MICHAEL CARRICK claims Middlesbrough’s summer transfer business has made his squad much more flexible than was the case last season.

Boro had a hectic summer that saw 12 senior players arrive at the Riverside, with three signing in the final week before the transfer window swung shut.

A number of senior players also left Teesside in the wake of last season’s play-off semi-final defeat, most notably Championship Player of the Year, Chuba Akpom, who joined Ajax, and loanees Cameron Archer and Ryan Giles, who were not re-signed after their temporary spells expired.

Things have not gone to plan so far this season, with Boro currently sitting at the foot of the Championship table after picking up just one point from their opening five matches, but Carrick is adamant the club’s summer recruitment has left him with considerably more options than was the case last term.

“I’m happy with what we’ve got, and I think we’ve got good variety and flexibility,” said the Boro boss, whose side head to Blackburn Rovers in their first game after the international break. “We’ve got good numbers for positions across the pitch, and each player brings something a little bit different.

“You’ve got to be careful because you’ve got a style of play, and you don’t want to change one individual and have it dramatically different. But you want different skills and attributes that fit within the structure.

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“We feel we’ve got that now, and we can play slightly different ways, which for me is fantastic. Last season, we ended up playing pretty similarly the whole time, which was fine, it worked. But I’ve always said I’m not massive on formations, it’s more the principles.

“Now, I feel the squad allows us to have more flexibility and to tweak things as we go. It’s our role, as staff, to pick the best way and pick the best players to win certain games.”

The bulk of Boro’s incoming transfer business involved the signing of youngsters, with the arrival of the likes of Alex Gilbert, Rav van den Berg, Sammy Silvera, Morgan Rogers and Sam Greenwood significantly reducing the average age of the squad.

There was a clear intent to focus on youth, although Carrick feels it would be wrong to downplay the importance of maintaining a balance within the squad.

“Age is not the be-all and end-all, by any means,” he said. “There is a lot of talent within our group now, and it’s for us to nurture that and educate them.

“Age is not everything. We’ve got some older players who are just as important, if not more important in terms of leading by example and guiding the younger boys through.

“It’s a really stable group of senior players, and I rely heavily on them to look after the dressing room – they do that fantastically well.

“So, age is not everything. Balance is important though, and youth does bring a real energy and freshness to a group. Certainly, in our case, they bring a really high level of ability as well. We feel we have a good balance, and I’m really happy with how it has turned out.”