Woeful home form is in danger of spoiling promotion chances
BORO desperately need to kick-start a new Riverside Revolution.
The midweek cup victory against Premier League Crystal Palace was most welcome but it doesn’t mask the fact Boro have now gone four home Championship games without a win.
If Boro can’t start to make their home stadium a fortress, then they will struggle to finish in an automatic promotion place.
In the last four league games on home soil, Boro have lost to Nottingham Forest and been held to draws by Swansea, Rotherham and Derby.
That’s nine valuable points lost from games the fans expected Boro to win.
Even Liverpool can’t win every game. But it’s questionable whether Boro are always set up to win at home.
We know that they are not the bestblessed team in the Championship as far as their attack is concerned.
However, while the whole team work ethic is based on being tight and organised, Boro need to show a bit more enterprise at the Riverside.
They have given the impression in one than one game lately that they are happy to sit back and invite teams to attack them.
This draws the opposition forward and gives Boro the opportunity to attack them on the break.
On the other hand, Boro also allow their opponents to enjoy plenty of possession, which increases confidence in the away camp.
Just look at the way in which Derby were able to take the game by the scruff of the neck last weekend. Even struggling Rotherham quickly displayed lots of self belief.
Of course, it’s a lot easier said than done for Boro to increase their attacking output at the Riverside.
They do engineer attacks and they do create chances. Unfortunately, a good percentage of these chances are not taken.
After Lewis Wing scored his wonder goal against Palace, the fans were crying out for the former Shildon forward to be given his chance in the starting line-up.
It’s not just Wing’s potential shooting power which could prove useful. He has a progressive football instinct which makes him want to push the ball forward at all occasions. In fact, he has provided three assists in his last six games.
Naturally, Tony Pulis has the benefit of being able to watch Wing in training on a daily basis and believes that the lad is not yet ready to take up a regular place in the team. He insists Wing has a naïve side to his nature which, given time, will be ironed out.
The cynical fan, on the other hand, might feel a naïve, progressive instinct in any player is worth the risk.
As far as the experienced men are concerned, Boro do need to see Martin Braithwaite back to his early season form.
Braithwaite is a class act when he is on song and, along with Stewart Downing, has the ability to make things happen in and around the box.
The best Boro can hope for at the moment is that Braithwaite and Britt Assombalonga can play together on a regular basis and continue to develop a fruitful partnership.
Certainly, the prospect of Boro operating with just one forward on the pitch in home games does not generate confidence.
Maybe the prospect of Braithwaite and Assombalonga playing together and some lively enthusiasm from Wing might not be such a bad thing at the Riverside. In addition, Mo Besic’s ability to create and take openings deserves careful consideration every time the team is selected.
The Bosnian midfielder’s goals in October both came in away games, but at the same time fully illustrated his capabilities in attacking situations.
Ironically, one thing we haven’t seen at the Riverside is the flood of set-piece goals which we had anticipated from Daniel Ayala and Aden Flint.
There’s plenty of time of course, but neither of the two defenders has scored at the Riverside since August.
Whoever scores the goals, the Riverside needs to become a fearful place for visiting teams.
Nobody expects the Boro to become a gung-ho team on home soil.
However, even when you don’t have the personnel in place you would love to have, you have to make sure the players are able to do themselves justice at both ends of the pitch.