WHEN the Sky fixtures came out and we saw Wigan against Boro had been selected I inserted tongue firmly in cheek and quipped that the only reason they could have seen it as worthy of airtime was that they thought it was the season's first relegation six pointer. How we laughed.
It's not so bloody funny now. Yes, Boro have injuries but the creditable opening day display against a polished Blackburn side in a game that they arguably should have won showed that even with a makeshift defence Southgate's side could play with panache, pace and passion. Against Wigan - a side so poor that they think adding Titus Bramble has strengthened them - a shadow of that team showed very few redeeming features.
They also showed very little fighting spirit and precious little evidence of the new ethos of attacking football played at pace - although there were some worrying signs of an old traits as they failed to pass to red shirts even over the shortest distances, failed to pick up opposition players bombing through the midfield and failed to impose any shape and tempo on the game, instead surrendering the initiative to a team that simply worked harder. It was the failure to deal with that so many times last season that left Boro struggling and we can't afford that again.
There was a relatively bright start in which Boro contained the home side and quietened the crown and Tuncay and Aliadiere combined well down the right and Downing looked lively down the left - but that soon fizzled out. What offensive movement there was as the attacking element looked to pass and move and pick their way down the flanks came to nothing as the sluggish midfield failed to get forward in support leaving little option but to look for a off key Yakubu with all the body language of someone who a has already packed his suitcase.
Gradually Boro conceded control and initiative then having gone behind lacked the strength or guile to find a way back. There was an air of inevitability about the proceedings. There were flashes of hope with Stewy's shot against the post the most vivid but even in the final stages when desperate Boro piled on the pressure it was Wigan that looked sharper, more assured and balanced - and far more likely to score. In truth, they could have two or three more in the final ten minutes and Boro could have no complaints if they had.
It was bitterly disappointing to see the team - and the dugout - seemingly powerless to change the shape of the game and more so that for all the philosophical investment in pace and finesse up front that the team were reduced to putting a lumbering centre-back up front as a target man as their last throw of the dice.
That was especially frustrating because Tuncay, one of Boro's better performers and one with a real ability to conjurer up a matchwinning moment of magic was taken off rather than moved either inside or upfront where he could exert some influence. He may be short of match fitness - he shouldn't be but no doubt that is what we will be told - but he still is a far more potent force up front that Lee Dong Gook or David Wheater.
There are of course mitigating circumstances. The defence has been ravaged by injuries although given the flat display and lack of passion you wonder if the presence of Woodgate or Pogatetz would have made much difference. Some key players have played very little football in pre-season. Southgate is has yet to field anything like a full strength side. The squad is thin in some important areas and there is little on the bench to transform the game - but these are problems that are within the club's power to have solved long before the campaign began. Everyone and his dog know Boro are a right sided player and a striker short. And maybe a central midfielder too. That fact that Jason Koumas was so effective for Wigan stung because he would have been a perfect fit.
But the most immediate glaring pitchside problem is that of Yakubu. The tactical investment in fluid movement demands that the man up front is the most mobile of all and has an exquisite touch and excellent vision to bring the other fast breaking forwards into the game and with the best will in the world that is not the Nigerian's strong suit. Yakubu's strength is running onto a ball played in front of him and is maybe more suited to a more direct approach and he seems increasingly out of synch with the players around him.
I am sure the system could be made to work with Yak but that may take time which is a precious commodity that will ebb away quickly as Boro remain pointless and the transfer window starts to creak closed. The on-going saga over his future must be resolved. If he is to stay then we must bite the bullet and demand he increases his industry and work on his close control and distribution - but if Boro are to cash in their chips they must do it swiftly and must replace him adequately. And Mido isn't his replacement, he slots more is more into the Viduka role as strong on the ball, excellent at holding it up and good in the air. He is the AN Other.
If the problem is not dealt with quickly then the danger is that Southgate will retreat from his policy of attacking football and start to play a more solid and conservative shape and play it longer to the Yak or in the air to Mido. That may well work but it will mean we are back at square one. Let's hope the last laugh is not on Boro.
**You may have noticed that Adam Steel's Wigan v Boro match report appeared live on the blog last night. Gazettelive.com intend to be first with the blow-by-blow accounts this season. They will eventually go on a dedicated page and build up into an easily accessible archive of the campaign but for now the blog is the only place open in cyberspace at that time of night - and besides, it will ensure you lot log straight back on here after the games.
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