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WARDY'S TACTICS TALK - BORO v PORTSMOUTH 28-8-06
Stuart Ward
After a poor job on Wednesday, I am back to make amends this time round, with match three of the Tactical Analysis. As always, first I will look at Boro's opponents - Portsmouth.
Key Players
Sol Campbell - A free transfer bargain from Arsenal in the summer, Big Sol seems to be rapidly returning to his dominant best for Pompey. At his best, Sol will walk into any defence in the world. Some people say he is wrong in the head and that he won't ever see those days again. If he had stayed at Arsenal they would probably be right. However, he is now working for Harry Redknapp, and he seems to be enjoying every second of it. He has looked assured so far, and is causing problems at set pieces. He will need to have a good game against Yakubu today, who looked back to his bruising, bullying best against the Champions.
Kanu - Another free transfer signing, the big Nigerian has hit the ground running this season, already scoring twice for the south coast side. Best remembered by Boro fans for the most obscene miss in football history at the Hawthorns. Kanu is a mercurial player, one moment producing dazzling skill, the next treating us all to moments of sheer hilarity as he mucks up big style. He is a big lad, and will cause us problems in the air at the back, but he is at his most dangerous with the ball at his feet. He has the ability to do some remarkable things with a football, and Riggot and co will have to keep a close eye on him.
Gary O'Neil - The tough tackling midfield bulldog has recently signed a five-year extension to his Pompey contract ending speculation of a move to, amongst others, Boro. O'Neil is a tenacious midfielder, who will not shirk the midfield battle, but is also capable of getting forward to support attacks. While not prolific in the goal scoring stakes, he can cause trouble in and around the opponent's penalty area, getting a few assists on the way. The battle between himself and George Boateng will be key to how this match develops, if our Skipper can keep O'Neil quiet then Boro will be well on their way.
The Manager
Harry Redknapp - Many people see Harry as one of the best managers around. He is a likeable chap, very media friendly and that helps him a lot in his quest to be seen as Mr Nice. People do tend however to forget the fact that under him, Portsmouth never achieved much in the Premier League and Southampton were relegated. He made his name at Pompey by picking up ageing free transfers and making do with them.
Now however he is getting sizeable backing from his own Micro-Abramovich who has taken full control of the football club. Despite my reservations, the players all seem to like old saggyface. He managed to get the best out of the highly-strung Paolo Di Canio, so he obviously has great man management skills. This will be tested when dealing with the unstable Sol Campbell. One good thing about him is that he likes his teams to play nice passing football, and to attack, so at least we know we aren't going to be treated to defensive football come Monday night.
Likely Team and Formation:
James
Johnson - Campbell - Primus - Stefanovic
Thompson - Davis - O'Neil - Taylor
Benjani - Kanu
From what I have seen from them, Pompy are playing well this season and their early points haul shows just that. They are looking good going forward, with Benjani, although not a lethal goal scorer, looking like he is causing people problems. Kanu has already bagged a couple of goals and could have had more, but like Benjani, he isn't a natural goalscorer and heeds lots of chances before he puts one away.
The midfield combines LOTS of hard work in the centre with some skill on the wings. The wingers will get forward when they can, but they will probably sit quite deep as a unit, trying to stifle Boro's midfield, in particular Rocky. Davis is well capable of getting forward and scoring. He has a good range of passing and a cracking long range shot. He will be the guy who tries to control Pompy's attacking game. Matty Taylor will probably be the main threat as far as the wingers are concerned. He has a good left foot, although I always thought he was more of a defender!
At the back, Linvoy Primus has impressed all the Pompey fans I have spoken to; he seems to be coming along well. Big Sol at the back has looked like he is returning to form and he is going to need to in order to cope with Yakubu and Viduka. It will be an interesting battle on Boro's left, with England International Stewart Downing coming up against a player who was seen as the next great right back when he was at West Ham in Glenn Johnson.
Johnson's career stagnated once he moved to Chelsea and got stuck behind Paulo Ferreira, which after Wednesday's performance form the Portuguese right back, can't really mean that Johnson is that good! In goal, they have good old Calamity James. Now I think that he is a good keeper, just when the wheels fall off for him then the engine tends to blow up and the doors go flying too. He is an excellent shot stopper in general, and I think he will need to have a good game in order to keep Boro at bay on Monday.
Now the away side is out of the way, lets look at the all-conquering Boro.
Key Players
Stewart Downing - Amongst all the transfer goings on (HE ISNT GOING ANYWHERE!) Stewey has begun to put in some VERY good performances this season. He looked good against Chelsea, being involved in some way in both our goals, and giving a supposed world class right back in Ferreira a torrid time all night. He is proving that he also has the ability to produce quality balls into the box with his right foot (that slaps another £10 million on the transfer value Mr Jol) and I believe he is looking quicker and sharper than ever. On Monday, he comes up against Glenn Johnson, and I believe that Stewey will be more than a match for the young right back. As long as he gets plenty of the ball, he will supply the ammo for Vids and Yak to fire us to glory.
Lee Cattermole - Even though I don't think he will start today, the youngster proved what a vital part of our first team squad he is becoming. He came on against Chelsea, and lifted EVERYONE, the fans and players alike. He thundered into tackles, took no prisoners, and led Boro to victory. Like I say I don't think that he will start but if he comes on he will give all the fans the lift needed to spur the team on. The kid can do the lot already: he is a tough tackler, he is comfortable on the ball, he fears nobody and he will get forward to support attacks. In the future he will be an England International and worth a HELL of a lot of money. In the meantime, he is going to be a key player for the Boro.
Aiyegbeni Yakubu - He is also looking back to his best. As predicted here for the last match, he bullied Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira all over the pitch. Anyone else think that he looks bigger than last season? He is looking quick and powerful, and he is getting himself in the positions to score the goals, and with a player of Yak's class, it is only a matter of time before they start to hit the back of the net, and I think he will start today against his old side. Glenn Johnson and Sol Campbell will have to be at their very best to deal with him, the class between himself and Campbell (also a large unit) should be spectacular, I am backing the Boro Beast to come out on top.
The Manager
Gareth Southgate - Well, maybe I was a little harsh on him before last week, but he has certainly shut me up! I know he is only two games in but last match against Chelsea he obviously had a plan, and he stuck to it. The subs he brought on and the tactics he implemented in the second half were top class. He just wanted to stay in the game for the first half, and we managed that. Then he took the shackles off the lads and we blew Chelski away in a phenomenal second half performance. He knew what effect bringing Cattermole on would have, and he bode his time before unleashing the youngster and raising the crowd to support the teams victory push. Today I think he will demand another attacking performance from the boys, and I believe he will get it. Well done gaffer!
Likely Team and Formation
Schwarzer
Parnaby - Riggot - Pogatetz - Taylor
Mendieta - Boateng - Rocky - Downing
Viduka - Yakubu
I can see Sir Gareth reverting back to 4-4-2, with Viduka coming back in up front, and Mendieta retaining his place in the side at the expense of young Morrison. I personally think that Davies has looked superb in both Boro's game this season, and I would be tempted to shove him in at right back and drop Parnaby, but it would seem that young Stuart has his place guaranteed at the minute.
And with the change of formation, one of our defenders will have to drop out. Pogatetz was man of the match against the champions, and is looking ever more secure in defence next to Riggot. Even Parnaby looked OK against Chelsea, although this was probably helped by the injury Arjen Robben suffered in the warm up. Taylor at left back was HIGHLY impressive again, and he and Downing link up very well down the left wing, I am looking forward to seeing them playing together again
In midfield we are looking strong at the minute. I am divided as to what line Southgate will take as regards Mendieta, but in the absence of a history to go on, I can only fall back on what happened in the old days, so I am going for Mendi to be right wing in the place of Morrison. Like I say, I stand to be (and hope to be!) corrected come match day.
Downing is quickly proving himself to be the most important member of our team, looking every bit an England international. He is looking better than I have seen him for a bit and I expect that to continue today. In the centre, the partnership between The Boat and Rocky is coming along nicely. Fabio's ball in for Pogatetz' header was perfect, and he is pulling the strings in midfield, linking up with Downing on the left fairly well. Boateng STILL hasn't learned how to pass a ball ten yards, but he set about Chelsea's midfield superbly last match. He hassled, hurried and kicked his more illustrious opponents into submission last match and is growing into the captain's role very nicely indeed. He will need to battle hard against O'Neil in midfield, but that is what our George does best and he will be relishing the fight.
Up front I think that Viduka will return to play alongside Yakubu. He looked ridiculously sharp when he came on against the champions, and caused them endless problems before coming up with the winning goal. Yakubu was (as said earlier) very impressive against the Londoners, and is one of the form players this season so far. One thing I have noticed is that our strikers are playing in the box a lot more this season.
Under our last manager Viduka and Hasselbaink would often be found loitering around outside the area, now Yakubu and the Duke are getting right into the area, and as a result causing lots more problems for defenders. This is another example of the positive effect that our new boss is having. They need to start knocking Campbell and Primus around early doors. Campbell has a fragile mental state and if we can get into his head early on then he will not be up for the battle with two big lads like Viduka and Yakubu.
How it will go
I really do see something different about this Boro side compared to the ones in the past. Over the last few seasons, we have beaten the big clubs and followed it up with some dross the next match. I think that Southgate will have stamped this out. Monday night I think will see a new Boro take the pitch. A confident animal, full of fight and passion. I can really see us taking Portsmouth to the cleaners, and while my prediction of 2-0 doesn't sound that impressive I think we are going to dominate.
All our players seem to know their roles now. Downing has been told he is allowed to run at people again, something that McClaren didn't encourage. He is allowed to go down the line and try and get the ball across. Southgate knows that defenders will hate this. Rochembach has been given the confidence he needs to influence our attacking play, and Pogatetz seems to be a new man under the tutelage of Southgate. I don't think that Portsmouth will be able to contain us and we will be in fourth place by the end of Monday night.
Boro 2-0 Portsmouth.
Until after the International break, I am Stuart Ward, and this was my Tactical Analysis.
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