THIS time last year, Middlesbrough were in a major state of flux. Cameron Archer, Aaron Ramsey and Ryan Giles had all gone, returning to their parent clubs after successful loan deals. Chuba Akpom was just about still a Boro player, but his move to Ajax would be confirmed in a couple of weeks’ time.
Six senior players had been signed since the start of the summer, but it would be another fortnight before Emmanuel Latte Lath arrived from Atalanta and even longer before Lukas Engel and Alex Bangura flew in to plug the gap at left-back. With the benefit of hindsight, it is little wonder the Teessiders had such a disastrous start to the season, with their inability to win any of their opening seven league games ultimately proving a major factor in their failure to claim a play-off place.
Fast forward 12 months, and things could hardly be more different. Paddy McNair is the only first-team player of any note to have left since the end of last season, and that was because Michael Carrick and the rest of Boro’s executive team decided not to renew his contract. While there has been speculation about Rav van den Berg, Hayden Hackney and Latte Lath, all three remain on Teesside and are expected to start Saturday’s season-opener against Swansea City. A mammoth offer could arrive to change things before the transfer window closes at the end of the month, but there is a strong determination to retain the ‘crown jewels’, and if one of the trio was to depart, contingency plans are in place.
When it comes to incomings, Aidan Morris and Delano Burgzorg were both signed at an early stage of the summer, meaning they have had the whole of pre-season to acclimatise, while Luke Ayling already had half-a-season on Teesside under his belt thanks to the successful loan spell that rapidly became a permanent transfer. There could be two or three more additions before the end of the month – talks over a forward and right attacker remain ongoing, while a new left-back has become a more pressing requirement after Bangura underwent Achilles surgery – but Carrick will not be turning things upside down in the next three weeks. Unlike last year, continuity should be Boro’s biggest asset as they look to secure a place in the Premier League for the first time since 2017.
For all the difficulties that were encountered, last season proved that Boro were not far away. Finishing eighth, just four points adrift of the play-off places, was a creditable achievement given the shambolic nature of the start – Boro were still bottom of the table after drawing with Sheffield Wednesday in mid-September – and the wobble in the spring that saw them lose four matches out of five as they slipped back into the bottom half.
The Teessiders played their best football in the final two months of the season, giving them a springboard that will hopefully enable them to make a much better start to the new campaign.
The squad certainly looks as strong as pretty much any other side in the Championship, even though Boro will once again find themselves competing against rivals awash with parachute-payment money and able to pay salaries that would not be out of place in the top-flight. Boro, as we all know by now, no longer have that luxury.
Nevertheless, with the recruitment operation having been completely overhauled under head of football, Kieran Scott, in the last few years, Carrick has an enviable set of resources at his disposal as he heads into the new campaign.
Seny Dieng is one of the Championship’s best goalkeepers, with Sol Brynn a rapidly-developing number two. Van den Berg, still just 20, oozes quality and is surely destined for bigger and better things before too long, either with or without Boro. Throw in Matt Clarke, Darragh Lenihan and Dael Fry, and Boro boast a central-defensive unit that must be the envy of most Championship teams.
Rav van den Berg is developing into one of the best defenders in the Championship (Image: Andrew Varley)
The same is true in central midfield, where the exciting Morris, schooled in the MLS, has joined the evergreen Jonny Howson, the highly-rated Hackney and the reliable Dan Barlaser. Any two from those four should constitute a decent selection.
Further forward, Isaiah Jones has the potential to be one the best wingers in the league if he could just add some consistency to his game, and perhaps a bit more end product, while on the opposite flank, Burgzorg should provide some explosive competition to the consistent Riley McGree. Finn Azaz, earmarked for the ‘number ten’ role, came on in leaps and bounds in the second half of last season following his move from Aston Villa. The feeling within the Boro camp is that we have still not come close to seeing the best of him.
In attack, much will depend on Latte Lath. The Ivorian was sensational in the final two months of last season, scoring 11 goals in his final 14 matches. Come close to repeating that, and Boro will almost certainly have the Championship’s leading marksman.
There will always be a slight question mark over whether Latte Lath’s spring form was something of a flash in the pan, and the 25-year-old also has to prove he can avoid the injury niggles that blighted his development in the first half of last season.
Emmanuel Latte Lath was in superb form in the latter stages of last season (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA)
The biggest worry relating to the Boro squad as it stands at the moment is, ‘What happens if Latte Lath is either out of form or injured?’ Josh Coburn is currently the only natural alternative as a number nine – talented, undoubtedly, but ravaged by injury himself in the last couple of seasons and yet to completely prove that he is capable of being a regular goalscorer at Championship level. The Boro hierarchy know they are short up top, hence the ongoing attempts to prise Tommy Conway from Bristol City. Add a third forward to the mix, and they should be well set.
What else could go wrong? Clearly, losing Carrick would be a huge blow, and while the Boro boss signed a new contract in the summer to reaffirm his commitment to the club, his reputation and standing within the game mean he will almost certainly be linked with any Premier League jobs that become vacant if he is leading a Boro side that is battling in the upper echelons of the table. Scott and the rest of Boro’s leadership group will have a Plan B, but having to enact it would be an unwanted distraction.
Might dealing with expectation be an issue? Boro have regarded themselves as promotion contenders from the moment they dropped out of the Premier League, but have rarely been in a position where a return to the top-flight was genuinely on the cards. They came closest when they made the play-offs in Carrick’s first season in charge, but froze when they met Coventry in the semi-finals.
READ MORE:
- Hayden Hackney's view on summer transfer talk - and reflection on 'tough time'
- Michael Carrick's hopeful assessment of possible Boro transfer business before start of season
Hopefully, Carrick has learned from that experience, meaning there should be no sense of nervousness if Boro find themselves at the heart of the promotion battle come the final few weeks of the season. As ever, the Championship looks like being an intensely-competitive division – Burnley, Luton and Sheffield United will all have promotion ambitions after last season’s relegation, Leeds will be desperate to atone for play-off disappointment, the likes of Norwich, West Brom, Coventry, Sunderland and Watford will all feel they are Premier League clubs in waiting.
Boro are absolutely part of that mix though. Stable, well-managed and with a playing squad that boasts quality and strength in every position, expectations are justifiably high. In the past few seasons, there have been excuses for failure or narrow misses. This time around, that won’t really wash. As the latter stages of last season proved, the foundations are already in place. Boro’s job now is to build from that base in order to construct a successful promotion campaign.
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