Middlesbrough currently sits 19th in the Premier League table with 10 games left to play. Boro are without a win since December 17th last year. They are the league’s lowest goal scorers with 20 goals in 28 games. Middlesbrough have also recently departed with Aitor Karanka.
The situation at the club is dire and if Middlesbrough wants to avoid relegation this season they will need to change something to start picking up wins.
A Look Up at How Exactly Middlesbrough Can Escape Relegation: Plans A, B And C
Plan A: Stop playing three central defensive midfielders
For the majority of the season, Middlesbrough have opted to play a 4-1-4-1 or 4-3-3, depending on how you look at it. The key problem with this is that all of the central midfielders involved in this tactic are defensive mids. This overly defensive formation has certainly hindered Middlesbrough from scoring goals. Boro have scored just 20 in 28 games, the lowest in the league. They are also yet to have more than four shots on target in a single game. Therefore the seemingly simplest plan would be to remove one of the CDM’s for a striker. This would then change the formation to a simple but effective 4-4-2.
The 4-4-2 tactic has already proved useful for teams such as Leicester (who won the league with it) and Burnley who are now 13th in the table. Furthermore, after going 2-0 down against United on Sunday, Agnew switched to this formation for the remainder of the game, taking of Leadbitter for Gestede. The formation change had a positive impact as Boro were able to push further forward, had more men in the box which lead to Gestede scoring Boro’s first goal in over eight hours of football. This shows dropping a CDM for a striker would be smart for Boro. Especially against ‘lesser’ teams such as Swansea and Hull because it allows them to attack more and score more goals. Something they really need to start doing if they wish to survive this season.
Plan B: Hire an experienced manager
After the departure of Aitor Karanka what Middlesbrough need is an experienced manager who will get results quickly. While temporary head coach Steve Agnew would like the job and Charmin Steve Gibson may be inclined to give it to him, a more experienced manager such as Guss Hiddink would be much better suited for Boro.
Agnew has never actually been a manager and putting faith in him to keep Boro up could be a huge risk. There are several reasons for this. Firstly Agnew has never managed before meaning we have no idea how well he would do. But also, during his spells at Boro, Agnew has taken charge of four of Boro’s games and lost all of these games. This could indicate he may not be the man for the job.
Instead, someone such as Guss Hiddink would be a much better replacement. Hiddink has been a manager since 1987 meaning he has a plethora of experience; he has managed in the Premier League (winning the FA Cup in that time). Hiddink has also managed on an international level and took charge of clubs such as Real Madrid, Chelsea and PSV. Therefore, rather than risking everything on Agnew, a smarter plan would be to hire an experienced manager such as Hiddink who would be much more likely to get results for Middlesbrough
Plan C: Play long ball
It’s not pretty but it works. Realistically, Middlesbrough does not have a great Premier League squad. They lack creative attacking midfielders and thus struggle to break teams down and create chances. Consequently, the long ball tactic could do wonders for Boro’s survival hopes.
If Boro were to switch to a 4-4-2, as mentioned earlier, they would most likely play Gestede and Negredo up top. This would be the perfect strike force to play long ball too. While Gestede is not the most gifted striker in terms of taking players on, he is 6ft 4 and good in the air. Negredo like Gestede is tall, strong and able to control long balls. Therefore if Boro were to play long ball properly they could launch it up to either striker. The strikers could then head it down to the other and hopefully, score a goal. This is perhaps Middlesbrough’s best chance of scoring more goals, given the lack of creativity in the squad.
The long ball tactic has also been employed well by Burnley who play 4-4-2 and have played the most long balls in the league this season. The tactic has clearly worked well for them as they are 13th in the league. This shows the long ball can work as Burnley like Boro does not exactly have a fantastically creative squad. But they use what they have effectively by deploying the long ball tactic. Something Boro should start doing given the lack of creativity in their squad.
