[SmethDan]

Well that was an enjoyable way to spend my Friday evening...And to rub salt into the wound, I had car issues by Mansfield.

To the game...

The overall emotion is one of disappointment. Disappointment that we defended all Boro's set-pieces pretty well until the very end when the ref missed a blatant handball; disappointment that our captain can't show the discipline to not to give away a needless free-kick with a few minutes to go; disappointment that Big Dave continues to persist with a centre midfield pairing that patently does not work.

Positives - Dawson looked strong when he came on - yes, I'm aware he missed a simple header for their goal, but he was a class above the others at centre back. I also liked how we wanted to play football, it's just a shame that we do not have the quality in midfield to bring this hope to fruition. Finally, a big shout out to the fans: those who travelled were excellent and I'm sure many, like myself, have no voice today.

As for the 'areas for development'...There are too many to highlight here so I'll just pick the key ones:

1) Livermore and Brunt in centre midfield is not working. The lack of any real wish to get onto the ball and move up the pitch is blindingly obvious. The amount of times both players failed to provide an option for our defence when they had the ball was numerous and this meant that our strike force were basically redundant. I actually thought Livermore had an okay game, but he was still poor and ineffective which should say a lot about his quality, or should that be lack of. Brunt was a really, really poor, both on the ball and off it. Time for a change, surely?

2) Kyle Bartley - the man is a mistake waiting to happen, be that with poor decision making, giving away stupid fouls or being caught out of position. For such a big man, he hardly wins an aerial duel either. I dread to think of the number of goals he will cost us this year.

3)Attacking threats as spectators. We have a very strong attacking lineup with Barnes, Gayle, Rodriguez and Phillips, but all were ineffective, partly down to how well Middlesbrough defended and partly due to the fact our Centre midfielders could not get control of the game. This is a shame as I am in no doubt these players are more than good enough to carve teams like Middlesbrough open if given a bit of quality service.

Last night confirmed to me that this season will be one of consolidation. This squad strikes me as one who will do well at home, but struggle away - I know this is true for most teams, but I think it will be even more evident with us this season, almost like we are a different team home and away.

Very much agree with the bold text (not that I'm disagreeing with the rest) and no, I couldn't talk this morning after last night's shouting and I'm still struggling to now  . In fairness I do have a stinking cold and cough which is making matters worse  .

Things aren't as bad as some would suggest but they're not rosy either. Room for improvement in terms of recruitment, individual performances, a proactive rather than reactive approach to games and better use of subs. Roll on the next game, onward!

[elkiellis]

Just back from Boro,thought we worth a point,but Big Dave needs to start learning fast,firstly I have nothing against Brunty,but age and legs wise,you can only play him in a compact 5 man midfield,otherwise as against Forest and today central midfield will be overrun by virtually every team in this league and that is a fact,making him captain makes to very awkward to sub him too.Right back the city kid aint the answer,he offers no support or option coming forward whatsoever,but he did have a better game than v forest,the Barnes substitution is one that was mind boggling,the only player capable and just starting to hurt boro,yes Dave take him off.Bartley looked very uncertain at times,Gibbs I thought had a decent game and seems to be improving.

[Pie]

my thoughts after attending the game last night.

Brunt is not, and never will be a CM. some CM's can make up for lack of pace with good awareness and positioning, but Brunt does not have this as he has not played there his whole career.

Barnes should not have come off, in the few mins before his sub he had started to get the better of the defender and looked our best chance of creating a goal. If Moore wanted to bring in Morrison to change the shape, somebody else should have been sacrificed (Jay rod for me as he provided next to nothing all game)

We needed to be more intelligent - the long diagonals and high crosses were never going to work against their giant defence. We were also a bit powderpuff at times, players going down expecting fouls they would get in the prem, but not in the champ.

I still have reason to believe that this we will improve and this is a long old season. But we do need to learn some lessons quickly.

[Xpresso]

Think people are being a bit harsh on Bartley. For me Hegazi is the problem. He cost us so many goals last season and he's been responsible for most of this season's so far. Good defender most of the time but he just suddenly loses concentration and you can't do that at any level. He just stood and watched the goal being scored last night.

As for Brunt, much as it pains me to say it about such an excellent club servant down the years, but age has caught up with him. He's half a yard off the pace and conceding far too many unnecessary free kicks in dangerous areas. The Boro player was looking for the slightest touch to go down for the free kick and Brunt allowed himself to be suckered.

We're woefully lacking pace and creativity in midfield.

[Hull Baggie]

First chance to get on here since the match.
Have to agree with those that say we got what we deserved. I thought we were really poor all night, Gibbs and Philips seemed reluctant to take on their defenders, back 3 looked ropey and too many sideways and backwards passes followed by hoofing it forward. Although I thought we dealt well with Boro's dead balls (apart from the goal obviously)

Brunt was mostly rubbish, hardly found our players with a pass and his dead balls are getting worse game by game, that "wand" is looking more and more like a stick. Livermore played much better forward passes and can at least tackle. We need someone with an engine in midfield alongside Livermore. Field or Harper must come in ahead of Brunt. Stupid "tackle" by Brunt for the freekick which led ultimately and the goal but it should have been defended so much better.

As someone said the substitutions just kept the same shape without really adding anything. I'd have swapped Brunt for Morrison and brought Burke on for Phillips but definitely kept both Gayle and Barnes on.

Just hope we can put the performance and result behind us and kick on with a string of wins starting on Saturday.

I really hope we see a new RB and Cm come on on loan in the week.

[Baggies]

12 shots to our 10, 3 on target compared to our 2 (according to Goal statistics provided by Samsung). Impartiality increases objectivity or maybe you were watching a different game 

Having just checked Skysports match reports, their official stats show Boro as having 18 shots. Who is right? Depends what is classed a a shot but I think Sky use Opta which is the recognised authority.

The point was however, Boro had a number of chances, despite not many of them coming from Boro playing creative football and getting past us in the floor.  A lot came from set pieces, as is usual with Pulis. Whether the shots ended up on tatget or not, it suggests they managed to get a lot of chances from those set pieces. Certsinly when I was watching, I was alarmed by how few headers we won in our own box.

[AlbionFan]

Having just checked Skysports match reports, their official stats show Boro as having 18 shots. Who is right? Depends what is classed a a shot but I think Sky use Opta which is the recognised authority.

The point was however, Boro had a number of chances, despite not many of them coming from Boro playing creative football and getting past us in the floor.  A lot came from set pieces, as is usual with Pulis. Whether the shots ended up on tatget or not, it suggests they managed to get a lot of chances from those set pieces. Certsinly when I was watching, I was alarmed by how few headers we won in our own box.

Who knows and who cares now, we move on

[Fritzl Palace]

Who knows and who cares now, we move on

Let's hope the coaching staff do not adopt the same stance...

If we are not learning from our mistakes then what hope do we have?

[Baggies]

Who knows and who cares now, we move on

......well I care because it's been a theme defensivly so far and one we need to handle. Predicted the way Boro woupd score before kicm off and I was right.

[AlbionFan]

Let's hope the coaching staff do not adopt the same stance...

If we are not learning from our mistakes then what hope do we have?

Was replying to the original question asked from a fan,  read again if you need to

[AlbionFan]

......well I care because it's been a theme defensivly so far and one we need to handle. Predicted the way Boro woupd score before kicm off and I was right.

See above

[FallOutBoy]

Reply #5 on: August 17, 2018, 12:47:13 PM »

We all know what's going to happen here.

Pulisball 1 Albion 0

Nailed it. Sadly.

[TheBrom]

Again, apologies for the delay: https://vimeo.com/287829734