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WARNOCK WEEKLY - BORO'S FORGOTTEN ARSENAL - 12-12-07
Tom Warnock
So after all the waiting and all the debating; as autumn disappeared and winter descended; as Halloween, Bonfire night, Christmas light switch-ons and ninety-nine days passed:
On Sunday, by some miracle, we were finally reminded what it feels like to support a winning team.
It's been that long since we won three points that it took Gareth Southgate two calculators and a tally chart just to determine whereabouts in the League the win would leave us.
You can tell already by reading the columns, match reports and all things Boro that it was a superb result. It has lifted the club and the fans at a time when things looked so bleak.
On Sunday, the Riverside was rocking. Not only because it was Arsenal who we took to the cleaners but purely because any win would've done.
Southgate finally used his common sense and dropped Dong-Gook Lee in favour of Tuncay, possibly prompted by his goal at Reading.
Tuncay's match winner on Sunday means the Turk has now doubled Lee's goal tally having made seven less appearances. If there is any justice in the world then Lee will never pull on a Boro shirt again - unless he's lucky enough to unwrap one on Christmas Day morning.
Jeremie Aliadiere was always going to be ready for this one versus his former club and he was at Arsenal's back four from the word go. Winning the penalty was the first of many positives in the Frenchman's performance. He operated well with Tuncay and they in turn complimented the play of Downing and O'Neil.
I feel in those four we have a young, quick and dangerous quartet with which to attack teams. If Tuncay can continue his goal scoring and the other three convert the chances they should be converting, then the opposition will have something to worry about.
A lot of credit is owed to Gareth Southgate for making the right decisions at the right points in the game. He refused to sit on a lead at any point and we got our reward by sealing the game in the seventy-third minute. It was a goal that proved to be decisive in the end.
While this is just what the club needed, we mustn't forget that as good as we were against Arsenal, our performances have been at the other end of the spectrum on virtually every other occasion.
There are reasons for that and those reasons can't be eradicated in a matter of days. Although we have steadily improved in time, with draws against Spurs and Bolton, the Aston Villa result showed we are still capable of god-awful displays.
The Derby game is an entirely different prospect to the Arsenal one. Derby are scrappers whilst Arsenal aren't. Derby's players will want to drag us into a scrappy affair because apart from Kenny Miller, they are lacking in any real quality.
My only concern is that barring Boateng, we can be lightweight in midfield. We have too many players who are not prepared to stick their foot in when it counts.
When the top teams play and they don't have the ball, they tend to let you play more and Arsenal were lacking one of their best ball winners in Fabregas. However, teams like Derby are used to chasing possession and will fight for every last header, ball and tackle. Our lads need to be ready for this.
Initially we must approach the game the same way as we did Arsenal. We need to launch all our attacking players forward and see how they handle us. Unless Derby suddenly raise their game for the first time all season, or our defence goes walkabout (which wouldn't be for the first time), then we should be looking for a clean sheet, three points and nothing less.
In terms of the League table, a win would push us closer to eleventh or twelfth and give us some breathing space before the exhaustive festive run-in.
Victories like ours against Arsenal can sometimes paper over cracks which still need working on so perhaps the real test is against Derby. I mean if Sunderland can beat them, than anyone can, can't they?
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