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WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IT 30-11-06
Karl Watson and Tom Warnock
Watson says...
On Saturday evening I found myself walking into the kitchen reaching for a large spoon and indulging in a large serving of humble pie!
A week earlier it was I who came out shouting how the performance against Villa would be awful before we'd even stepped off the team bus. However I wish I was eating humble pie every week as each mouthful tasted scrumptious.
I actually felt somewhat disappointed with a draw as we had some great chances to take what would have been a superb three points away from Villa Park. However, taking a point away from a team in great form who may push for a place in Europe this season was no mean feat and it was a very welcome point.
The formation was very daring; playing an attacking style away from home is something we have not seen in a very long time and it is something we would all welcome at home on Saturday against probably the best team in the land at the present. It worked well against Villa, however the game was very open and the gaps we left at the back were exploited on more than one occasion.
Yes, we created many chances against Villa and I felt we were just as good as them on the day but if truth be told if Villa had taken any of their many chances before Christie scored, they would have been out of sight by half-time and it would probably have been another painful second half performance.
I almost thought I was going deaf when I heard the team on Saturday - my ears couldn't believe what they were hearing. Christie had come from nowhere into the starting eleven and it appeared as if the Villa defenders did not know how to cope with him. His darting runs were unseen by the Brummies and if the final ball had been a little better then the former shelf stacker would have scored much earlier.
I hope Malcolm plays against The Mancs on Saturday as I don't think many teams will know how to defend against him. I'm not saying after one goal that he is back to his best or he is a world beater but when teams do their homework, recent videos of the Boro will show just the Yak upfront by himself or him holding hands with Jason Euell. They may not know what Malcolm is all about.
United should be dreading the trip up the A19 after the 4-1 drubbing last year. No matter how bad we are we always seem to get a good result against them every year. As far as I am concerned we are their bogey team and we can get something out of this game.
Unfortunately our great results against United have come when a former member of the United back room staff has been our manager. I think the reason why we have beaten Manchester United in recent years is because Steve McClaren out mastered his adversary, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Middlesbrough are renowned throughout the Premiership as the team that rises to the occasion when the big boys visit the Riverside. However against Liverpool this was not the case and we played negative football in front of our own fans. I hope Gareth's motivational skills mirror that of the England manager because I'm sure this was the one vital element which spurred the players into life. If we set up in similar fashion to that of the Liverpool game then I can see United maintaining their three point lead at the top of the Premiership.
Manchester United are playing some mouthwatering football and it is critical that our midfield competes with United's. This will be the area where the game will be won and lost. Ronaldo is a potent threat and Giggs is rediscovering the form which saw him as the most deadly left sided player in Britain. Scholes has been playing terrifically and it is important that we stop his delivery to the flanks and we stop the crosses into our box. It will be the pace that we will struggle with so our defenders will have to be switched on from the moment the referee blows his whistle.
If we are to take anything out of the game it is the first forty-five that is essential. We do not start games very well and if we start in second gear against United the game will be over at half time. Teams that defeat United score early on and shock them.
Manchester United are clearly a much better side than the Boro so the crowd are going to have to play their part and be our 'twelfth man'. The fans are turning their backs and who can blame them? The football has been poor and far from entertaining. If Keith Lamb is looking to bring the fans back to the Riverside then maybe he should have a quiet word with Gareth and urge him to play an attacking style against the title contenders.
What would desperately disappoint myself and many more would be another defensive formation at home. If we try and hold out for ninety minutes it will not work - it is what Manchester United will want. If one goes in, it could result in an embarrassing defeat. Against Liverpool we didn't give it a go but against United we must. No one could grumble with a defeat if the players gave their all and really have a go.
The squad seems to pick itself at the minute; I don't think Gareth will change much for Saturday's game. Perhaps Arca will make way for Downing and Xavier and Taylor will drop back into their orthodox full back position with Woodgate and Pogatetz holding the fort. The only big dilemma Gareth faces is the central midfield; does he start with Cattermole and Boateng and attempt to ruffle up their big names? Or does he play Fabio who we all know can play well against the big boys?
We are undefeated in three now and surely the player's confidence will have risen. If we can get something from the game on Saturday maybe it will kick start our players (just a few months late?). Although we are undefeated in three we are only three points away from the drop zone so we are far from safe. The players need to start performing like a team that deserves to play in the Premiership. There is no better chance to prove this against the league leaders.
Warnock Says...
Who would have believed it? Seeing the team-sheet prior to the Villa game, with Malcolm Christie's name on it. In itself this is about as rare as a solar eclipse, and to see him pop up in the fourty-third minute to give us a (short-lived) advantage had me wondering if I might have put my contact lenses in backwards earlier that day.
Something which I'm sure the Villa and Boro fans alike were wondering about the linesman (excuse me - referee's assistant) who failed to spot Malcolm goal mooching while the Yak prodded the ball to his lesser-spotted striker partner.
Anyway, who cares I thought, Malc deserved a bit of luck, and if the ref or his assistant don't see, it's legal. But surely he must have seen Petrov's dive; Skippy's arms were nowhere near him. That being said, it probably did even itself out in the end and we didn't really do enough to deserve a win, but probably did just enough to for the draw. Which has become a credible result at Villa this season, thanks to Martin O'Neill, whose managerial tact was being enviously looked upon by many a Boro fan.
The season is beginning to take a decent turn, still no win away however but we haven't had the easiest fixtures on our travels. Beating newly promoted sides on their own turf is easier said than done and couple that with visits to Bolton (3rd), Arsenal (6th) and Villa (5th), then we've had a tricky start to our away campaign. The biggest disappointment has been the performances away, particularly at City. The team must hit this problem on the head if we are to progress.
At times, things have looked bleak, however with eleven points taken from the last twenty-one available, three games unbeaten and unbeaten at home since September, there is light at the end of our tunnel. It's a shame the same can't be said for our Geordie neighbours whose Tyne-Tunnel is jammed with one way traffic of skunks emigrating in search of better days.
There's no doubt we will have to be on top of our game when the Mancs come to town on Saturday. They will feel aggrieved to have let a lead slip when they played Chelsea, a win would have been a major step towards re-gaining the title. The last thing Fergie will allow is any more points dropped. Forget last season's result - it's just not going to happen again. Besides the fact that Mendieta seems to have aged five years in just fourteen months, this is a different United.
However, I do entrust the defensive stability of our back-line. Woody will relish playing the best in the game in Rooney, and although Rooney really is one of the best so is Woody and I wouldn't bet against him keeping Shrek quiet for the evening.
While everything at the back seems fine, we just are not scoring. We're averaging less than a goal every two games and this isn't good enough. Last season we had three strikers pushing twenty goals each. Granted we played more games, but that considered the strikers should be fresher and producing more goals in the league.
But they're not. The loss of Hasselbaink is if nothing else the loss of a substitute with a proven record. When it's not going right for the strikers on the pitch, we have no alternatives. I would love to think Christie could be the missing piece, but through no fault of his own, we haven't seen enough evidence to suggest he could be.
Its two games in four days starting on Saturday evening. Four points should be our target simply because it's ludicrous to accept a defeat in either; however it will be difficult to say the least. I can envisage a positive result on Saturday, and then perhaps an anti-climatic defeat at Spurs, this is not what we need.
We need a solid performance in both games - consistency. But let us just take each game as it comes and try to send the Mancs home pointless again.
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