Joint top and still well placed? Or fourth and fading fast?
It’s all in the eye of the beholder of course but Boro currently exist in both situations simultaneously after another crazy day in the Championship.
After losing to Leeds in a one-sided game, Boro have squandered another golden chance to seize control of the promotion race after failing to make the possession and shots stats count in a disappointing defeat at Forest.
Instead they have become enmeshed in a four-way summit split that makes the post-match debate all about perspective.
With 10 games to go Boro are level on points with the leaders.
Whatever people say now, you’d have taken that in August.
Boro are in a good position: while they are having a wear and tear wobble after nine games in 29 days, their rivals are also feeling the heat and dropping points.
Derby let slip a two-goal lead in stoppage time and have now picked up just one point in nine. Ipswich, Brentford and Watford all dropped points too. The collective creaking and serial slip-ups have gone on for weeks now.
Their destiny remains in their hands and while the run in is tough – they play five of their direct challengers – that gives them a chance to assert themselves and deliver some killer blows to the opposition. They can prove their credentials.
But equally it is clear that Boro have slipped up themselves.
Three weeks ago Boro were joint top and had two games - Birmingham and Leeds - before their rivals played again. A great chance to open a gap went begging.
Then again at Forest. Victory would have taken them clear but they stuttered.
Three defeats and a draw in five games is their worst run of form all season.
Boro have only kept two clean sheets in that sorry sequence. And worst, they are struggling to score.
All three against a mediocre Millwall were well worked but other than that they have been flaccid up front.
Against Forest, as at home to Leeds, they dominated possession, picked and probed and passed patiently looking to unlock a massed defence and laboured away to create a blizzard of chances.
Boro had 26 shots - but just four were on target. Most flew high or wide or were charged down in a crowded box.
Kike stabbed against the post and put a back-heel just wide and there were a few routine saves from Karl Darlow but this time there wasn’t even the consolation of the keeper picking up the man-of-the-match gong after having “a worldie”.
Forest were probably second best but did their job well. They dropped deep, dug their trenches and strung out tactical barbed wire with two rigid banks of four – that is what Dougie Freedman does – and invited Boro to find a way through. And Boro failed.
So the strikers are taking the flak with Kike the new popular scapegoat. But Boro were caught cold on the break by a Forest side that spent much of the game playing counter-attacking football as if they were the “away” side.
The defence must take responsibility for that. Boro failed to close down for the well struck opener and Emilio Nsue lost the ball and Tomas Kalas – otherwise impressive – was barged aside by dangerman Michail Antonio to set up the second.
Boro didn’t play badly. Freedman was quick to praise Boro after the game and said they were the best side in the division. Which is nice.
Boro dominated possession. They passed crisply. They put together some fluid attacking movement.
But they weren’t great. They lacked punch in the penalty box. The final ball in from the flanks was predictable and easily cleared. And several times they got caught napping on the counter.
They left disappointed, frustrated and smarting at the setback but the harsh truth is that Forest made their game plan work more effectively than Boro did.
Aitor was angry. We’ve said that a few times over the last few weeks.
He must be getting frustrated at the failure to convert the chances and feeling the pressure as the season comes to the boil – although he was quick to point out that pressure comes with the territory for a team with ambition.
But Boro are not stumbling in isolation. Everyone at the top is taking it in turns to wobble. Presented with chances to break away, team after team has shied away and crumbled.
Bournemouth are back on track after five without a win. Boro have three times wasted chances to open up a lead. Derby have got the jitters. Ipswich and Brentford are flailing.
Now it is Norwich and Watford’s turn to turn the screw - but can they stay the pace? We’ll see in the next few games.
A crazy day finished with four teams on 66 points and the league leadership changed five times in the flux.
Bournemouth went top by battering Fulham on Friday but the second the games kicked off Boro took pole position.
Derby leapfrogged to the top by getting the opener against Birmingham then Boro’s goal put us back ahead for five minutes until Forest scored to put Derby back on top. The second Forest goal knocked Boro down to fourth then Derby were pegged back in stoppage time, pushing Bournemouth – who had briefly been down to fourth when Boro, Derby and Watford were all winning – back to the top of goal difference.
It’s going to be as tense as this all the way until the end now - unless Boro can grab the league by the throat to relieve our suffering.
Unless Boro can click once more and show ruthlessly that what the pundits and rival bosses keep on saying is true: they’re the best team in the division.
The next few games will raise the stakes dramatically. If Boro want an automatic spot they have raise their game now.
No comments:
Post a Comment