Pressure really on Middlesbrough as pendulum swings the wrong way after Sunderland loss
It gets harder and harder to keep drawing on the positives for Middlesbrough. Particularly after a derby defeat to Sunderland that was poor, the pressure feels like it's on for Michael Carrick and his Boro players.
Even removing the natural the emotion of a defeat to a rival, the fact of the matter is, the pendulum swung in the wrong direction for Boro after Chris Rigg's goal condemned them to a 1-0 defeat on Wearside. As the table begins to settle six games in, the points dropped tally (10) outweighs the points gained - and that is not the kind of form that will see Boro achieve their goals this season.
It's still early in the season and there have been positives to take. But how much longer can we talk about the what ifs and if onlys while convincing ourselves it will come good? Not for the first time, dropped Boro points were more about what Boro didn't do, as opposed to what their opponents did do.
READ MORE: How a tactical surprise flummoxed Middlesbrough in Sunderland defeat with a familiar feel
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Yet again, Boro dominated possession and territory at the Stadium of Light. They gained an early foothold in the game and had the opportunities and openings in the game to have got their noses in front before Rigg's 25th-minute match-winner. The best of their chances saw Tommy Conway crash a header off the bar.
Boro's recurring profligacy is beginning to look like a real problem. For as much as Carrick understandably continued to believe it will come for Boro, it's becoming increasingly concerning that sides seem to set up in a similar way to get a result against Boro.
Carrick referred to that as a compliment after Sunderland. The fact that the Black Cats dropped their high press in favour of blocking the central corridor to nullify and frustrate Carrick's side was a tactical surprise that ultimately paid off for Regis Le Bris. Like Paul Heckingbottom last weekend, the Frenchman said before and after the game that he saw exactly what he expected from Boro. That has to set alarm bells ringing.
For all you can positively spin it by convincing yourself that Boro are enjoying possession, controlling the majority of their games and creating chances, they're ultimately looking more and more predictable by the week. It no longer feels like teams are setting up to spoil out of respect or fear of Boro. It's more just the identified way in how to beat them, and that it's working time and time again leaves the onus on Boro to change the discourse.
Sunderland retreated more and more as the game wore on. Rigg's goal gave them something to protect, and that's exactly what they did. Boro just didn't have the answers again to break down a low block defence as they failed to register a single shot on target after falling behind, despite enjoying over 60% of the ball.
“Possession doesn’t really bother me so much, it’s what you do with it," Carrick admitted after. "We’re still creating chances. We didn’t create enough towards the end of that one, but in general we are. That’s the magic of football - each end of the pitch. We’re not giving much away and are defensively pretty sound. We’re just not capitalising on those big moments really."
The trouble was that Boro didn't create nearly enough in this one - certainly not of the clear-cut variety. They were unfortunate in how the Sunderland goal fell kindly to Rigg. But after falling behind, they never really did look convincing in their attempts to get back into the game, despite the levels of individual talent in their misfiring attack.
Opponents recognising Boro's intentions would only go so far if Boro were more ruthless. Much like those first few months of Carrick's reign, when you play with pace, tempo and unpredictability, stopping Boro is difficult - even when you can identify their style.
In terms of overall quality, they're better now than they were then. They have far more variety and depth in their squad, but hardly any of them have hit top form yet. That can be a source of hope, if you are desperately looking for one.
But it's not just about individual form. It's not clicking right now as they play too narrowly, too ponderously and too predictably. They've become a team that look easy to defend against. Teams will inevitably continue to come to frustrate Boro because it continues to prove the way to get something off them. The onus has to be on Boro, ultimately, to start finding an end product, start finding the solutions to the defensive puzzles they just aren't solving right now.
How they do that remains to be seen. Is it a change of system, a change of style or simply a change of personnel? Those are the questions Carrick must ask himself now because Boro know from past experience they can ill-afford to fall too far behind. Stoke City's visit next weekend already feels massive.