Everything just isn’t working out for Middlesbrough at the moment, so everyone is wondering when Michael Carrick thinks it will.
As the boos rang around the Riverside Stadium after the final whistle had blown to signal a fourth defeat in five Championship games so far this season, clearly frustrations are growing among the supporters.
After all, even if it was against expectations when Carrick first took over last October, Boro were play-off semi-finalists in May. Progress, you would hope, will be made this season.
But it’s not always the case in football. There is a significant player turnover. Carrick has added 12 new players to his roster.
Following the departure of attacking talent like last season’s top scorer Chuba Akpom and both Cameron Archer and Aaron Ramsey, he must find a way to get the new-look Middlesbrough fire.
Carrick, for one, is undoubtedly not searching for an explanation. He believes Middlesbrough has the potential to rapidly turn things around and that there were enough encouraging elements in Saturday’s loss to QPR for everyone to remain composed.
Since his appointment, the Middlesbrough manager has been a reassuring figure, and there were no signs that this would soon change.
The players should be able to gel quickly, according to Carrick. It’s a simple justification to offer.
“In terms of numbers, it’s a new group; there has been a significant shift, and three more new guys have joined in the last few days. These will improve the team.
“But that’s just how it is; I know what the players are capable of, and we’ve already seen that in some of the games we’ve played so far, as well as how we are doing.
We have more shots on target than they had in this game, for example. We didn’t leave with any points. You can agree with it, but doing so will not help. We must reach the stage where we see the outcomes.
Carrick has a point. Middlesbrough had nine efforts on goal, compared to QPR’s three. Andre Dozzell and Jack Colback each scored two goals for QPR, the latter coming 19 minutes from the end on a strong drive through a crowded box.
Emmanuel Latte Lath, a striker acquired from Atalanta, got the majority of those chances, but Asmir Begovic of QPR was consistently equal to all he could muster, either with his legs or from awkward angles.
Additionally, Middlesbrough possessed 62% of the possession and earned more corners. Importantly, though, when Ilias Chair and Paul Smyth had the ball, Gareth Ainsworth’s team appeared more dangerous in the final third.
Smyth was able to sneak up behind Danish in particular.
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