Injuries hit Boro at the worst time while Matos' style analysis divides opinion

Often described as a season-defining weekend, Boro will have to hope that is not the case this season, because they were undoubtedly the biggest losers in the promotion racing.

Starting the weekend second in the table, defeat to Millwall was bad enough. Then failing to capitalise on Alex Neil’s side slipping up against Norwich City, both Boro and the Lions have handed a huge promotion advantage to Ipswich Town.

It looks dramatic in the race to join Coventry City as automatic promotion winners, with Boro Ipswich and Millwall all locked on 72 points. But with a superior goal difference, two games in hand, and Boro to play at home, Kieran McKenna’s side, it’s fair to say, have a firm advantage now.

It’s such a shame for Boro who, after a solid start to the season, took their game to another level in Kim Hellberg’s first couple of months in charge. But since defeat to Coventry City, the wheels have come off.

That defeat was the start of an 11-game run in which Boro have managed only two wins. It’s crushing form at the worst possible time. And yet, it doesn’t even begin to tell the story.

It’s true that results are all that really matters at this stage of the season. In that sense, Vitor Matos’ post-match Boro analysis divided opinion. He essentially told Boro fans to trust the process, telling to focus more on what Hellberg and Boro are doing, rather than judging only on results.

Unfortunately they don’t hand out any trophies or promotions for playing an attractive brand of football. Matos isn’t the first to praise Boro’s style of play, but lately it’s not translating to points, and that’s an issue.

But to blame it one the style of play would be to misinterpret the problems that have cost Boro the many points they’ve dropped of late. Boro have dominated all of the ten games they’ve played since that Coventry loss. Whether you prefer the eye test or key metrics such as possession, shots at goal or xG, all point to ten games in which Boro were the better team.

In all but two of those games, however, Boro failed to win the one key statistical battle. Goals scored. It’s the only one that matters, ultimately.

While it’s fair to say that results matter far more than style, particularly at this stage of the season when fighting for something as important and transformational as promotion to the Premier League, the question to people who doubt the style has to be: What’s the alternative?

When Hellberg arrived at Boro he spent hours analysing the players at his disposal. While things are tweaked from game to game depending on the opposition, the possession-based, technical principles that Boro stick to are based on that analysis.

He noted early on they lacked pacey wide men who beat players one-vs-one. They don’t have a striker who’ll win aerial duels either. And so, the players at his disposal aren’t suited to any style making using of width or direct approach play.

If Boro weren’t dominating games and weren’t creating as many chances as they do each game, then the question about pragmatism would be a fair one. That the games tend to look very similar, tells us the style isn’t the problem.

The actual issues are clear. Boro have lacked quality in front of goal, have made bad decisions in key moments - more so as their struggles go on and they suffer a crisis in confidence around the opposition penalty box, they’ve struggled to defend set-pieces, and concerningly at Swansea, they then shot themselves in the foot with costly errors.

Sadly, beyond trying to rebuild confidence, picking the right personnel and keeping everyone believing that if they keep doing the right things their luck will turn eventually, there feels very little Hellberg can do until the club have a chance in the summer transfer market to fix the problems.

Another issue of late has been Boro’s lack of depth, as injuries hit at the worst possible time. Hayden Hackney has undoubtedly been the biggest absentee in the last three games.

But they’ve also been without top scorer Morgan Whittaker, as well as Leo Castledine and Sammy Silvera - forwards who would all offer Hellberg better options from the bench when needing something late on.

Instead, having largely ignored them over recent weeks, Hellberg was forced to turn to Sontje Hansen and Kaly Sene at Swansea City. He said after they’d both stepped up in training in recent weeks.

While Sene was unable to have much of an impact, he did come within a whisker of getting on the end of a cross and scoring a late winner, Sometimes just having that extra option in the box can be crucial. Hansen, meanwhile, did add a little spark, looking like a player capable of making something happen when on the ball.

While injuries are not ideal, and have undoubtedly hit Boro at a terrible time, they also provide opportunities. If Sene and Hansen are willing to grasp the opportunity this provides, they could yet play crucial parts in five vital games.

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