MIDDLESBROUGH v SHEFFIELD UNITED TACTICS TALK 31-12-06
Stuart Ward



Sheffield make the short trip to Teesside on the back of a remarkable win against Arsenal, whilst Middlesbrough come home after claiming one point from six on their travels.

Sheffield United

Key Players

Phil Jagielka - This is a strange pick in many ways and is solely due to his performance against the Gunners.

He plays in midfield usually, but for the last half an hour against Arsenal, he was their goalkeeper.

He did well too, keeping out the much-vaunted Arsenal attack. Oh - he also scored against us last time. In the last minute. With a fluky long range shot.

Colin Kazim-Richards - The pacey forward gave our defence a torrid time of things when we went to their place, and if we give him the chance he will do the same again.

He is good on the ball, and loves to run at defenders, something we aren't too comfortable with.

Personally I would have Pogatetz give him a bit of "attention" in the way that only he can.

Keith Gillespie - He is still a decent player despite being what must be now 762 years old.

He has a bit of pace about him, a lot of experience and can still whip a decent ball in. He can play with both feet too, so whichever full back comes up against him will have a hard time of things.

He is the bit of quality in the Blades side, and if we can keep him quiet then we will go a long way to dominating the match.

The Manager

Neil Warnock - As I mentioned last time we played this lot, he is one of my favourite managers.

His touchline antics are hilarious, and you can see that he genuinely cares about football. His team TRY to play decent football, he is just a bit unlucky that he is lumbered with crap players. Pretty much the opposite of our team that is lumbered with good players who want to play crap football!

Possible Lineup

                  Gerrard

Quinn   Kozluck   Morgan   Montgomery

Armstrong   Jagielka   Liegertwood   Gillespie

      Kazim-Richards      Nade

The injured Paddy Kenny will drop out to be replaced by third choice keeper Paul Gerrard in the only change to the winning side.

The spine of the United side looks very strong indeed. The two centre halves are big strong rugged Championship style centre halves.

They don't have the most defensive skill in the world, and you wont see them making Woodgate style last-ditch wonder tackles. You will see them thundering into tackles they should lose and roughing our forwards up.

In the centre of midfield they are again VERY combative. They don't have the most skill, but they will certainly out-battle our midfielders.

Jagielka will sit infront of the defence and just look to destroy any attacks that come his way. He isn't good going forward and his goal against us was a complete bit of blind luck.

On the wings, Armstrong and Gillespie will be supported by the very quick Kazim-Richards.

They will look to double up on whichever side they are on and provide decent crosses in to the Big man Nade.

Boro's centre halves will need to provide some support to our young fullbacks, if we do then there should be little threat posed by United tomorrow.

Up front Nade will be left by himself for long periods of the game. If Boro can make sure he doesn't get a chance to us his pace in behind our defence then again, another one of the Blades few goal scoring avenues will be lost.

Now onto Middlesbrough.

Key Players

Stewart Downing - The left-winger is looking better and better by the game in my opinion.

He doesn't beat his man down the line very often, but then why bother wasting the time when he can put quality balls into the box without it?

His backtracking has improved this season, and he is definitely a better all round player.

If he can play well and maybe the attackers can ATTACK a cross he puts in then surely some of his doubters will be silenced.

Emmanuel Pogatetz - The big Austrian is now firmly entrenched as a fans favourite.

His all round game has come on HUGELY in the space of a couple of months. He reads the game very well, wins ALL his sliding tackles fairly now and doesn't dive in as much as he used to.

He is now a first choice centre half, and he is very solid indeed.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni - The big man is starting to score goals again, and looks a bit more like his old self.

Whilst his finishing is STILL not what it should be, he is getting there, and has been the man most likely to score in our last few games.

He takes stick for his work rate, but I think that he has really put the effort in recently, and if he continues to score the goals, he will fire us to safety.

The Manager

Gareth Southgate - The Boro boss made a puzzling decision when he played Mendieta. No one apart from the boss is sure why, but the one good thing to come from it was that Gareth saw he was rubbish and hauled him off at half time.

He seems to have generally settled on a team, and in patches has them playing the football he wants.

Now he needs to instil some consistency.

Likely Lineup

                  Schwarzer

Davies    Woodgate    Pogatetz    Taylor

Morrison    Boateng    Arca    Downing

            Viduka      Yakubu

Julio Arca should return from injury to boost the middle of Boro's midfield in the only change to the starting XI.

I really think that if it is kept playing together this is a decent Premier League team.

The defence is taking care of itself, and is one of the best outside the top four in the League. Woodgate's future has been up for debate with Madrid making some irritating noises, however the lad himself is totally committed to Boro this season, and is leading the defence really well.

Taylor and Davies have been two of the big plus points this season for me.

They have both come in and made their positions their own, keeping more illustrious players in the shadows. It is good to see.

They will need to be on their toes today, as mentioned before they may find themselves being doubled up on at times, and will need to perform well.

The midfield is the area where the big changes are expected to happen this season.

We will be looking for a new, creative central midfielder, although if Arca continues to play well then he could take that problem away. He has the flair to make a difference in the middle.

Morrison on the right HAD been touted as a player who would be replaced in the transfer window. This talk has now stopped.

The youngster is looking better and better with every game, and his direct style of play is exactly what Southgate wants the team to be like.

Boateng will continue in the middle, although Gareth shocked everyone when taking him off against Blackburn. Could this be the beginning of the end for the skipper?

Up front the Yak is getting a few goals (keep counting Mr H Callaghan) and Viduka is proving that he is a vital part of the team - his ball retention is awesome and much needed.

How it will go

We are going to rip this lot apart. Today will be the day that our new style of play shows its colours and we will destroy them.

This isn't just my Boro bias showing, I really think we have shown flashes of some great stuff, and if we can put seventy minutes of it together, then we will put three past someone. This is what will happen on New Year's Day.

Boro 3-0 Sheffield United

Have a great New Year, and see you all in the pub.

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