll get into the playoffs barring bad luck.

The only criticism I’ve got with MC is the substitutions. Too little too late, every game. We’ve finally got a strong bench, so use it.

But overall, we’re comfortably better than last year - so I’m happy enough with that.
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Yesterday i thought we looked pretty ordinary. I can't honestly look back and say that passage of play from us was fantastic, the midfield misfired. We looked so much better at Swansea with morris and Hackney
 
Glover_elbow said:
Yesterday i thought we looked pretty ordinary. I can't honestly look back and say that passage of play from us was fantastic, the midfield misfired. We looked so much better at Swansea with morris and Hackney
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Yes agreed. First league game we haven’t played particularly well. Still the better team though and should have been well ahead before they scored out of the blue.

Morris a big miss, especially with Howson injured.
 
It's not exactly Carrick's fault that Clark and Lath can't score from a few yards out. I keep on reading that we can't break teams down, but that's not what I've seen. We've created loads of excellent chances but have failed to put those away. Throw in some terrible defensive mistakes and we've had a very frustrating start to the season. Carrick has us playing some good football.
 
Carrick still has everything to prove, for me.

I like him.

He will be given time and I really hope he gets us there but he hasn’t done anything yet.
 
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I was very disappointed with Carrick yesterday, Preston had man marked Hackney and we struggled to create anything, Carrick needs to change how we are approaching teams and move players, bring players on to change the situation and I'm not seeing it...its the first time I've had a sinking feeling about him.
 
Glover_elbow said:
We need a huge step up in performance to beat Sunderland
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This isn’t the issue though, I expect us to be able to soak up what Sunderland has to offer and then beat them unless they take the chances they will probably create in ruthless fashion!
The issue is the home form
 
Thoughts ..Are we playing better, worse or just the same as Aitors side? Now that was tedious. The lack of intensity is comparable imo.
 
BiggEggo said:
Thoughts ..Are we playing better, worse or just the same as Aitors side? Now that was tedious. The lack of intensity is comparable imo.
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We were miles better under Carrick. It was pragmatic, organised and we were tough.
Played some great football at times.
 
I'm starting to drift in the same way as I did with Southgate:
At first came across as a fresh young talent, intelligent, calm, thoughtful, this guy is experienced, knows his stuff, the players obviously like him, good football brain. A little quiet, repetitive, predictable, bland in interviews but a good guy and will go far.
Then in time: shitt this guy is getting boring, predictable, unimaginative, deer in the headlights, too nice, no mongrel when it's needed, never a plan B or C, no genius moves, frustrating, soft, players taking the piiss, maybe he has no idea after all....
I'm not there yet but it won't be long if things don't turn around.
 
He gets a rough ride for me. He does not sign players, Scott does. Losing Danks is a factor, but Carricks brother has qualies. I think MC deserves our support more than anyone including KS. We made several signings, like last season, and we will be at our best post Dec, just like last year. I predict a 5th place finish and play off success.
 
Boro said:
I'm starting to drift in the same way as I did with Southgate:
At first came across as a fresh young talent, intelligent, calm, thoughtful, this guy is experienced, knows his stuff, the players obviously like him, good football brain. A little quiet, repetitive, predictable, bland in interviews but a good guy and will go far.
Then in time: shitt this guy is getting boring, predictable, unimaginative, deer in the headlights, too nice, no mongrel when it's needed, never a plan B or C, no genius moves, frustrating, soft, players taking the piiss, maybe he has no idea after all....
I'm not there yet but it won't be long if things don't turn around.
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I think you have to be careful comparing Carrick to the most successful England manager since Sir Alf Ramsey.

You could argue that Southgate’s success at international level proves that the performance level is more determined by the standard of players that the Boro can sustain rather than the quality of the manager.

Don’t forget we have only lost something like 2 out of the last 15 league games and one of those was a bit of a freak result in my opinion.
 
McGree getting injured after the first game will have derailed Carrick's plans massively.

Against Swansea he went with McGree on the left, Azaz as a 10, Jones on the right and Lath up front. I think Carrick will have been hoping we'd have been able to have gone with that team for a good period of time but of course he had to change it and started Burgzorg in place of McGree against Derby, who is a completely different type of player.

Since then Carrick has made changes on a game by game basis, so it's understandable that it hasn't yet clicked. I'm hoping that he will soon decide on what his best team is and we will get results, meaning he will feel confident enough to stick with it.

At the moment I'm thinking the team will eventually look like this......

Dieng

Ayling
VDB
Clarke
Borges

Morris
Hackney

Doak
Azaz
McGree

Lath/Conway
 
HolgateCorner said:
I think you have to be careful comparing Carrick to the most successful England manager since Sir Alf Ramsey.

You could argue that Southgate’s success at international level proves that the performance level is more determined by the standard of players that the Boro can sustain rather than the quality of the manager.

Don’t forget we have only lost something like 2 out of the last 15 league games and one of those was a bit of a freak result in my opinion
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HolgateCorner said:
I think you have to be careful comparing Carrick to the most successful England manager since Sir Alf Ramsey.

You could argue that Southgate’s success at international level proves that the performance level is more determined by the standard of players that the Boro can sustain rather than the quality of the manager.

Don’t forget we have only lost something like 2 out of the last 15 league games and one of those was a bit of a freak result in my opinion.
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Not sure I have to be careful about anything here. I was simply stating how I felt when Southgate was Boro manager. At first I was excited as he was a bright new talent but by the end glad to see the back of him. For the same reasons my opinion of Carrick is starting to go the same way. A great footballer and nice intelligent guy doesn’t always make you a good manager that’s all.
The England thing is a different conversation. Mind you with the talent he had and the set ups he used in the Euros I thought he looked lost there too.
 
I’m not concerned at the moment and think Carrick and the coaches are doing a good job. It’s clear to me we’re trying to play and attractive game, which can be frustrating at times, but I’d rather that than watch tactics from Preston who were very direct.

The squad, and team is improved from last season and the start far better. We really should be unbeaten as getting beat at Derby was shocking. Not beating Portsmouth baffling as we did enough to win by 3 or 4 goals. Individual mistakes costing us three points in those games. Nothing a coach can do when seeing Jones make a mistake leading to a goal and Dieng doing the same.
 
He's had bad luck with injuries again - losing VdB, Howson and McGree. If we can get a settled side for a run of games - especially the defence - and we still aren't performing then it's time to criticise.
 
equaliser said:
He's had bad luck with injuries again - losing VdB, Howson and McGree. If we can get a settled side for a run of games - especially the defence - and we still aren't performing then it's time to criticise.
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Mcgree and howson are injured so often we shouldnt be so reliant on them
 
We've had a really kind start to the season with our fixtures so we should be winning on xG. We're not winning on G though and that is a concern.

We have a much tougher run over the next 5 games. It will tell us a lot.

I do think Carrick's calm, which definitely can be a positive, can work against us at times. I don't get the impression anyone is ever going to get a bollocking and sometimes people need one.

I think we have a good squad this year and there aren't any clear standouts in the other teams that are significantly better than us. What I have seen from us so far doesn't make me think we're going to be challenging for the autos this season which is disappointing because I was convinced we would be.

We've made some decent signings but I think the link between attack and midfield at 10 is a weak link for the us. It's a key position in the way we play and we don't have anyone that can play it the way that is most effective, like Akpom did.
 
Nero said:
Nothing a coach can do when seeing Jones make a mistake leading to a goal and Dieng doing the same.
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That's the crux of it right there. The players are clearly being coached to retain the ball at all costs. Jones made a mistake in miss-hitting the back pass but the much bigger error was not playing the ball back into the Derby penalty area. Boro had most of their players there. Sure, it might not have resulted in a goal, but then again it might.

Instead he tried a 60 yard backpass, scuffed it and Derby scored.

Out of the goals that Boro have scored, none have come from intricate passing movements. Penalties, corners, and - against Preston - a long ball over the defence.

Carrick is trying to play in a style that the team is not capable enough to do. Dozens of short passes that inevitably break down somewhere short of the penalty area. Then get the ball back and try again.

It doesn't work against packed defences but Carrick keeps trying it.

The optimism on here about Boro's prospects is admirable but there's no evidence at all to back that up that I've seen.

So yes, Carrick is getting an easy ride. Something needs to change. Somebody on here will say at Christmas "all we need to do is win the next eight matches and we'll be right in it". Probably true but it ain't happening.
 
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