THROUGHOUT his reign as Middlesbrough head coach, Michael Carrick has tended to stick rigidly to a 4-2-3-1 formation featuring four attacking players.
Emmanuel Latte Lath looks fairly secure in his position as the lead centre-forward, with Boro having turned down deadline-day approaches from Ipswich Town in order to retain the Ivory Coast international.
When it comes to the three slots behind Latte Lath, though, Carrick has nine different players who could realistically fill the roles. Successfully shuffling the nine options could be key to Boro having a successful season, so who are the players pushing for a starting role and what are their major strengths?
TOMMY CONWAY
When Conway arrived from Bristol City this summer, most observers would probably have expected the Scotland international to be challenging Latte Lath for the ‘number nine’ role.
Instead, Carrick has fielded Conway as a ‘number ten’ whenever Latte Lath has been available, with the Boro boss clearly seeing the 22-year-old as a slightly withdrawn partner for the Ivorian rather than a competitor for the central striking position.
At the moment, it feels as though the creative ‘number ten’ role in Boro’s line of three is Conway’s to lose, with the Scot having been the Teessiders’ best player as he scored for the second time in three games in last weekend’s draw with Preston.
ISAIAH JONES
Jones has been one of Boro’s key performers ever since he broke into the first team under first Neil Warnock and then Chris Wilder in the 2021-22 season.
The right winger has tended to be an automatic pick for Carrick, and has started all five league games this season as well as the Carabao Cup first-round victory at Leeds.
He hasn’t really been at his best though, and now finds himself facing more direct competition for his starting spot than at any other time in his Boro career. For now, Jones is likely to remain in the starting XI. Unless his tally of goals and assists improves though, that might not be the case for much longer.
FINN AZAZ
Having joined Boro from Aston Villa in January, Azaz spent most of the second half of last season playing in the ‘number ten’ role.
That remained the case in the first three league games of the season, but changed when Conway arrived and claimed the ‘number ten’ spot. In Boro’s last two matches, Azaz has been shuffled across to the left-hand side.
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The Irish international can certainly play on the left, but the early evidence – from an admittedly small sample size – suggests his effectiveness in terms of delivering goals and assists is perhaps diminished by a move towards to the flank. For now, though, that probably remains his best route to a place in the starting XI.
RILEY McGREE
For the vast majority of his Boro career, McGree has been a nailed-on starter, normally in a wide-midfield role on the left.
The Australian missed large chunks of last season through injury though, and was sidelined again after featuring in the opening game of the current campaign against Swansea.
He returned to full training during the international break, but was an unused substitute in Saturday’s draw with Preston. Given the amount of competition he now faces, McGree faces a battle to get himself off the bench, although if Carrick wants to keep things tight on the left-hand side and provide some protection to Neto Borges as the full-back settles in, the Australian is probably his best bet.
DELANO BURGZORG
A summer signing from Mainz, Burgzorg is another player who would ideally like to be playing on the left-hand side. While the 25-year-old can play through the middle, he has tended to look most effective throughout his career cutting in from the flank.
Burgzorg started three of Boro’s first four league matches, but dropped down to the bench last weekend, coming on in the closing stages against Preston.
He is a faster, more direct option than either Azaz or McGree, so perhaps Carrick will use him in games where he wants to try to isolate an opposition right-back one-on-one. And if anything was to happen to Latte Lath, Burgzorg would be a leading candidate to move up front.
BEN DOAK
Boro moved quickly to sign Doak on deadline day when it became clear that Liverpool were willing to allow the exciting 18-year-old to leave on loan.
Doak, a senior Scotland international, can play anywhere across the frontline, but Carrick has confirmed that, at this stage, he primarily sees the youngster as a wide attacker stationed on the right.
Doak came on for Jones in the 68th minute of Saturday’s draw with Preston, and it would be no surprise to see the Scot taking Jones’ starting spot at some stage in the not-too-distant future. Saturday’s derby with Sunderland could come a bit too soon, but given the number of clubs that were in for him, Doak would surely not have joined Boro without some degree of confidence that he would be starting before too long.
MICAH HAMILTON
When Boro signed Hamilton on a permanent basis from Manchester City this summer, the deal was viewed as something of a long-term coup. That does not mean the 20-year-old will not be considered for an immediate starting spot, but it does suggest that Carrick is more than willing to be patient with him.
The suggestion when Hamilton signed was that he would primarily be challenging for a wide-attacking spot on the right, but when he came on in the closing stages at the weekend, the youngster was stationed on the left.
Clearly, his versatility is an asset, but perhaps one of Hamilton’s biggest challenges as he looks to establish himself on Teesside will be to nail down a clear role, particularly when he finds himself competing with so many similar players.
MARCUS FORSS
Forss has been Boro’s forgotten man in the last year or so, with a serious muscular injury having sidelined him since mid-March.
The Finn is back in training now, but having missed the whole of pre-season, Carrick will be understandably cautious when it comes to reintroducing him back into the first-team fold. He was not part of the squad last weekend, but could perhaps be challenging for a place on the bench at Sunderland.
In the early part of his Boro career, Forss played a fair bit of football as a central striker, but he had been switched to the right prior to Carrick’s arrival and all available evidence suggests the current head coach sees him as a more of a wide player than a ‘number nine’, even if that means him coming into direct competition with Jones and Doak.
ALEX GILBERT
At the start of the summer, it felt as though there was a decent chance of Gilbert being sent out on loan for at least the first half of this season. Instead, having been one of the standout performers during the pre-season programme, the 22-year-old remained as part of the Boro squad.
His best pre-season performances tended to come as a ‘number ten’, but Conway’s arrival has undoubtedly dented his hopes of forcing his way into the starting line-up in that role.
If Azaz remains on the left, perhaps Gilbert will emerge as Conway’s likeliest replacement from the bench if Carrick wants to change things in the latter stages of a game. Gilbert was an unused substitute last weekend though, and has played just 20 minutes of Championship football so far this season.
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