A good friend of mine, Kev, is a Middlesbrough supporter, so I gave him a call yesterday and arranged to go with him to Selhurst Park to watch the rearranged FA Cup match with Wimbledon. As well as spying on Saturday's oppo, it gave me the unusual opportunity of watching a game as a neutral.
Unfortunately the game was absolutely dire, and Boro so rarely threatened that it was difficult to see where the weaknesses were.
Really bad news first, though, and the Young's, both Ordinary and Special, were very poor indeed in the Railway Telegraph before the game! If this is the case on Saturday we may well have to de-camp to the Wetherspoon's opposite the station. For future reference, for anybody driving to a night game against Wimbledon, by far the best place to park is in the Sainsbury's car park right next to the ground. Not only was it free and convenient for getting in, but there was no queue to get out either, and we were away from the ground in no time.
We sat right behind the goal, as Wimbledon had given Boro one end of the ground, rather than the side that we normally get. If you looked closely at the highlights you could probably have seen me behind the couple of goalmouth incidents that occurred. I did have my Burnley hat on, but couldn't muster the courage to get my scarf out, although it was certainly cold enough.
First half, Boro played 5-3-2, and played it as a back five, so consequently Wimbledon overran them on the flanks, had most of the possession and created the two decent chances that occurred. As Davis was suspended (think he is for Saturday as well) Feuer, the ex-Luton giant, played in goal. The back four lined up Hawkins (who?), Trond Anderson, Cunningham and Holloway; midfield (from the right) Ardley, Damien Francis, Michael Hughes and Kevin Cooper; up front Shipperley and Connelly.
Couldn't say anything about the defence in the first half, as they were rarely tested and a long way away. The front two were very lively, as to be expected: Connelly very mobile and Shipperley a handful in the air. They lacked support from the centre of midfield, as Francis and Hughes rarely made it into the box. Cooper and Ardley produced one or two decent crosses, but couldn't get behind the Boro defence, where Southgate was the only player to have an assured performance. Cooper is totally left-footed, and no matter how good the position always tried to get back onto his left foot, which often delayed the delivery too long. Ardley is a good crosser of the ball, but didn't seem able to find the space to deliver, as he doesn't seem particularly quick or overly skilful. Shipperly's tactic for the crosses often seems to be to drop off to the back post to come in behind the defenders, much like Gareth Taylor, so most crosses tend to be hit in that direction. Connelly is a live wire; his movement was good, and he always looks to be running in behind defenders. Cooper hit the post with a shot, and Shipperley blazed over the bar when unmarked at the back post.
Second half was a different matter, as Boro brought on Stamp at right midfield and changed to 4-4-2. Stamp is like Steve Kindon of old, barrel chested and quick, and this caused Holloway problems when Stamp ran at him. Had Stamp had more support from the fullback he could have done untold damage; as it was, Wimbledon doubled up on him and alleviated the problem. With Boro in control, I did get a good view of the defence, which was less than sound. Feuer in goal was very uncertain about coming off his line. Ricard almost stole in for a header from a long kick, and several crosses flashed across the box with him rooted to the spot. Anderson and Cunningham coped well with Ricard (always offside, and called Retard by the Boro fans) and Whelan (did nothing except block an effort from Stamp on the line) but when Windass came on with a more direct and physical approach they were less certain. They were also very unsure under Crossley's long kicks, especially when the ball was kicked high. Shame we won't have Taylor on Saturday.
The only other thing to note was that they don't put anybody on the posts at corners. This does mean that attackers could be caught offside when the ball is headed goalwards. Overall, I thought Wimbledon passed the ball quite well when given the time, but when Boro stepped up the tempo in the second half they struggled. They have some good attacking players, especially the front two as we know, but they don't get enough support from the centre of midfield. Ageymang looked very lively when he came on for Shipperley, and MacAnuff, a pacey left-sided player, replaced Cooper, and had a good chance near the end. Decent side, but definitely beatable, provided we take the game to them and put them under pressure and DON'T allow them to play their game.
As for watching games as a neutral, this was definitely not a good advert. Boro were poor, but Wimbledon failed to take advantage.
