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THE ROCKLIFFE FILES - NOT GONNA MAKE IT, FAIR 28-11-06
Toby Higgins
I know it's still a month away, but I'm one of these people who really, really looks forward to Christmas. In my eyes Christmas lasts two weeks, starting about the 16th or 17th of December and running right through until the 2nd of January. It's about the presents, the eating, the tele, the drinking, the amount of football, and the 'doing-absolutely-nothing-else'. Two weeks of undiluted heaven.
Obviously, I cherish each and every Christmas knowing that, in about two or three Christmas' time, I won't get my two weeks, because chances are I'll have to work, and my Christmas will be cut down to just three or four days. A sickening thought. But, I suppose that's what the real world is like.
I tell you this because at 5pm on Saturday, I felt like you do on Christmas day at around 12.30pm. Yes, I was hungry, (students can't afford to eat, you know) but I also felt like we (the Boro) had gone to Villa not knowing what to expect (like you do on Christmas morning when you open your presents) but had been pleasantly surprised by what we got.
Few could have confidently predicted an away win, and most wouldn't have argued with the consensus that a defeat was on the cards, especially given Villa's Martin O'Neill induced good start to the season. Then again, we had beaten Villa at the Park twice in the previous three seasons, and we were on a two game unbeaten run ourselves.
Saturday was indeed to be a day of surprises. Firstly, the inclusion of Abel Xavier and Malcolm Christie in the starting eleven, each for the first time this season, and secondly, another change in formation, from 4-5-1 to 5-3-2. And ultimately, the third surprise was that we came back to Teesside with a point.
Malcolm 'Mr. Glass' Christie's shock appearance was only his fifteenth start in just under four years at the club, and it was his first senior goal in twenty-one months. OK, so he was three yards offside, but give the guy a break (pun intended).
While some will almost certainly brand Christie the answer to our goal scoring problems, to do so would be most foolish. He has, after all, made one 'comeback' already when in circumstances not too dissimilar to Saturday's, he was surprisingly included away at Portsmouth two seasons ago and scored but then suffered a further injury which sidelined him for another lengthy stretch. He also flirted with a first team comeback at the back end of last season.
While it's hard to judge a player accurately from just fifteen starts (as we saw with Fabio Rochemback, some players don't even start playing until after twenty-something games) it's safe to say Christie is, in words borrowed from Soccer AM, "not gonna make it, fair".
From the glimpses I've seen, he would make a useful foil for Yakubu, more so than any of our other strikers. He works much harder than any of the club's other forwards in chasing defenders down, making runs and chases lost causes into corners in much the same was an Andy Johnson of Everton. In essence, he'd do Yakubu's running.
He's also a poacher, or as Bernie would describe him 'a sniffer' who scores the scruffy 'taps-ins', a little bit like the one he got this weekend. That said, he is extremely lightweight and injures have, almost certainly taken the edge off the pace that once could have taken him away from defenders, and he's played very little top flight football.
After suffering three broken legs in as many years, 'Mr. Glass' has demonstrated unbreakable courage to keep playing, and for that alone he deserves credit. But, at 27, with hardly any game experience in four years, Christie is not the answer.
The 5-3-2 system chosen by Southgate, as well as the decision to start Christie ahead of Jason Euell, Fabio Rochemback and Massimo Maccarone appeared to pay dividends too. For sheer size and power, Robert Huth, Emmanuel Pogatetz and Jonny Woodgate provide arguably one of the leagues best 'back threes', but in choosing to play all three, it meant a decision had to be made in the middle of midfield.
Given that as captain George Boateng plays every week, it was a case of which two midfielders should partner him. So far this season, the names Euell, Rochemback and Cattermole would all have been ahead of the names Arca and Morrison, but on Saturday that changed.
Arca, and Morrison in particular, were rewarded for their performances the previous week against Liverpool, and while Euell and Cattermole took up seats on the bench, there was no place at all for Fabio Rochemback. The decision seemed to follow the underlying trend of the weekend from Southgate - let's try something different.
It worked to great effect. Morrison was willing and able to run at people, and Arca's energy and alertness meant that he was able to pinch the ball off a Villa midfield, exchange passes with Yakubu, who in turn set up Christie. 1-0.
The one disappointment was, of course, that we were unable to bring our lead into the dressing room at half-time. While the case against the decision to award a penalty should be acknowledged (the player had knocked the ball out and was going away from goal), we are in no position to complain. Two minutes earlier, Malcolm Christie had scored one of the most offside goals in the history of the league. We as fans will do well to remember that the next time a decision goes against us.
Now, at the risk of generalising, we always* beat Manchester United at home. Southgate has some big decisions to make during this week though, for example does he stick with Malcom Christie? Does he play 3-5-2 or 4-5-1? Does he play Cattermole to give the midfield a bit more bite against Scholes, Giggs and Ronaldo? Does Downing get back into the team? If so, at who's expense?
Tough decisions. I'm glad I'm not making them.
Same time next week.
Up the Boro
*of course, not always, just by comparison to other teams in the league. How many other teams have beaten Manchester United at home twice in the last four seasons?
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