Rob Dixon - Picking Up The Pieces || Middlesbrough F.C. news, reviews and comment

PICKING UP THE PIECES 18-3-08
Rob Dixon

james keen

So here we are again.

After another FA Cup quarter-final defeat, once again Boro and their fans only have a Premier League survival battle to look forward to this season.

Whilst the last eight was the same hurdle at which the side fell last year, this time it was a very different despondency that followed. Boro went out with a whimper in a competition that was shaping up well for them.

Unlike last year, there were no cynical lunges at cocky arrogant Portuguese players to applaud, just the sight of eleven men capitulating in the most toothless way imaginable. Where do you go from that game?

Well, it seems you go to two difficult away games and take valuable points from both.

Gareth Southgate has got the right reaction from the players in the aftermath of a game that had many spelling the end for the football club's place in the top flight.

One can only presume that the side had got too comfortable, too predictable and too relaxed after a good run of form which saw them pull a little clear of the drowning rats around them.

It can be argued that everyone in the team knew who would be playing on an almost weekly basis. Indeed, the only real fluctuations in the starting team over recent months had been up front, since the OTT arrival of Afonso Alves and the frivolity of Jeremie Aliadiere.

Maybe that's where Gareth went wrong. Maybe it became a case of the coaching staff taking their collective eye off the ball and failing to keep the players on their toes in the competition for places.

While it wouldn't be too silly to suggest that on their day both Fabio Rochemback and Julio Arca are better central midfielders than George Boateng, maybe Southgate failed to tell them that that is not necessarily the case and that they could easily be dropped.

All the best teams have some sort of competition and while Boro may not have the most quality in reserve, some players bring different attributes to a game.

For example, while skill and vision are (usually) the forte of Messrs Arca and Rochemback, super Lee Cattermole brings a tenacity that can boost a flagging side.

As we have also seen recently, Boateng and Shawky can bring a tough tackling, simple passing style to the middle of the park, along with the occasional raking shot from the latter.

While some players may not be the most technically gifted, they can definitely change games.

Southgate and Colin Cooper need to ensure that they never lose sight of the benefits of different players across the park if they want to avoid travesties like the Cardiff performance from happening again.

The move to change the midfield two has got a reaction out of the team. Let's all hope that the FA Cup loss was a wake up call to ensure that it never happens again.

Boro have shown in the past two games that when they are on the ball (metaphorically and literally), they can compete with some of the League's best sides in their own backyards.

The coaching staff needs to make sure that none of the players become too comfortable in their position or regard themselves as a shoe-in for the team on a Saturday afternoon if this change of attitude is to continue.

It has been pointed out on several occasions that Boro tend to pull out their best football when they are unfancied or when their backs are against the wall.

This also needs to change if there is to be any point in the football club at all.

No team should strive to be the eternal underdog, that's not what competing is about. We have a decent squad who can play good football, let's hope that in the rest of the season they show it.

Up the Boro.

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