Middlesbrough FC - Throw Down The Anchor!

MIDDLESBROUGH 2 - 2 NEWCASTLE UTD

So first game of the season out of the way. In different stuff really. We were pretty crap and newcastle played ok. A quick word on the geordies before i move onto us lot.

Newcastle didnt create much, couple of chances in the first half but i dont think they would have scored in the first half had Riggott not slipped. All credit mind they played some good passing attacking football and used the wings well. Shearer i think is past it *ducks flying missiles* and living on reputation. He was all elbows, complaining and lying on the deck. If defenders on really he isnt who he used to be then they wouldnt be as scared and he'd be finished. The geordies have to play better than that mind you if they're gonna finish 4th.

Onto us. We missed 'Gate at the back and looked all at sea at times. But over all we were pretty solid. We lacked ammunition going forward. JFH didnt get the service and Job has again decided its better to be offside than on. Second half things changed and we moved up a gear from 1st to 2nd although we still didnt threaten as much as id like but at least the effort was there and we pulled it back. Downing was superb, JFH's hand of god was fortunate on a day the Ref had obviously been bathing with the Toon.

As for Juno dont get me started on him. The fans annoyed me singing his name when he wasnt even on the bench. Whats the point in that its destructive to the team - almost like booing them. I seriously the juno fans get lost pretty quickly. The only way out i think is to sell him as the fans think he's bigger than the club. The whole problem with Juno is he doesnt fit into a conventional line up. He isnt a striker and isnt a midfielder - so we have to invent a new formation for him when we play him. It doesnt work with him and 1 striker, that means him and 2 strikers which leads to 3 in midfield - leaving us weak in the engine department. Away from home its a no no, at home we could get away with it against the lower opposition but i think he's best used as a sub considering the starting eleven we've now got. Let me get this straight - i love juno and hope he stays but for the good of mfc i dont think he should walk into the line up, i think he is best used as a sub or when needed (remember we have alot of games this season).

Anyway roll on the arse lets see if we can concede less than 4 goals next time. COMON BORO
 
Boateng was definetly my man of the match.. Downing was decent, a fresh sub, that got us that extra guts we needed. Hasselbaink did cover his hand pretty well, concidering the refs position it was kinda hard to see through it :D
 
I think he was reffering to the boro MOTM.

Moving swiftly onto the dreaded Arsenal game - the only team in the Prem that i dont think we'll be able to beat unless we are up to our very very best - lets hope we get Southgate and Funtime Frankie back quick. As for a formation id go:-

------------------------Schwarzer------------------------
Reizieger------Ehiogu-----------Southgate----Funtime
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------Parnaby------Boateng----------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------Mendieta---------Parlour---------Zenden-------
--------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------Jimmy----------------------------

Subs: Nash, Riggott, Downing, Nemeth, Juno
 
Boro said:
I think he was reffering to the boro MOTM.

Moving swiftly onto the dreaded Arsenal game - the only team in the Prem that i dont think we'll be able to beat unless we are up to our very very best - lets hope we get Southgate and Funtime Frankie back quick. As for a formation id go:-

------------------------Schwarzer------------------------
Reizieger------Ehiogu-----------Southgate----Funtime
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------Parnaby------Boateng----------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
-------Mendieta---------Parlour---------Zenden-------
--------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------Jimmy----------------------------

Subs: Nash, Riggott, Downing, Nemeth, Juno
Click to expand...

You were saying Juninho doesn't fit in, in your previous post. This formation would suit Juninho perfectly though, if he'd play in Parlour's position.
 
Lol we'll get ripped to shreads if we attack though thats the problem. We've tried defending against them and lost 4-1, we've tried attacking them from the off and lost 4-1 so with that formation, i think we've got a solid defence, parnaby will get forward and Boateng will get amungst them. Mendi Zenden and Parlour will mix things up and provide some good balls through the centre and will help on the counter, wheres Jimmy is good enough to play by himself as Job is too lightweight and useless while Nemeth isnt good enough to take the chances.

Edit: Dom the reason ive left him out of the first eleven is i think we need Parlour in there to mix things up and get stuck in with Boateng. Plus Parlour is a better passer than Juno. As he gets older i think Juno fits in better as a bench player, coming on in the last half an hour to pray on tired legs as the game gets more stretched.
 
with cygan playing I think you should at least try to attack them...
IMO it's the only way.
I'm not saying to have 5 forwards... just two.
is viduka still suspended?
 
Sadly yes. If we did go with 2 up front id drop Parnaby for Nemeth and go a straight 4-4-2 and hope we can get Reiziger and Funtime bombing forward.
 
Sounds like Juninho is off to Celtic, O'Neill has been given the funds to go and get him and Juninhos father is meeting with them today supposedly. Despite Juno wanting to stay and fight for a place it sounds like he's being forced out and in all honesty i can understand McClarens reasoning... Juninho is becoming bigger than the club in some fans eyes, and that is destructive in the support for the club. Anyway back to the point, a decision is expected by Thursday.

As for a replacement? My money is on James Morrison to take the step up and be thrown in for a game, or even Peacock although he hasnt been given a squad number since he is still a youth team player.
 
Stuart said:
o right, sorry m8. yeah boateng did play well for boro. JeJe what did you think of Reiziger?
Click to expand...
Reiziger was good, he solved all his tasks the safe way, as i like it. Everything he does seems so easy and calm, like when he cleared the cross in the 10th minute. We`re not used to clever and easy SB-play in boro as we had Funtime (nice name boro!) and Mills on the backs last season, hehe..
 
Most Middlesbrough fans' reaction I've seen is that they are disgusted with the club trying to shift on Juninho. Boro you say that it's right because too many people think more of him than the club, but surely it's just a case of hero worshipping their favourite player, like we did with Larsson? From what I hear it's McLaren not liking someone being bigger than him that's the problem, people are calling him an arsehole for it.
 
ClassicD said:
From what I hear it's McLaren not liking someone being bigger than him that's the problem, people are calling him an arsehole for it.
Click to expand...

Totally agree, it's the same impression i had
 
We arent trying to shift Juno though, its Juno wanting to leave, McClaren has never said he wants him to go and infact told Juno that he wouldnt be in the first eleven as often as last season. In my honest opinion McClaren is in the right, and, is not an arsehole for it.

Anyway the fact Juninho has acted like a baby over it doesnt help, saying in the press on the 13th that he'll leave if he isnt in the team on the 14th. You cant have a player demanding and running the team.

Farewell Juno, your a legend but your not THAT big.
 
You aren't trying to shift him? Juninho said he wanted to stay and fight for his place 2 weeks ago and then McLaren leaves him out of the first 16, that's pretty much telling him to fuck off outright.

All I'm saying is the majority of Boro fans' opinions I've heard/read say McLaren is a fool over this, and he wants him out. I never heard anything about 'demands', just that he wasn't prepared to stay if he didn't get first-team football, which is very common in football.
 
The demands thing was all over the tabloids last week.

We arent trying to shift him. He was left out of the first 16 because there wasnt enough room to play him with the system we set out to play. He (rightly) shouldnt be in the first eleven as he is a liability defensively and is much more effective from the bench. As for the subs:
Nash - GK
Cooper - Defender, needed for cover
Doriva - Defensive midfielder, cover in midfield considering we had a few players with knocks
Downing - Offensive midfielder, gives us more options, meaning we can use Zenden to cover LB as Funtime was injured, or push Zenden in one and go 5 in midfield
Nemeth - Striker, needed for cover

Junos 1 position means he wouldnt get on that bench for the newcastle game as he isnt flexible enough, hence McClaren made the right decision to drop him. If our defensive was at full strength then he'd get on the bench in place of Doriva, the only reason he didnt was due to injuries and a make shift back 4.
He isnt being forced out McClaren has made it perfectly clear he wants him to stay but wont stop him leaving if he cant be arsed being a squad player.
 
Boro the best you can do is put everyone behind the ball and agrivate us like Birmingham did last season for the 0-0.. that was however when we'd already won the title so we might not have really cared.

Oh well... I'm up for 4-0 :mrgreen:
 
We're screwed at the back today:-

Schwarzer

Reizieger - recovered from shoulder injury, just
Riggott - in for Ehiogu
Cooper - in for Southgate
Funtime - recovered from groin injury, just

Mendi
Parlour
Boateng
Zenden

Job
JFH

COMON BORO
 
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