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MIDDLESBROUGH v CHELSEA - BRIGGSY'S ANALYSIS 24-8-06
Jose what's the score?
From bankruptcy and Hartlepool in 1986 to playing the Premier League Champions
Chelsea in 2006. What a fairy tale it has been. Members from the 1986 squad
were in attendance to see another 'typical Boro' display, something they
have seem plenty of down the years.
Gareth Southgate adopted a 4-5-1 formation to take on the league champions,
something I think the majority were glad to see. We started the brighter
with good flowing football. We should have taken the lead on twelve minutes,
a trademark cross from Downing found Yakubu six yards out but the Nigerian
failed to connect.
Minutes later we were punished for not making our possession count. Essien
found acres of space down our right hand side and Davies was faced with a two
on one situation. Essien played in the advancing Wayne Bridge, the English
international found Andrei Shevchenko inside the box who evaded Boateng to
slot home and score his first Premiership goal. It was a sloppy goal to give
away, littered with errors, Mendi and Boateng being the main culprits.
Our heads dropped a little and Chelsea grew in confidence and should have
doubled their lead moments later. Sloppy play from Pogo and Taylor presented
Drogba the chance to cross the ball for Kalou, but his cross was poor.
Chelsea continued to press and on twenty eight minutes they had a free kick
thirty five yards out, just left of centre. Up stepped Andrei Shevchenko who
produced a world class save from Mark Schwarzer. That certainly kept us in
the game.
The half time whistle sounded soon after. After our bright start Chelsea had
taken control of the game. It was clear where our problem lay. We were
unbalanced, with Downing as our main outlet. Chelsea doubled up on him and
our creativity stopped. We had no right hand side and Mendi was coming inside
all the time leaving young Davies exposed. Parnaby was doing an adequate job
in the centre, but apart from Boateng we had no bite in our midfield and
when you play five in midfield you need two battlers in the centre.
Chelsea started the second half how they finished the first and again could
have doubled their lead. Pacey Shevchenko found plenty of space down the
left and crossed accurately for Lampard, but his powerful header crashed
against the bar and out. By the reaction on his face you got the sense that
he knew it wasn't going to be their day. Minutes later an up and under cross
from Downing found Yakubu who found himself miraculously free on the edge of
the six yard box but his header was well wide of goal. What a chance.
Gareth Southgate introduced Super Lee Cattermole and Mark Viduka into the
action and they totally changed the game. We had more shape and bite about us.
Lee Cattermole took little time to make his presence felt by totally wiping
out Lampard and then later Andrei Shevchenko. Welcome to Teesside.
Chelsea seemed to sit back a little and this, our battling spirit and desire
for the win proved to be the key ingredients for the turn around. It began
on eighty minutes, a inch perfect free kick from Rochemback found Pogo
unmarked in the box and sent a unstoppable header past the hopeless Carlos
Cudicini. What a goal - the Riverside was bouncing. I'm sure everyone in the
ground would have taken the point there and then but the Boro had different
ideas.
But we had one more scare in store for us. Minutes from time Schwarzer made
another fantastic save, this time from a Lampard free kick. Then a late Boro
break away found Downing in yards of space down the left, a looping cross
found Yakubu who knocked the ball down and found Viduka who pounced and
slotted the ball into the corner of the net. This sent the crowd into
delirium. What a turnaround! Credit must go to the players for the way they
showed great character to come back from a goal down, even when we weren't
getting the run of the ball.
Gareth recorded his first managerial victory against the champions and his
substitutions and tactics played a pivotol role. We had the first quarter
and the final quarter but in-between Chelsea were in control and we looked
sloppy. The amount of space they seemed to get down our right hand side was
alarming. We really need to sign a right sided player before the transfer
deadline.
Let's just enjoy this victory for a few days, but let's not get carried away
as many Boro fans tend to do. Some have a tendency to jump from one end of
the spectrum to the other.
I just hope Southgate can now drop this 'typical Boro' tag. For all his
good, one of McClaren's flaws was his inability to gain consistency in the
league, especially against the lesser teams. Though it's just not McClaren at
fault because in fact Boro have had a history of inconsistencies and it's time it came
to a stop.
We have a tough game on Monday and we must follow up this result
with another against Pompey, otherwise it will make the result against the
Champions less of an achievement.
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