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SEASON PREVIEW - 02-08-07
Udayan Mukherjee
So it begins again. Perennial yo-yo club Middlesbrough are somehow about to compete in their tenth consecutive season in the top flight, which seems to be a huge achievement given the apparent 'small fry' status afforded to us by our rivals.
Yet the mood on Teesside remains distinctly unimpressed with the quality of the fare on offer at the Riverside these days, with the prices of admission required to enter the stadium and various other grievances, to the price of beer in the ground and God-awful half time entertainment.
According to reports well under 20,000 season tickets (at the time of writing) have been sold which goes against the grain with most other Premiership teams selling higher numbers. It seems that the ritual of spending every other Saturday going to the pub, having a natter and going along to the ground to watch your beloved team is a thing of the past.
Some fans are dissillusioned with MFC's PR department. The basic image of the football club has changed drastically from last season. Now, a new badge is in place, one that proudly declares our history as one of the leagues oldest clubs. Unfortunately, as with the decision to drop the white chest band (and hence making us look, once again, like a poor man's Liverpool) the supporters were not consulted.
Admittedly the badge is growing on many supporters, and looks decent embroidered on the shirt, but it looks amateurish to many. That point aside, it was a wonderful opportunity to add images from our history onto our badge, for example the Transporter bridge, or even something as simple as adding 'Erimus' to the bottom. Simple stuff, but I'm sure the supporters would have liked a say in the new image of our club, rather than being fobbed off by a poor photoshop effort.
Many fans retain a huge greivance over the way Eindhoven tickets were handled and feel that other PR errors have been made.
The reasons that stay away supporters give are often well reasoned, but their decision may well cost them because under Gareth Southgate, there seems to be a tangible sense of revolution in the air.
Sluggish, pragmatic Middlesbrough are slowly but surely being replaced by the new breed: young, hungry players with pace to burn and the versatility to cause problems.
The change is perhaps epitomised by the media circus following the arrival of Turkish superstar Tuncay Sanli, a player who according to the (albeit few and far between) European games that I have seen him in, YouTube clips and musings from the club's staff looks to be a superb acquisition.
Another signing, Jeremie Aliadiere has got lightning-like pace to spare, but since his debut some eight years ago has scored one premier league goal. Sure, the youngster has played understudy to the likes of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, but his goal scoring record when on loan at Wolves and Celtic is equally as unimpressive.
However, Aliadiere has had positive endorsements from none other than Arsene Wenger and Thierry Henry who described him as one of the best young players he had ever seen. It is high praise indeed from one of the most technically proficient strikers of the modern era. Games that the young Frenchman has participated in pre season show him to possess a good touch and be very technically adept - exactly the type of player that Gareth Southgate wants in the new look Middlesbrough side. Given a run in the side and support he could turn out to be a marvellous acquisition.
It seems that Aliadiere's problem may be Middlesbrough's major problem this season - a lack of goals. The loss of Mark Viduka, although essential to bring forward the revolution, has lead to a deficit of a reliable and reasonably prolific goalscorer. Yakubu, although possessing a remarkable goal scoring record since his arrival in England, and indeed since his arrival on Teesside, scores goals in bursts.
With the Yak, the only problem Middlesbrough fans had at the beginning of last season was how long we would be able to keep him for. Now fans in the stands, in pubs and on message boards are divided as to the merits of the Nigerian, with some actually calling for us to sell him.
On first inspection, Yakubu is underrated - Wonderful upper body strength, totals of nineteen and sixteen goals in his first two seasons, added to his numerous assists point to a prolific goalscorer who is invaluable to the club. Unfortunately, the Nigerian goes long periods without scoring - and in both of his seasons as a Boro player has scored very, very few goals after the month of February.
He is undoubtedly very much a confidence player and when not at his bullish best is a liability with a touch like a baby elephant and a gait that resembles a cross between Jabba the Hut and Fern Britton (who, incidentally, has an exercise video out. Has the world gone mad?). The problem is: where are the goals going to come from?
The only proven striker is prone to long dry periods and his understudies are unproven. Tuncay Sanli has a impressive goalscoring record in his home country, but all signs so far point to the Turk being played on the right hand side of midfield with a remit to join the attack as regularly as possible. Whether this will see the best of him is yet to be seen, but with the right hand side still bereft of a natural incumbent he remains the only viable option.
One of the main reasons for Middlesbrough's post Carling cup success was being able to rely on the front line of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Viduka and Yakubu to fire the team to victory. Now the only one proven goalscorer remains, with previous inputs from the rest of the squad inadequate at best.
It is telling that goalscoring inputs of seven by the likes of Bolo Zenden and Geremi are fondly remembered - it is essential that all of our midfield chips in with their fair share this season or else there could be trouble.
However, it is worth noting that this new look Middlesbrough side are aiming to do just that; score goals from all places. The fluid dynamic is certainly very exciting and surely exactly what the doctor ordered for legions of those disenfranchised by the pragmatic and cautious attacking under Steve McClaren. The likes of Yakubu, Downing, Arca, Tuncay and Rochemback are most certainly capable of doing that, although the latter's shots are more likely to affect pigeons than opposition goalkeepers.
Towards the end of last season, albeit when the season was winding down to a halt, the partnership of Arca and Rochemback began to pull the strings brilliantly for Middlesbrough in a cultured and creative manner. If club captain George Boateng can get back to something like his best, central midfield is something that we need not worry about especially with Lee Cattermole and James Morrison also more than capable of playing there.
Unfortunately, as of yet, our pre-season fixtures have not shown much promise as a Boro supporter, but there have been glimpses of attacking verve that bode well for the season. The nature of Middlesbrough's new look front line is that they are interchangeable with no set positions.
An example of this is the way that Downing and Tuncay have interchanged wings with each other, while Yakubu stays up front. It is a style that is employed to great effect by the top teams in the country and has the potential to cause teams a great amount of trouble, with the forward line able to be virtually free from man marking.
However, there is a problem with this system in that it requires players to come from deep and attack the ball and for the front man to be adept at holding onto the ball and score the odd headed goal. Unfortunately we have seen precious little evidence of either during the previous few seasons. Rocky and Arca can score goals, but lack pace, which leads to this writer doubting whether they can charge into the box to add support. Yakubu, our main man up front, has all the heading ability of William Wallace at the end of Braveheart.
Fortunately, although there seems to be a number of defensive injuries building up at present, the back line seems solid and dependable, with Jonathan Woodgate, Pogatetz, Riggot and Huth being some of the most solid centre backs that a team could wish for.
Solid as they may seem, Boro conceded a relatively large number of goals last season
and this will have to be improved. The reasons for that however, may have been the extra pressure placed upon the backline by the way we played in front of opposition defences; the ideas that Gareth Southgate is attempting to implement is the anti-thesis to this and will relieve the pressure on the back four immensely. This in theory should give us the impetus to cause teams trouble from all areas, instead of Boro being the Viduka and Downing show as it was for far too much of last season.
Given a good start, this season could be tremendously exciting. Free-flowing attacking football allied to defensive steel. Alternatively it could be a real struggle with very few goals and constantly looking over our shoulders, hoping and praying that we are not one of the shittiest three in the country.
In reality there will be EIO worthy highs, season ticket chucking lows and bits in between. Players, managers and chief executive will go from heroes to zeroes and back again. This is the Boro way, and we wouldn't swap it for the world.
So fellow supporters, pack that stadium to the rafters, sing loud and proud for that provincial little club we call the Boro, and enjoy the ride.
Up the Boro,
Udayan Mukherjee
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