Boro Mania

The season is almost upon us, the big spending Tottenham Hotspur arrive at the Riverside in a few days to kick things off. So, how are Boro shaping up for the new season? Here is our review of the Boro squad going into the 2008/09 Premier League season.

Goalkeepers

On the face of it Boro are weaker in the goalkeeping position than they have been in recent memory. Stalwart Aussie Mark Schwarzer has moved on to Fulham to join the geriatric goalkeeping group they appear to be assembling at Craven Cottage, leaving the club with a very inexperienced group of goalkeepers.

Scott Carson, Paul Robinson and Brad Friedel have all moved clubs with Gareth Southgate not batting an eyelid and staying resolute in his assessment that the club were not offered anyone that would improve on the current group. That leaves us with Brad Jones, another Aussie who has been at the club for a very long time. A good shot stopper who has had good games in a Boro shirt, Jones is unfortunately prone to errors or lapses in concentration. His command of the penalty area is not what it should be and a horror performance late last season at Sunderland sticks in the memory for many Boro fans.

Ross Turnbull has come through the ranks at Boro and though he has had a few less than successful loan spells at lower league clubs he is highly rated by the club. A big presence in the goal and a solid shot stopper, most Middlesbrough fans would start the local lad against spurs and give him the number one spot to lose.

Gareth Southgate has taken a massive risk with the goalkeeping situation. His stance that these lads need to be given a chance to show what they can do is admirable, but if Boro are shipping goals and languishing near the bottom after a couple of months the fans may very well turn on the manager. Come the end of the season Southgate will either be vilified for not signing an experienced ‘keeper or lauded as a great manager for his foresight in giving the young lads a chance. Time will tell.

Defence

The defensive area is still open to new arrivals with talk of replacement right backs coming in but, for this review we will assume no one arrives in time for the Spurs game and assess what we have.

The obvious talking point as far as the defence goes is the sale of Luke Young to Villa. On the face of it, selling one of your more experienced and consistent performers from an already young team was not a great footballing decision. When you look at what Villa paid for Luke, £5.5million rising to £6million based on appearances, it is a lot clearer why we sold him. We won’t get into the debate on the Young sale here, it’s been done to death, suffice to say he’s gone and Boro move on.

Robert Huth needs to remain fit

At left back Pogatetz and Taylor will likely fight it out for the starting spot, though Poggy is more suited, and prefers, the centre of defence I feel we may see him playing LB a lot this season. Taylor has a big season ahead of him, blighted by injuries and a perceived loss of form last season he will need to assert himself on the team and win his place back. Jonathan Grounds and Joe Bennett will also be pushing at LB and both youngsters have looked impressive when called upon.

The centre of the defence for me should be locked down for Huth and Wheater, a formidable pairing who looked very solid when paired last season. The main problem here is the fitness of Robert Huth. A very good centre back Huth needs to put his injuries behind him and show he can play regularly without spells on the sidelines. Wheater is coming off a breakthrough season, having started last season as a squad player he took his opportunity with both hands. His arrival into the first team signified the end for Woodgate’s tenure at Boro and shows how highly thought of he is at the club. Expect David Wheater to solidify his growing reputation this season and press for international honours. For cover, Pogatetz would be the first player called upon we also have Chris Riggott, Matty Bates and young Seb Hines.

At right back Boro have a lot of question marks, will someone be coming in to replace Young? Will McMahon be given a chance and if so can he stay fit? Our current situation at right back needs strengthening. I have a lot of faith in Tony McMahon but he does have a history with injuries, same applies for Matthew Bates though he is more suited to a central role and I am very excited about the prospects of Rhys Williams who has looked very impressive in pre-season (at both centre back and right back). I think it is clear that we do need an extra body in for that position.

Midfield

Julio Arca is now one of the older players in the squad

The Boro midfield has seen a large turnover of first team players in the summer, gone are Fabio Rochemback, George Boateng and Lee Cattermole and in comes Didier Digard. So, the numbers don’t really add up at the moment, we have shipped 3 central midfielders out and brought in one. I think it is fair to say we need to bring in another central midfielder and hopefully one with a bit of creativity and guile. What we have at the moment is Didier Digard, an exciting but as yet unproven young french midfielder and Julio Arca. Arca suffered a loss of form last season following his injury against Sunderland and looks as though he will be injured for the Tottenham game again. Other options are Mohamed Shawky, Egyptian International who has never really been given a run in the first team. Gary O’Neil, who has been wanting to play in the middle rather than the right side and young Josh Walker.

I think it is fair to see we are very thin at centre midfield and in desperate need of reinforcement, though i don’t feel James Harper is the player to do this.

Left side of midfield we’ll keep brief, Downing is our best player and if fit will provide us with an excellent attacking threat. He is backed up by Adam Johnson, a player who has had a very good pre-season and amid rumblings of him wanting to move if he can’t cement a first team place he will need to take any chance he gets presented with.

On the right we have Gary O’Neil, started very well for Boro but his performances tailed off at the back end of last season. We need to see a much better end product from Gary this season. Jeremie Aliadiere has played on the right hand side of midfield in pre-season and adds an option as does new signing Marvin Emnes who can play wide right, left or up top.

Attackers

Boro look strong up front going into this season. In Alves we have a natural goal scorer in a similar mould to Fabrizio Ravanelli and with a full pre-season behind him much is expected from the Brazilian hitman. Tuncay is entering his second season, coming off the back of a decent World Cup, the Turkish International adds a spark of creativity and directness to the attack and should link well with Alves. The aforementioned Aliadiere was a key player for Boro last season in the way he stretched defences and opened up space for others with his pace, he does need to add more goals to his game though. Finally, Mido has returned after an off season of intensive training looking thinner and fitter. Mido, if fit, offers Boro a different dimension a skilled target man who can bring others into the game.

All in all pleased with our attacking options this season and hopeful of getting a lot of goals particularly from Alves.

I think Boro have the makings of a good team, we are at the moment short on numbers in a few key areas and the goalkeeping situation is a worry for most fans.

Feeling Lucky? Get a FREE bet when you sign up with Coral