The Middlesbrough games this season that encapsulate newfound hopes for Michael Carrick's side
Momentum can be such an important thing in football and it's fair to say Middlesbrough will have plenty heading into the new season.
With just one defeat in their last 12 games of this term, it may not have been enough to earn them a play-off place this time around, but it leaves them in a really good place right now. There is so much justified optimism as they prepare to go again.
The headline of this piece might leave you expecting a list of Boro games over the 2023-24 which effectively makes up their best performances of the campaign. In some ways, that could be seen as a means of only seeing the positive and somewhat trying to whitewash what was actually a topsy-turvy and challenging campaign.
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It was a strange season for Boro in many ways. They entered it with similar hope thanks to their run to the play-offs, but they lost all momentum in the final stretch before the play-offs and were then flattened by the crushing Coventry City loss. With a squad then ripped apart, it meant that hope was, in hindsight, a little misplaced.
It feels different this summer, however, largely because of the topsy-turvy, challenging nature of the last 12 months - and crucially, what's been gained from that. Boro's campaign was almost played out in four parts:- The awful start as a completely new team took time to gel, the revival and strong run, including an exciting one in the cup, the terrible start to the New Year which included a humbling cup exit at Chelsea, and then finally, the main focus of this piece, that strong ending.
There were high and low points over the course of the season and particular moments that could be picked out for individual praise. The home win over Preston North End and away win at Sunderland were emphatic victories that offered early glimpses of this new team's potential. The home victory over Chelsea, meanwhile, was the perfect example of the club's overall potential - with a sold out Riverside roaring on the team to a famous win, sealed, rather fittingly, by an academy star in Hayden Hackney.
But in summing up why there is so much optimism heading into next season, there is no need to look any further back than the final 12 games of the season, and that strong run which saw Carrick's side lose just one game. That ultimately, was the culmination of the team's growth over the course of a campaign, which ahead of another important summer transfer window, only served to strengthen the head coach's faith in his players and also the transfer planning that had been taking place behind the scenes.
The need for quantity last summer meant Boro had to be clever with their business last summer. Ready-made simply wasn't going to be a possibility. By those final 12 games of the season, what was so pleasing is that so many of those summer signings were contributing and looking capable of being important players next season.
Player of the Year Rav van den Berg was the standout over the whole campaign, while in the final 12, Emmanuel Latte Lath stepped forward and emerged as the team's bright new hope by netting 11 goals to take his overall tally to 18 for his first season. Alex Bangura returned from injury to give a couple of encouraging cameo performances too.
Alex Gilbert, who arguably struggled more than any other summer signings of last year, earned starts in the final two games after providing assists from the bench against Southampton and Leeds United. Prior to that, he'd have been high on the list of players likely to leave Boro this summer - albeit most likely on loan. But particularly his performance at Cardiff in the penultimate game has offered food for thought as he proved more than capable of having a positive impact.
There were many more individual success stories in those final games, but just as important, if not more so, was the collective improvement and the traits they showed as a team that should serve them so well if they can carry them forward into next season.
Scoring goals was such a key element of Carrick's first Boro team in reaching the play-offs. While being as clinical was an issue for much of this season, they managed 24 in their final 12. Likewise, at the other end, goals had been shipped too easily throughout the campaign, but the final 12 brought five clean sheets and just 11 conceded in total.
Both were brought about by a newfound balance in the team which initially came via a change in formation to offer more defensive stability. While the pressure was somewhat off when the shackles came off and Carrick reverted to his favoured formation, that they remained balanced - avoiding their earlier issues against the transition - and kept their attacking threat was a testament to the connections and tactical understandings developing throughout the team both individually and collectively.
As for the shackles being off, that's the kind of freedom Carrick wants his side to play with anyway. That they took the shackles off but still enjoyed such positive results, should serve to give the players the belief they need to keep playing in that manner again next term.
There were different kinds of victories too. Emphatic wins came in the games against Cardiff and Watford , while there was grit, determination and character on show to find ways to win in games like Birmingham and Sheffield Wednesday.
Though they didn't win them, in draws away at Southampton, Hull and Ipswich - and the home defeat to Leeds United which came via an offside goal - they proved themselves capable of competing with the division's best again.
Ultimately, there were issues throughout the season and lessons to be learned that ultimately meant Boro's form came too late for success this term. However, in performing as they did right at the end - particularly in the context of missing so many key players who will return to the fold next season - they've offered us so much reason to have hope for the future. And this time, it feels justified.