One regret for ‘Tree’ as he branches out to US
CROOKS YEARNED FOR MIDFIELD ROLE BEFORE HE LEFT BORO
MATT Crooks admits his one regret during his last 18 months at Middlesbrough was not getting an opportunity to play in Michael Carrick’s midfield.
Crooks recently ended his nearthree-year spell at the club when he opted to join MLS side Real Salt Lake but made a huge impression in his time at the club – becoming a fanfavourite who affectionately became known as ‘Tree.’
With his game-time less frequent under Carrick, however, and feeling the writing was on the wall, he took the opportunity to make a dream move to the USA when it came up last month.
Crooks ultimately loved his time at the club and speaks highly of Boro and the fans. That includes Carrick, whom the boyhood Manchester United fan maintains incredible respect for. Despite that, having played as a striker and an attacking midfielder under the Boro boss, he admits his one regret of the last 18 months under Carrick is that he wasn’t ever given a chance as part of the midfield two.
Crooks told the Boro Breakdown Podcast: “I was playing with a hernia for about three months and when Leo [Percovich] was in interim charge I went to Munich for surgery.
“It meant I missed the first ten days or so with the gaffer. I watched the games and I was excited by the style of football you could see he wanted to play immediately.
“When I came back, I think it was Woody who pulled me and said, ‘we think you’re a striker.’ From the last 18 months since the gaffer arrived, that would probably be my only regret really, not being able to have a chance in that midfield two. Me personally, I feel like that would have suited me more. I did that a little bit with [Martin] Payero under Neil Warnock.
“Playing as a striker, it’s totally different with your back to goal, making runs in behind. It’s something I’ve not really ever done in my career.
“I never got that opportunity to play in midfield because the gaffer and his staff obviously saw it a different way, which is fine. To be fair, if anyone can pick out a midfielder it’s the gaffer!
“There was Jonny [Howson] and Dan [Barlaser] and Hayden [Hackney] there as well, to be fair. Hayden’s such a magnificent player with bags of talent.
“Even Alex Mowatt last season, you can see this season back at West
Brom how good he is. So he had a plethora of options in that position and I ended up up front instead.”
Crooks best form for the club did come while playing as a central midfielder, albeit as part of the three-man midfield that Chris Wilder used as part of his favoured 3-5-2 formation.
Using just two midfielders, Carrick didn’t ever use Crooks in the deeper role, but he still made his impact in that time, particularly as a striker last season when he scored some important goals for the club on the way to finishing fourth.
“I did find it really difficult,” he admits though. “It’s just so unnatural for me. I scored some goals but just felt like I wasn’t doing anything else in games. When I scored at Birmingham, I remember the first half, I didn’t do anything. I scored twice but in the first half I was thinking, ‘what am I doing?’
“I still enjoyed it though and would always give my all. I said to the gaffer when I was leaving, even last year when I didn’t play as much, I still enjoyed it.
“That’s why, I thought about leaving in the summer, but he always showed me a respect. I really enjoyed training and the way that we played and always felt I could make a difference. My family were settled, so it just felt like the right thing then to stay.
“In the end, the Real Salt Lake opportunity was too good to turn down but it wasn’t easy to make that decision. My time at Middlesbrough was so rewarding and seeing the response just made it all feel worth it.
I was a bit overwhelmed really. After the Rangers spell where I didn’t feel like I did myself justice, I feel like I managed to do that here and managed to form a bond with the club and the people of Teesside.”
■ You can listen to the full podcast interview with Matt Crooks – where he reflects on his whole Boro career, each manager he played under, the special memories like big cup nights and also discusses in more detail his recent decision to leave for Real Salt Lake – by finding the Boro Breakdown Podcast on all major podcast streaming outlets as well as their Youtube channel.
I never got that opportunity to play in midfield because the gaffer and his staff obviously saw it a different way
Matt Crooks