r00fie1
Well-known member
Its that time again>>>>>
EFL Championship. Monday 22nd April 2024. Middlesbrough v Leeds United. Riverside Stadium. KO: 20:00 hrs.
EFL Championship. Monday 22nd April 2024. Middlesbrough v Leeds United. Riverside Stadium. KO: 20:00 hrs.
Tonight we welcome Leeds, for whom winning this game or at least taking a point at this stage of the season is critical. It will mean they've played a game more than their three automatic promotion rivals: Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton. The Saints have the most to do, but it's still possible if results go right in the final few games. Leeds are two points of Ipswich in second, a point behind Leicester, who went back top on Saturday in a nervy 2-1 win against West Brom. In spite of some solid performances, Leeds form is poor, with only eight points out the last six games. Their last game was a 1-0 defeat at home to struggling Blackburn Rovers, and prior to that was a drab 0-0 at home to the Mackems.
[Leeds fell apart against Blackburn Rovers in their first home defeat of the season!]
They had a fantastic run in January, February and March, which pushed them into contention for the automatic spots. It has been the poor form of Leicester which has helped the other three clubs to catch up. Ipswich have continued to scrap, but it was the likes of Boro`s crucial point at Portman Road which set back their automatic challenge. Dropping two points at this stage of the season can make the difference between automatic or the play-offs. Tonight Leeds will be desperate for the points, but our recent nine-game unbeaten run isn't a fluke, and we can give Farke`s side more than just a run for the money. If they think it's a foregone conclusion, they've got another thing coming!
[Carrick treat's tonight's game "no different" to any other].
Michael Carrick knows the importance of this game for Leeds, but is concerned that we have got our training and preparation right. In his recent media conference, he highlighted getting the squad ready for another game is his priority. Perhaps it's not a "derby", but there is always a feisty atmosphere against the "dirty whites", perhaps because they have always had a sense of entitlement over the years and Cup and League achievements many decades ago. It will be another brilliant encounter with a 30,000+ crowd under the lights at The Riverside.
Plans for the summer and next season:
Perhaps most important for us Boro fans is what's happening in preparation for next season? Have contracts been signed? Are talks under way with key players? Who is he planning to bring in and who is likely to depart? He remained tight-lipped, as to be expected:
I can't sit here now and give you a definite answer. It's impossible for me to do that but for sure we're working on a number of things, and it'll be fair to the individuals as players......for me now of course we're looking to try and do certain things and to keep players [and] make the strong this squad as strong as we possibly can.
[Carrick was reportedly previously interested in 21-year-old Leeds defender Charlie Creswell. Creswell made his senior debut for Leeds in 2020. After a loan spell at Millwall, he finds himself playing a bit-part role back at Elland Road, despite penning a contract which takes him up to 2027. He's hungry to play football. Will he be a target for Boro this summer?]
Clearly, Carrick and his staff are looking outwards, to bring in players to strengthen the squad, hinting at the difficulties he's had dealing with other clubs, trying to get deals over the line. It's the work we don't see, going on behind the scenes, to guarantee signatures, details and sometimes issues with parent clubs and agents. A year on. Carrick said recently he's learned a lot as Head Coach, both on the touchline, and behind closed doors.
I think you're always pretty clear in terms of what we want it to look like: what type of players, where we want to strengthen within the group and how we want to move forward. I think that's that's pretty clear in terms of exactly [?] who and what it'll look like. That's not an easy, that's not always our decision. We try to do the things we feel we want and bring in, but it's not always [that] straightforward.
[Brilliant news when Isaiah Jones signed his new three-year contract last week].
So, we know Isaiah recently signed a new contract, but there are others who have a year or so left on theirs, what's happening to them ? What about Jonny Howson, Riley McGree and Paddy McNair, for instance?
[Will Jonny Howson still be wearing the red n white next season?]
Are we looking to sign the likes of Luke Ayling or Sam Greenwood?
I think um until anything's done contract wise, talks are ongoing in different ways with different players but certainly....until there's anything to kind of confirm... it's not really [for me] to comment further. It's not really the right thing to do, but certainly we want the squad to be stronger we've got some important players that we want to have here [?] for a lot longer.
Back to tonight, we have the usual injury list [Hackney, McGree, Forss, Coburn, Fry, Lenihan and Glover], but we've done well considering over the last month or so. As we know, Ayling and Greenwood will be up in the stands tonight, watching their parent club get beat. Carrick has options.
["Manny" Latte Lathe has scored 14 goals in all competitions this season!]
We know we haven't always played "pretty" football during our nine game unbeaten run, and at times we've given away unnecessary goals attempting to play out from the back. But we have nothing to be scared of about Leeds. The pressure will be on them. We have had crackin performances from Clarke and Van den Berg, and Anfedrnee Djiksteel is more than competent to cover for the absence of Ayling.
[Finn Azaz scores against Hull in that 2-2 draw].
With Howson operating as the hub of our midfield - distributing the ball and taking the steam out of Leeds pressing, not forgetting our star, in-form, striker Emmanuel Latte-Lath, we can take on Leeds. Bring em on. With almost 3000 Leeds fans, it's going to be a great atmosphere. Let's hope we send them "marching on together" back down the A19 with no points to take home tonight.
We can do this.
Let's make it ten games unbeaten!
Up The Mighty Boro!
r00fie1 22/04/2024.
[Leeds fell apart against Blackburn Rovers in their first home defeat of the season!]
They had a fantastic run in January, February and March, which pushed them into contention for the automatic spots. It has been the poor form of Leicester which has helped the other three clubs to catch up. Ipswich have continued to scrap, but it was the likes of Boro`s crucial point at Portman Road which set back their automatic challenge. Dropping two points at this stage of the season can make the difference between automatic or the play-offs. Tonight Leeds will be desperate for the points, but our recent nine-game unbeaten run isn't a fluke, and we can give Farke`s side more than just a run for the money. If they think it's a foregone conclusion, they've got another thing coming!
[Carrick treat's tonight's game "no different" to any other].
Michael Carrick knows the importance of this game for Leeds, but is concerned that we have got our training and preparation right. In his recent media conference, he highlighted getting the squad ready for another game is his priority. Perhaps it's not a "derby", but there is always a feisty atmosphere against the "dirty whites", perhaps because they have always had a sense of entitlement over the years and Cup and League achievements many decades ago. It will be another brilliant encounter with a 30,000+ crowd under the lights at The Riverside.
Plans for the summer and next season:
Perhaps most important for us Boro fans is what's happening in preparation for next season? Have contracts been signed? Are talks under way with key players? Who is he planning to bring in and who is likely to depart? He remained tight-lipped, as to be expected:
I can't sit here now and give you a definite answer. It's impossible for me to do that but for sure we're working on a number of things, and it'll be fair to the individuals as players......for me now of course we're looking to try and do certain things and to keep players [and] make the strong this squad as strong as we possibly can.
[Carrick was reportedly previously interested in 21-year-old Leeds defender Charlie Creswell. Creswell made his senior debut for Leeds in 2020. After a loan spell at Millwall, he finds himself playing a bit-part role back at Elland Road, despite penning a contract which takes him up to 2027. He's hungry to play football. Will he be a target for Boro this summer?]
Clearly, Carrick and his staff are looking outwards, to bring in players to strengthen the squad, hinting at the difficulties he's had dealing with other clubs, trying to get deals over the line. It's the work we don't see, going on behind the scenes, to guarantee signatures, details and sometimes issues with parent clubs and agents. A year on. Carrick said recently he's learned a lot as Head Coach, both on the touchline, and behind closed doors.
I think you're always pretty clear in terms of what we want it to look like: what type of players, where we want to strengthen within the group and how we want to move forward. I think that's that's pretty clear in terms of exactly [?] who and what it'll look like. That's not an easy, that's not always our decision. We try to do the things we feel we want and bring in, but it's not always [that] straightforward.
[Brilliant news when Isaiah Jones signed his new three-year contract last week].
So, we know Isaiah recently signed a new contract, but there are others who have a year or so left on theirs, what's happening to them ? What about Jonny Howson, Riley McGree and Paddy McNair, for instance?
[Will Jonny Howson still be wearing the red n white next season?]
Are we looking to sign the likes of Luke Ayling or Sam Greenwood?
I think um until anything's done contract wise, talks are ongoing in different ways with different players but certainly....until there's anything to kind of confirm... it's not really [for me] to comment further. It's not really the right thing to do, but certainly we want the squad to be stronger we've got some important players that we want to have here [?] for a lot longer.
Back to tonight, we have the usual injury list [Hackney, McGree, Forss, Coburn, Fry, Lenihan and Glover], but we've done well considering over the last month or so. As we know, Ayling and Greenwood will be up in the stands tonight, watching their parent club get beat. Carrick has options.
["Manny" Latte Lathe has scored 14 goals in all competitions this season!]
We know we haven't always played "pretty" football during our nine game unbeaten run, and at times we've given away unnecessary goals attempting to play out from the back. But we have nothing to be scared of about Leeds. The pressure will be on them. We have had crackin performances from Clarke and Van den Berg, and Anfedrnee Djiksteel is more than competent to cover for the absence of Ayling.
[Finn Azaz scores against Hull in that 2-2 draw].
With Howson operating as the hub of our midfield - distributing the ball and taking the steam out of Leeds pressing, not forgetting our star, in-form, striker Emmanuel Latte-Lath, we can take on Leeds. Bring em on. With almost 3000 Leeds fans, it's going to be a great atmosphere. Let's hope we send them "marching on together" back down the A19 with no points to take home tonight.
We can do this.
Let's make it ten games unbeaten!
Up The Mighty Boro!
r00fie1 22/04/2024.
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