AFTER last week's toe curling 4-3 defeat to Swansea at the Riverside Stadium and what can only be summed up as a shambolic defensive performance, Middlesbrough FC fans are again feeling the breath of relegation on the back of their necks.
From a commanding 3-1 lead with less than half of the match to go, Boro capitulated after mistakes from Julio Arca, Jason Steele and the majority of the defence made it two losses in a row for the Reds.
Now then, it seems quite evident that the Boro backline is well under strength, which is obvious given the absence of defensive duo Matthew Bates and Stephen McManus, while Boro’s reserves are being raided for cover.
Seb Hines and Jonathan Grounds were largely frozen out under Gordon Strachan, in part due to two woeful displays against the attacking might of Jack Lester and the cauldron that is the B2Net Stadium.
Grounds in particular was guilty of underperforming that night against Chesterfield and was subsequently shipped out on loan to Hibernian where he proved a valuable asset, making 15 appearances for the club.
But recent poor defensive performances have put the pair back under the spotlight, with many of the diminishing Riverside regulars questioning their roles at the centre of defence.
As a result murmurs of a change of defensive tact are being discussed in detail by fans, particularly as recent defensive signing Maximilian Haas is yet to play for the first team.
However Haas, like Merouane Zemmama, is another player that seems to have high expectations weighing on his shoulders but again Boro fans should remain realistic as to his talents.
The very fact that he is German appears to have many convinced that Haas is the next Robert Huth despite the fact that he never made a first team appearance for Bayern Munich.
Huth is a German international former Chelsea player who cost the club around £6million while Haas only signed an 18 month contract, arguably as a get out clause if he turns out not to make the required standard.
In addition, the fact that Haas has never played at a higher standard than the third tier in German football, as German second teams aren’t allowed to play in the top two divisions, doesn’t bode well for the Huth comparison.
Thankfully Tony Mowbray has brought in reinforcements of a known quantity in Andrew Davies from Stoke City on a loan deal until the end of the season.
Davies wasn’t even registered in Stoke manager Tony Pulis’ 25 man squad and although his return will be largely welcomed, if fans were told that Andrew Davies would return to save the club from relegation two years ago they may well have laughed.
The 26-year-old centre-back, who can also play at right-back could however prove to be an important signing in the absence of experienced defenders.
Some welcome good news that may strengthen both the defence and midfield is the news that Rhys Williams and Willo Flood both played 45 minutes for the reserves against Sheffield United’s second string in midweek although they still aren’t in first team contention.
Whatever happens, it does seem that Mowbray will make changes to the Boro defence for Saturday’s away game at Millwall but throwing Haas or Davies in at the Lions’ Den may be a gamble itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment