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WARNOCK WEEKLY - STRIKING A BALANCE - 2-4-08
Tom Warnock
Regardless of the status of the opposition and regardless of their untouchable home record, it was the same old story for the Boro against Chelsea: No matter how simple a goal scoring opportunity is, our players will contrive to waste it.
You have a serious problem when it becomes a case of which teams are bad enough to concede against us rather than whether we are good enough to score against them.
They practically have to step to one side, turn around, put they’re hands over their eyes and shout "This one’s for free lads".
Even then, we would probably need three rebounds and a ricochet off Rochemback's backside to score.
We all chuckled smugly every time the Toon Army notched up another winless game under Keegan, but after just two straight wins they have now lept above us.
In the process, they managed to score four past Spurs - double our best scoring record for a single game this season.
Don’t worry if you’re missing Mark Viduka or Yakubu – you’re not the only one.
It was a good overall performance against Chelsea. We can’t overlook that. But it was never the performance we needed to get a result.
It always seemed that Chelsea took one look at our goal scoring record and said: "Right lads, get one in the first five and its over." Nice team talk Avram, it worked a treat.
While we can’t complain about losing to Chelsea (or can we?), it's still no points gained.
To be completely objective for one moment, I was impressed with Alves when he finally came on in the second half.
Despite his obvious missed chances, he looked dangerous and certainly appeared much sharper than in previous games. I do believe he will grow into the English game given some time.
One question sticks out like a sore thumb though: Why did he not start the game?
Who cares about the clause in his contract which prevents him from playing the first half of any game so the Brazilian audience who are just waking up and switching on the TV haven’t missed any of his contribution because of the time delay?
I made that up of course but it makes you wonder.
The fees paid for Aliadiere and Tuncay pale into insignificance next to how much we paid for Alves. But so does his goal scoring record. Yes it was in Holland but surely the Arsenal reserves and Turkey aren’t much more demanding stomping grounds on which to prove a point.
Just to remind you all in case you were over the heartache, it’s FA Cup semi-final weekend coming up.
No doubt it will bring back the emotion but make sure you enjoy the £200+ you've saved by not going to a ground we’ve never won at. Nor will we have to put up with a bunch of Cockneys or being charged £4 for a pint which will cost you a third of the price in Boro this weekend.
The only plus point about the run-in this season is that we have had some of the big boys to play. And with Manchester United coming up on Sunday, we can always be guaranteed some drama.
It will be interesting to see who Gareth picks up front. These are the games which brought Alves to England and to deny him a chance to make an impact would be wrong in my opinion.
The fact that Tuncay and Aliadiere can be more effective coming off the bench adds further weight to the argument.
One banner on display at the Riverside reads: ‘Boro’s Goal Machine’. With his immense wit and intelligence, my mate pointed out that this banner is somewhat baffling given that he hasn’t yet scored for us. Speaking metaphorically, as that banner is, we should return this machine to its manufacturers because its sole purpose for production is not being fulfilled.
Anyway I digress. My point is that Afonso must start as we have nothing to lose. If our big names perform who knows? And it's always nice to get one over on Ferguson.
Until next week
Up the Boro
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