Interesting Boro stat.

[jagerbob]

I was thinking earlier about all those early season draws we had, where we always conceded first.

Anyway:

Boro have won 14 games out of 15 in which they have scored first.

The one time they didnt win was..... well Johnny Russell anyone?

They also have won 14 out of 15 in which they have scored a goal at all.

3x 0-0 draws, 4 defeats where they didnt score at all.

[ipad1977]

As one of their number I can say it's a stat that hasn't gone unnoticed by Boro fans either Jagerbob. It's what our whole approach is based upon. We tend to play possession football most games, happy to keep the ball and pass it around till an opening presents itself, taking a calculated gamble that we will be quicker at exploiting that opening than most. Exploiting those openings is the area of our game that most needed improvement from last term, which is why we brought in Downing, Stuani, Nugent etc as well as replacing Bamford.

 

Once we go in front then the game plan shifts and the brick wall goes up. Unless a team is as short in ideas as Charlton and focusses upon damage limitation then the side we're facing will then begin launching waves of attacks at us whilst we hold our ground soaking it up like we've spent nearly the last 2 years mastering. As the match goes on our opponents will have to stretch themselves more and more leaving vulnerabilities. We usually let these go by till one that is too good to miss appears then try and smash a second in. 

Then we revert to possession football again. It's a strategy that suits our side and one that has done us well so far. We played the same strategy to down Manure in the cup. Everton however learnt from this and used their big physicality to stop us settling on the ball for our Plan A. Of course they then had the firepower to turn that into a win.

Occassionally that strategy will fail and teams will score first, law of averages say that it must happen in a few matches. But in the main it does work and if it doesn't then we will still get something in half of those matches where we go a goal behind unlike last season. For every Bristol City game there will be a Wolves.

One of the main reasons most Boro fans will count Derby as the strongest contenders to stake another claim for the autos this season, aside from the factors most neutrals will point to (Bookies odds, spent loads of cash, etc, blah blah blah) is the fact that you were the only team to get something back when we executed our Plan A. It may have taken you almost all game, but that's testament to our defence rather than any shortcomings, in attack you guys are both pretty inventive and accomplished with it. But the fact that you were able to breach that barrier after going a goal behind suggests that you have something extra in the locker compared to the rest of the league.

[Tombo]

Oh ipad, you're too kind. We love you too.

Except we don't because we've spent the last year and a half being your bitter promotion rivals.

But aside from that we love you too 

[eddie]

This season so far, the similarities between Boro and Derby are more striking than any perceived differences.

[StringerBell]

3 hours ago, ipad1977 said:

As one of their number I can say it's a stat that hasn't gone unnoticed by Boro fans either Jagerbob. It's what our whole approach is based upon. We tend to play possession football most games, happy to keep the ball and pass it around till an opening presents itself, taking a calculated gamble that we will be quicker at exploiting that opening than most. Exploiting those openings is the area of our game that most needed improvement from last term, which is why we brought in Downing, Stuani, Nugent etc as well as replacing Bamford.

 

Once we go in front then the game plan shifts and the brick wall goes up. Unless a team is as short in ideas as Charlton and focusses upon damage limitation then the side we're facing will then begin launching waves of attacks at us whilst we hold our ground soaking it up like we've spent nearly the last 2 years mastering. As the match goes on our opponents will have to stretch themselves more and more leaving vulnerabilities. We usually let these go by till one that is too good to miss appears then try and smash a second in. 

Then we revert to possession football again. It's a strategy that suits our side and one that has done us well so far. We played the same strategy to down Manure in the cup. Everton however learnt from this and used their big physicality to stop us settling on the ball for our Plan A. Of course they then had the firepower to turn that into a win.

Occassionally that strategy will fail and teams will score first, law of averages say that it must happen in a few matches. But in the main it does work and if it doesn't then we will still get something in half of those matches where we go a goal behind unlike last season. For every Bristol City game there will be a Wolves.

One of the main reasons most Boro fans will count Derby as the strongest contenders to stake another claim for the autos this season, aside from the factors most neutrals will point to (Bookies odds, spent loads of cash, etc, blah blah blah) is the fact that you were the only team to get something back when we executed our Plan A. It may have taken you almost all game, but that's testament to our defence rather than any shortcomings, in attack you guys are both pretty inventive and accomplished with it. But the fact that you were able to breach that barrier after going a goal behind suggests that you have something extra in the locker compared to the rest of the league.

If you're a Boro fan then why have you got our stadium as your username?

[Rampage]

iPad1997 - brilliant analysis.

[ipad1977]

Cheers lads, I'm feeling the love!

 

Had my same username on the Boro forums for years, before ipads were actually around. I just used it as my name is Paddy and it was a play on the word "ipod" which was a brand new gadget when I thought it up....

[bigbadbob]

You should sue apple