Deep In My Heart, West Ham v Middlesbrough || Middlesbrough F.C. news, reviews and comment

DEEP IN MY HEART 14-9-07
West Ham v Middlesbrough, 14th September 2007, Upton Park
James Keen

The international break came at a bad time for Boro who had found a bit of form and after the immense performance against Birmingham the lads would have loved to have played their next game as soon as possible. Not to be, sadly.

After a run of four games without defeat Boro face their sternest test of the season, so far, with a trip to East London to face West Ham, a side who have beaten Boro in each of the last five games between the sides at Upton Park.

It's a tough trip and a difficult mission to come away from London with maximum points, and hopefully Boro can take their momentum from the previous four games into the seventh game of the season and pick up a third win in a row in the capital.

But, like Boro, West Ham have hit a little bit of form and are also four games unbeaten having played one game less than the Boro. Their only defeat came on the opening day against Manchester City.

Personally, I'd be happy with a draw in this game; it will keep us unbeaten and maintain the platform that we have been steadily building. Away from home it is important to pick up points, but you don't necessarily have to win. If we claimed four points off the Hammers over the course of the season I'm sure we'd all be very happy.

The current wave of optimism surrounding the Boro though is not misplaced because we are playing good, open, attractive football. But let us not get ahead of ourselves. When the fixtures came out we knew we had the easiest opening ten fixtures of all the Premiership sides. We didn't have any of the top four to play, and therefore shoud1 be comfortably in the top six come game week eleven.

We have played sides we should pick up points from, and have sadly come away with two blank point games, which I think is already too many at this stage. But nobody has started spectacularly well so we are still in touch with everybody in the league, both top and bottom. It gives us a chance of putting ourselves in a good position come November/December when the league really starts to take shape.

Boro's recent return to form has coincided with the return to the side of Jonathan Woodgate and the debut of Luke Young. Getting an almost fully fit back line was vital for Boro. We were struggling to build from the back with Andrew Davies' obvious attacking deficiencies and Chris Riggott's lack of match fitness and practice after a season on the sidelines. We were losing too much possession from defence and when the ball did reach the midfield they were left hurried and short on space and time.

When you've got players like Woody and Young they think quickly and pick their passes early. This is unbelievably comforting for a midfielder, knowing that when you receive the pass you will have a little time and space and will be able to turn and pick your pass.

It has been to the benefit of Arca and Rochemback, giving their obvious talent a chance to shine, and gives Boateng the touch he needs to compose himself.

Obviously, we also saw Mido step in at around a similar time, and he simply gave us the fire and the belief we needed in ourselves to move onwards. The first win, which was without Woody and Young, was lucky, very lucky, but gave us something to cling on to. Then we found a bit of form against Newcastle and Birmingham and will take that into the coming weeks.

We go into the game level on points with the Hammers, and although they have two wins out of four, neither has come at home so we should have the belief to get a win from this fixture. Because we all know we have the ability.

I'm deseperate to see Tuncay and Aliadiere begin to fire and would love a goal from either or both of them, but I'd assume that the latter would get the nod. They are both good players; Aliadiere hasn't the best strike rate in the Premiership but has the advantage of Premiership experience over Tuncay, and so should settle at Boro quicker.

Although they've had two weeks to settle at the club, I can't imagine we'll see O'Neill or Shawky in the side, indeed I don't think Shawky will make the bench. I think O'Neill will join Cattermole on the bench waiting for his chance in the first XI.

The one thing that the new signings have done is give us strength in depth, and although our first XI hasn't changed a lot from the opening game, we suffered because we didn't really have a lot to bring on when we were struggling. To have Tuncay, O'Neill, Cattermole and Riggott to call upon from the bench Boro now have that strength.

There's plenty to be happy with about Boro's opening, even if the disappointment of Blackburn and Wigan still hovers over us. We have scored some good goals, we have defended well, we have our first away win already and we have avoided a banana skin in the cup. Perhaps we're in for a decent season after all.

The outcome: My heart says we could sneak it 1-0, but my heart tells me we will probably be glad to get a 1-1 draw.

Last Season: West Ham United 2-0 Middlesbrough (Zamora 2, Tevez 45)

Boro Form (most recent result first): WWDWLL
West Ham Form: WWDWLW

Probable Teams:

Boro: Schwarzer, Young, Taylor, Wheater, Woodgate, Rochemback, Arca, Boateng, Downing, Aliadiere, Mido

West Ham United: Green, Neill, Ferdinand, Upson, McCartney, Bowyer, Noble, Mullins, Etherington, Ashton, Bellamy

Man to Watch: Craig Bellamy

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