Boro's Sol Brynn dilemma as they plot their crucial summer transfer window
The Boro boss arrived in November, inheriting a squad that had enough players who’d thrived under Michael Carrick to make a good go of Boro’s promotion battle last season. But there were many who quickly fell out of favour.
It was evident therefore, with injuries again proving impactful too, that by the end of the season, Hellberg’s options were depleted by his clear lack of trust in a good few of his backup options.
With that in mind, it could be another busy summer on Teesside, with an obvious ambition to try and bring together a squad more suited to what Hellberg wants and needs to take that extra step to winning promotion.
One particularly interesting dilemma facing Boro this summer surrounds Sol Brynn, and what they do with their number one goalkeeper spot after the Teessider’s mixed first season as first choice.
By and large, for a 25-year-old keeper with limited Championship experience, stepping up to become number one for his boyhood club, Brynn handled the pressure with maturity beyond his years. Former boss Rob Edwards noted early on in the campaign that he felt ‘calmed’ by Brynn’s presence.
Particularly impressive over the course of the campaign was his commanding of his area. He claimed crosses in a confident manner not seen at the Riverside for some years.
His distribution was solid and varied too. After years of the short stuff, Brynn proved a keeper unafraid to mix it up when he saw an opportunity to go long. His assist for Morgan Whittaker against QPR in December was a fine example.
For a keeper who would often spend long stretches in games as a spectator too, his concentration would usually solid. Quite often, even if he only had one save to make in a game, he’d stay switched on and make it.
With shots saved ratio of 71.8% (the seventh highest of keepers to make 25 appearances or more) and 13 clean sheets (third best in the division), there was plenty to be pleased about from Brynn’s perspective.
But, that season-defining moment at Wembley - not an error as such, but certainly one he should do better with and at the very least push away from the danger zone - was by no means a first.
Officially, his record shows only two errors that led to goals conceded, according to stats specialists Sofascore. But there were more than a few that can be added to the ‘should have done better with’ list.
On top of that, his goals prevented ratio (calculated by judging the number of goals he did concede against the xG rating of the chance conceded) was -7.68 - effectively meaning he conceded a lot more goals than the quality of chances suggests he should have.
With an average rating of 6.75 from Sofascore, he was only the 18th best keeper in the Championship last season, of those who played more than half of the 46 games.
All of that’s to say, Brynn’s first season as Boro’s number one was mixed to say the least.And it’s what makes Boro’s decision around their goalkeeper this summer such a dilemma.
They say a good goalkeeper can be the difference between success and failure over the course of the season. Will Boro show faith in their young academy product? Or will they look to upgrade?
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Brynn’s still young in goalkeeper terms, but is far more mature than his years would suggest. It means he has both the right temperament, but also that there is still plenty of room for growth, for learning from the experiences of his first big season at Boro - both the good and the bad.
Brynn will be his own biggest critic. He’ll know exactly what and when he could have done better. He’ll know the areas of his game he needs to improve. And the professional and determined character he is, he’ll be working on them all summer long.
But he should take stock and look back on his first season as Boro number one with pride as well. The season as it was, there was no easing Brynn into his new significant role. Boro were in a promotion battle from the off, and dealt with a manager change midway through the season, while himself working with three separate goalkeeper coaches over the course of the campaign.
Brynn was by no means perfect last season, but there’s no reason to believe he isn’t a good goalkeeper. He absolutely can prove himself to be, because he has all the right traits to be so.
The question is whether Boro chiefs give him the chance to do so or not. I personally hope they do. He deserves next season to prove himself before Boro go looking in other directions. I’d hate for there to be any rash decisions that saw Brynn replaced, with the Teessider then going on to become somebody else’s star man.
Brynn may have made the odd error, but they were amplified last season because of where the real focus for Boro should be going this summer. Their inability to be ruthless in the final third.
Had Boro made more of their possession and dominance of games, had they been far more competent in attack, the odd error Brynn made wouldn’t have been so costly. Hellberg would be preparing his side for the Premier League.
That, for me, has to be the priority this summer - along with replacing Hayden Hackney and Matt Targett. Boro will need a couple of keepers to replace Joe Wildsmith and Jon McLaughlin this summer, but Brynn should, at the very least, start the summer with the jersey as his to lose.
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Middlesbrough are preparing for a big summer as they look to rebuild from the heartarche of missing out on promotion to the Premier League.
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