Garry Monk was appointed Middlesbrough manager on June 9th, 2017. He had just left the Leeds job, in which he managed to guide them to 7th place, their highest league finish for some years.
The appointment of Monk pleased many Boro fans. They believed he was a good manager who with the backing of Boro chairman Steve Gibson could guide Middlesbrough back to the Premier League.
Garry Monk was certainly backed by Steve Gibson. Boro brought in 10 new first team players over the summer and spent just over £50m. Middlesbrough also broke their transfer record for Championship goal scorer Britt Assombalonga, on whom they spent £15m on.
Along with Assombalonga, Middlesbrough also signed top players such as Darren Randolph who is proven in the Premier League and Championship. Martin Braithwaite who is a very exciting player and has the potential to be great at Boro. Add to that, players like Lewis Baker from Chelsea and Cyrus Christie. So, with all this new top quality talent coming into the club as well as key men such as Ben Gibson and Adam Clayton sticking around over the summer, Middlesbrough looked to have one of the best squads in the division and were favourites for promotion.
However, we are now 13 games into the Championship season and Middlesbrough are far from fighting for promotion. They are winless in five league games and are currently 13th in the Championship. They are also 12 points off league leaders Wolves.
This has lead to many Middlesbrough fans turning against Monk and saying he should be sacked. Given the quality of Middlesbrough’s side and how much they are underachieving, you can hardly blame them. Here is a look at why maybe Monk and Middlesbrough are not meant to be.
Starting with something that probably doesn’t warrant Monk leaving but is still worth a mention. Back in 2013 when Aitor Karanka took charge of Middlesbrough, he managed to earn 21 points in the Championship in his first 13 league games. Monk, on the other hand, has managed just 17 in 13.
This is not too big a difference but when you compare the circumstances in which both managers took over the club, it doesn’t look good for Monk. Karanka was inheriting an awful Boro side. They had been subject to years of awful management and signings by Gordon Strachan and also a bit from Tony Mowbray. He also took over in November meaning he had no time to sign any players he wanted. To give you an idea of how bad the Boro team Karanka started with was, in his first game in charge vs Leeds, he had Marvin Emnes and Kei Kamara as his strikers.
Monk, however, was appointed in June meaning he had a full summer to sign who he wanted. He also had a big budget as evidenced by the £50m spent. And also despite being relegated the season before, Middlesbrough still had a good core of a squad with players like Gibson, Clayton, Leadbitter, Fabio etc. Despite all of these huge advantages Monk has still managed four fewer points than Karanka in his first 13 games.
Another reason Monk maybe should be let go is due to how much Boro have spent over the summer. Also, while money spent doesn’t guarantee you success, take both Everton and Boro as great examples, it does, however, put a lot of pressure on the team and manager to do well in the upcoming season. As already mentioned Boro spent £50m this summer. This was the most of any Championship club which obviously means people expected Middlesbrough to do well. And to be fair Middlesbrough should be doing miles better than 13th in the league.
If Middlesbrough had spent hardly anything over the summer and were in 13th place you could maybe forgive Monk. But he has had the full summer and basically unlimited money to sign whoever he wanted within reason. Therefore, given how bad Boro are doing compared to their money spent, maybe the blame should be put in part, on Monk.
Sticking with signings, Garry Monk also failed to sign a creative player over the summer. The number 10 role/ creative player has been an issue at Middlesbrough for a while now. Under Karanka Gaston Ramirez was their only real source of creativity. However, after a spat with Karanka in January over a move to Leicester, Ramirez never really got back into the team and eventually left the club over the summer.
Therefore, it was glaringly obvious that Middlesbrough would need to sign a new number 10 as Ramirez was there only really creative player and he had gone. Despite having the full summer to do this Monk did not. The only player he signed who could sort of play number 10 and provide Boro with that creativity is Lewis Baker. But Baker is not naturally a number 10. He has only played there 29 times in his career, compared to 91 times at his main position of CM. This means he does not possess the natural ability of a Ramirez type player to link up play and play those key balls that break teams down.
The failure to sign a creative player has already cost Middlesbrough several times this season. Often Middlesbrough will finish games with Assombalonga, Braithwaite, Bamford and Fletcher all on the pitch, all of whom can play as strikers. But because Middlesbrough doesn’t have a true CAM, having all these players on the pitch at the same time is somewhat pointless as there is no creative player to create the chances for them.
This often leads to Middlesbrough having lots of possession in games but not scoring or creating enough. A problem that was evident in their most recent league game against Cardiff. Boro finished the game with 59% possession and with Assombalonga, Braithwaite, Bamford and Traore all up top. But yet again they couldn’t break through because they didn’t have that one player who can make that key chance. This is a problem that Monk must be held largely responsible for. Because everyone knew Ramirez was Boro’s only real creative player. So, when he left it was obvious Monk needed to sign a new number 10. He did not; even though it was clear he had plenty of money and strong backing from the chairman.
Another problem Boro are facing under Garry Monk is a lack of an identity or any real game plan. This is best illustrated by looking at what and how many formations Monk has used in just 13 league games. Since taking charge of Boro he has used a 4-3-1-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-4-1-1 and a 3-5-2.
That’s six formations in just 13 games. This shows Monk doesn’t know what formation he wants to play. It also creates a lack of identity and it makes it hard for players to get used to a system as they constantly have to adapt to a new system and play a different style. The lack of identity has caused Middlesbrough nothing but problems and in games, they often look like they don’t know what they’re doing. If Middlesbrough wants to get promoted they need to stick with a system and play it for most of the season.
Take current league leaders Wolves as a perfect example. They play a 3-4-3 95% of the time. Their players know the system inside and out because they play it so much and it shows in their performances. Middlesbrough players on the other hand, often have to change positions and system from game to game. A good example of this costing Boro is when they drew 0-0 with Preston. Middlesbrough started out the game with a 3-5-2. This had Fabio playing in a left mid role, a position he can’t play and it showed in the game. Boro looked very unsettled for much of that game due to the choice of system and that blame must also be put on Monk. Monk clearly doesn’t know what system to play with Boro and if he still can’t decide after 13 games, maybe he isn’t the man to be managing this Boro side.
Furthermore, Middlesbrough under Monk seems to have a very shaky defence compared to Boro in previous years. For example, this season Middlesbrough have let 12 goals in 13 league games. An average of 0.92 goals per game. In their last season in the championship, they only let in 31 goals in 46 games, a much lower average of 0.67 goals conceded per game.
And yes people may say that the only reason Middlesbrough had such a good defence was that of how Aitor Karanka set up. This was often a criticism of the Spaniard as people said his defensive nature was why Boro did not score enough. But the harsh reality is, Monk has done away with Aitor’s great defensive record and not replaced it with a thriving attacking threat. 12 goals conceded in 13 games would be great if Boro were scoring a lot. However, they have only managed 15 goals in 13 Championship games, an average of 1.1 per game. Under Karanka in the Championship, they scored 63 in 46 in their 2015/16 season. That works out at 1.3 goals per game.
So, even Karanka’s supposedly defensive-minded side was able to outscore a Monk side that is supposed to be much more attacking minded. Therefore, it would seem Monk was taken away Boro’s only great quality, their defence, and not replaced it with a high scoring attack.
Finally, another criticism of Garry Monk is that he is sticking with players who are simply not good enough. The two most prominent being Jonny Howson and Ashley Fletcher, both of whom Monk signed. Howson is perhaps the best example of Monk sticking with a player that isn’t working. He has played 11 of Boro’s 13 league games this season. Even though he has been below average more often than not. Howson often gives the ball away, he struggles to defend and he generally doesn’t offer much to the side.
Monk, however, has stuck by Howson all season and it’s quite hard to see why. Fletcher has also been picked by Monk a lot in recent weeks to start despite putting in subpar performances. Many fans are confused by this. Especially when the likes of Patrick Bamford are sitting twiddling their thumbs on the bench. If Monk continues to stick with players that are very clearly not cutting it, he could lose the fans and perhaps the players very quickly.
Overall, while 13 games may be too early to sack a manager, Monk’s job could certainly be under threat if he doesn’t start to pick up a string of wins in the coming games. This is because he has a worse points tally than Karanka after 13 games despite having a much better squad. He has been heavily backed by the chairman, spending over £50m and being able to sign pretty much anyone he wanted. But Monk has not got the results which should accompany such backing.
Monk also failed to sign a creative player which has cost Boro already this season. He does not seem to have a plan A or know Boro’s best system; he has ruined Boro’s solid defence and not replaced it with a quality attack. And he also seems to be sticking with players who are not cutting it. For all of these reasons, Garry Monk’s time a Boro might be coming to an end sooner rather than later.
