juninho9 35 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 A rare photo of a Boro player taking a shot at goal Introduction: A match that any team would love to have. An away game against the in-form team in the Premier League. It's Boro vs the Gunners. Last Time Out: The last time Boro were away to ***nal was in the FA Cup 5th round last year, where a quick Giroud double was enough to dump Boro out of the competition. In that game, Boro had 6 shots and 1 on target. Let's see if we can improve on that... Form: Boro are on a rotten run at the moment, with 1 point in the last 5 games, losing to half of London. ***nal are scoring for fun, with 6 wins in 6 and 16 goals in that time. You can feel the anxiety flow through me as I type the formalities of this match. BORO LAST FIVE AWAY: D-W-D-L-D ***NAL LAST FIVE HOME: W-L-W-W-W League games Team News: For Boro, Chambers is ineligible to play, so Ayala will probably fill in the gap at the back. Leadbitter is returning to training from his injury but this game will be far too soon for him. ***nal will be without Xhaka after his red card in the Gunner's 3-2 win against Swansea. Carzola will be a concern as he came off during ***nal's 6-0 drubbing of Ludogorets and was seen with an ice pack on his achilles. Likely Line-Ups Boro: Valdes; Barragan, Ayala, Gibson, Friend; Forshaw, De Roon; Stuani, Downing, Fischer; Rhodes ***nal: Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Cazorla, Coquelin; Walcott, Iwobi, Ozil; Sanchez Some Stats: Between ***nal and Boro there have been 124 match ups, with ***nal taking 61 wins in that time, and Boro 31, with only 7 of them coming when playing in London. ***nal average 2.44 home goals against the Boro. A few players who have played both ends of the country for ***nal and Boro: Aliadiere, Hoyte, Parlour, Magic Man Merson. This season, ***nal are joint in terms of wins (6), goals (19), and second to Spurs with clean sheets (3). 18 of their goals have been from inside the box, and they have completed a whopping 4,703 passes compared to Boro's 3,708. They really do try and pass it in. Boro are top of the tackles table, with 194, and will need to keep that form going up against Walcott, Ozil and Co. Juninho9 Prediction: All the MD threads I've done have resulted in draws. Would give an arm to have any attacking intent in the game, let alone manage to salvage a point or a clean sheet. But my head says 3-0 ***nal, if we're lucky. Some questions: Is it time for Dimi? What needs to change in terms of attacking intent? Adama? What formation would you have? What would be your ideal XI? Is it time for Karanka to go? * Score and line-up predictions? How will we stop the in-form players in Walcott and Ozil? Will we ever get a penalty?! What is the best pub to go to before the match? My Answers: I think he deserves a chance, but not against ***nal. Adama needs to be given more game time, as does Rhodes. 4-4-f**king-2 Valdes; Barragan, Ayala, Gibson, Friend; Adama, De Roon, Forshaw, Downing; Rhodes, Negredo No Link to post Share on other sites
Tom 2,492 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Is it time for Dimi? No. I think Guzan is second choice now. If Valdes is dropped, which I doubt he will be, Guzan comes in. What needs to change in terms of attacking intent? Adama? I think if we'd have been playing a mid/lower table side this week, Adama would have started. I don't see him starting against ***nal. What formation would you have? It is quite simply pointless having one man up front when you're spending most of the game defending. I would like to think Fischer will start to create that link with the front man, especially with Gaston on 4 yellows. What would be your ideal XI? ------------------Valdes -------Barragan--Ayala--Gibson------- Nsue----------De Roon--------Fabio/Friend ----------Forshaw---Downing----------- -------------------Fischer---------------- ------------------Negredo Is it time for Karanka to go? No, but he also needs to know that we can't tolerate these results much longer. Link to post Share on other sites
Essuuaitch 330 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 good honest appraisal ,Juninho. 1- not saying Dimi is the answer but at least hes got some understanding with the defence and ive lost faith with the other3 . if we could clone the best attributes of all 4 we might have a decent GK (Mejijas part in that clone being his age) 2. just to have some would be nice 3. in this game i wouldnt change it apart from sticking 5 in midfield , but id like us to go to 4321 which wouldnt be too much of a changeabout but move us further up . 4. ideal 11 ... Dimi Chambers...Ayala..Gibson...Friend ...(or Fabio) Clayton,,Forshaw..Downing Adama....Fischer......(Stuani and Ramirez would suit these positions also) Rhodes 5..not yet , but if he point blank refuses to change the system and results or insipid attacking intent continues id change that answer come mid december . Link to post Share on other sites
wilsoncgp 9,230 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Is it time for Dimi? Nope. Valdes hasn't made any drastic mistakes and I still think his long-range passing is quite impressive. What needs to change in terms of attacking intent? Adama? I don't think Adama's ready to play in the Premier League as a starter but then I also don't like that we're wasting Stuani on the right. So I would include Adama to see what he can do, prove the doubters wrong and give their defence something to think about. Overall, I think we need to be more daring with our passing in the final third if we're going to test teams. If the system stays the same, the players have to be better. What formation would you have? I'd like to see a 4-3-3 where midfield and forwards are: Forshaw De Roon Downing Adama Negredo Fischer What would be your ideal XI? Sticking with AK's system, my 'ideal' 11 out of our entire squad when fit: Valdes Barragan Ayala Gibson Friend Leadbitter© Forshaw Adama Ramirez Downing Rhodes Is it time for Karanka to go? No. I won't give him forever to fix it but he's not broken us yet. People moaning about how the system has always been crap needs to check our final position last year again. It might not be working right now but to say it's always been crap is ridiculous. Link to post Share on other sites
Humpty 3,246 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Why the emphasis on Valdes? Is he really to blame for our down turn over the last few weeks? Dimi's fans are like dogs with two ***s at the minute. Is it time for Karanka to go? WTF has that got to do with ***nal away? Link to post Share on other sites
CurtisFleming 86 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I know people don't think Traore is ready for the league. But did anyone see how Monreal struggled against Barrow when they played Swansea. He couldn't deal with his pace and directness at all. It's definitely something worth thinking about and I think if we are likely to get beat I would like us to go down swinging for a change. Link to post Share on other sites
jamesp 125 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Why the emphasis on Valdes? Is he really to blame for our down turn over the last few weeks? Dimi's fans are like dogs with two *** at the minute. they are, and it's ***ing embarrassing Link to post Share on other sites
ballyclover 210 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Over the past few years we've tended to play well against the biggest teams we are not expected to beat, man city, man u and the like, cup games yes and nothing much to lose. We could possibly managed a draw here, but anything less than a defeat is a bonus. No shame in losing to the gunners at the moment, and I won't judge the team on any defeat, unless its complete hammering and we show little or no effort. So on that note, lets do our best and move on Link to post Share on other sites
hanzino 4 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 ***nal 8-0 Boro Link to post Share on other sites
juninho9 35 Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 Why the emphasis on Valdes? Is he really to blame for our down turn over the last few weeks? Dimi's fans are like dogs with two *** at the minute. Is it time for Karanka to go? WTF has that got to do with ***nal away? Just some points of discussion is all. I saw a lot of fans after the last game talking about Dimi/Valdes and there's been lots of talk on the odds of Karanka going. Just getting views on here was all, settle down. I never said Valdes was to blame for the downturn in our form. I've added a couple of additional questions based on the game itself. Some predictions, how you think we should set up against an in-form ***nal etc Link to post Share on other sites
Ayresome365 44 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Is it time for Dimi? No. What needs to change in terms of attacking intent? Adama? Move the ball more quickly. Be less predictable with our build up. Take risks. Get more men ahead of the ball an moving off the ball. Carry the ball at 'pace'. What formation would you have? 5-3-2; What would be your ideal XI? For AFC: Valdes; Barragan Espinosa Ayala Gibson Fabio; Forshaw De Roon Downing; Rhodes Stuani Is it time for Karanka to go? Only if he proves that he cannot adapt and improve. Link to post Share on other sites
SmogInSheff 66 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Is it time for Dimi? No I don't see what Valdes has done wrong and should keep his place based on his distribution alone. What needs to change in terms of attacking intent? Adama? We need to get players closer to Negredo. Get more players in the box quicker. I'd like to see us let the defenders concentrate on defending. Friend bombing on beyond Downing doesn't work it just make downing cover for him and takes a genuine attacking threat from crosses away from us. Barragan got forward well against Watford but his crosses rarely beat the first man and he was caught out loads trying to catch success up after we lost the ball. As much as I like Forshaw I'd like 2 defensive mids back in the side so we can get back to keeping clean sheets. This year they will be vital to staying up. More than playing nice football. Leave that for subsequent seasons. Play narrower and be harder to beat. With that solid base the front 4 whoever they be can be a bit braver and attack the opposition. What formation would you have? One that allows the above to happen. What would be your ideal XI? For this game. Valdes Barragan Ayala Gibson Friend De roon Clayton Downing Stuani Fischer Negredo Is it time for Karanka to go? Not a chance, who would we get? I can't see anything other than an ***nal win here all I want to see is us have a go. UTB Link to post Share on other sites
Rioch's Braves 711 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Not saying Valdes should be dropped for Dimi, but with regards to being a Dimi fan perhaps some of us remember the last 2 seasons, yes a few mistakes last season but some excellent saves as well. If you weren't a Dimi fan what the hell were you doing, sat waiting for him to drop a blob every week to prove a point. The ***nal game despite Forshaw not doing anything wrong I think Clayton will be back, would definitely give a fit Fabio a start but can't see it, Rhodes should be given a chance but despite being garbage on Sunday Negredo won't be dropped. This will be a comfortable ***nal win, they'll dominate midfield and Walcott and Ozil are on fire, unfortunately 4-0 to the gooners anything other than that will be a surprise. Link to post Share on other sites
Will 2,958 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I was a fan of Dimi but it's clear as day to me that Valdes is a better keeper all round with his distribution being a huge improvement on Dimi. Link to post Share on other sites
Borodane 6,246 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Is it time for Dimi? No. See no reason to drop Valdes who might even get better as we go along What needs to change in terms of attacking intent? Adama? Play a narrower three behind Negredo or Rhodes. We only really have Downing as a threat from out wide. What formation would you have? 4-2-3-1 What would be your ideal XI? ----------------Valdes-------------- Barragan-Ayala-Gibson-Friend -------De Roon--Forshaw-------- ----Fischer-Ramirez-Downing-- --------------Negredo------------- I'll have the three behind Negredo play narrow as earlier stated. That could also mean players closer to Negredo in the box. The three of them are all hard working so should offer plenty of movement. At least one of them needs to stay close to Negredo when we have possession. Is it time for Karanka to go? No. Needs more time to show he can adapat to a stronger league Score predictions? 3-0 ***nal How will we stop the in-form players in Walcott and Ozil? I don't think we can. Will we ever get a penalty?! Not if the players like Ramirez takes a dive every time he is touched. It was embarrasing to look at against Watford. What is the best pub to go to before the match? My house Link to post Share on other sites
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