Debutants shine but depth is still lacking
ASKED how many signings he still hoped to make this summer in his post-match press conference, Chris Wilder began to do the maths quickly in his head. ‘I would say we’re five short. It’s a chunk of players,” he eventually totted up and answered.
He was not giving anything away in terms of positions but the largely positive opening-day draw with West Brom at the Riverside made it rather obvious those five signings still need to be made.
A left-sided centre-back is needed after Marc Bola occupied the role in the 1-1 draw, two midfielders are needed to add competition to Matt Crooks and Riley McGree and two strikers are needed with Boro still short of firepower and a clinical touch up top.
The good news is it is not news to anybody above Wilder at the club, nor is the fact Boro reached the first game of the season without those signings anything to do with a lack of effort from anyone’s part at the club.
Quite the opposite, in a rather flat window to date Boro have managed to add six new players so far and Wilder revealed they are closing in on more now too.
They are u n doubtedly
needed, with West Brom’s strength in depth evident as the rich array of options Steve Bruce had to turn to from the bench evident in the second half.
In contrast, despite new rules which allow up to fivesubstitutes now, Wilder made just two as young Josh Coburn and recentlyacquired Marcus Forss came on to freshen up a tiring front line.
Of the six new signings so far, four made their competitive debuts for the club against West Brom and all showed real promise.
Zack Steffen, Darragh Lenihan and Ryan Giles all made full debuts with Lenihan ushering things excellently at the heart of the defence, while Steffen and Giles went head-to-head in the battle for man of the match after bright displays at either end of the pitch.
Last season, among the issues which ultimately cost Boro a playoff place was the lack of a reliable goalkeeper and the imbalance on the wings and an over-reliance on Jones on the right.
In Steffen and Giles, Wilder appears to have addressed both issues as the on-loan goalkeeper made some really
big saves at important points in the game while Giles delivered some brilliant and varied crosses into the penalty area.
There was a third Achilles heel of Boro’s last season and that is one which clearly still needs to be addressed in the remainder of the transfer window. That of course is being clinical and killing games off while on top, which Boro were for the entirety of the first half.
Wilder’s side settled into a rhythm rather quickly and was ahead in just the tenth minute. An excellent team goal straight out of the Wilder playbook, they worked it out wide, Giles slipped in Chuba Akpom who, back from the cold, registered an assist as he flashed the ball across goal as Isaiah Jones arrived to hammer home at the back post.
There were plenty of openings and chances for more too, as Boro looked every bit a Wilder unit in a very encouraging first half.
Giles thought he had his first goal for the club - only for the linesman’s flag to go up for offside against creator Duncan Watmore.
Meanwhile, with roles reversed, the big chance to extend their lead
came when Giles’ wicked low ball from the left should have given Watmore a close-range tap in - only for the striker to only get enough on it to turn it wide of the far post. It was a sitter, and it would prove costly.
There is no shame in conceding a period of control in the game to team with as much strength as West Brom and, inevitably after a kick up the backside at the interval, that period came at the start of the second half.
Impressive summer signings Jed Wallace and John Swift combined to bag the equaliser six minutes after the restart, with Steffen then required to make a few important saves to keep things level, having only been required to make one acrobatic save in the first 45 when Wallace’s shotcome-cross very nearly caught him out.
A quick look at the squad lists told you everything you needed to know in terms of where the two sides were at as far their summer recruitment work is concerned.
While Steve Bruce had plenty of options to turn to on his Baggies bench, Wilder in comparison did not have much in terms of quality that could change a game.
To their credit, young Coburn and recently-acquired Forss came off the bench with just over 25 minutes to go and helped turn the tide back in Boro’s favour.
However, with others tiring, there was very little else the Boro boss could do to freshen things up and really go for the win, despite finishing in the ascendancy as the side being positive and looking to snatch the three points.
That lack of depth told but there were so many more positives to take from this start to the season - notably that first-half dominance against a side who will surely compete for the top six this term.
With a left-sided centre-back and two strikers to start, and then two central midfielders to offer options from the bench, Boro would look like a squad with the required tools to make a good go of their promotion bid
A new season brings with it fresh hopes, new promise and plenty of excitement. Boro may not have been able to make the perfect start this time but there was so much to be encouraged and excited about.