As head coach Michael Carrick watched his side claw back two late goals against French Ligue 2 outfit Auxerre in their final friendly, he will have been only too aware of where the fragilities lie in terms of players needed.
However, with the window open until the end of August, there are a lot of transactions that happen late in the window. Usually, because clubs struggle to agree on a valuation and hold out for the best deal in a game of patience and bluff.
Carrick was mildly critical of his side’s performance against Auxerre, though he must have been encouraged by their persistence to come from 2-0 down. In a post-match interview on the club’s website, the Boro boss gave his assessment. “We always want more,” insisted Carrick.
“We wanted to be better today at certain things and we want to be better next week as we go through the week in training and obviously ready for the game. It’s always a work in progress, we’re always striving for more, but as it stands at the moment; the pre-season we’ve had with the boys; the new boys integrating into the team and the squad, I’m happy where we’re at.”
Whereas I am sure that the Boro boss will be happy with the general application and integration of his new recruits, it appeared that he was less than impressed with the way that the team started the match against the French side. Asked if he was pleased with the late rally to come back from a two-goal defecit.
He said: “We kind of decided to start playing in the last five minutes, which I was kind of frustrated about to be honest, but it was a good sign, the boys finished the game well and with a spark and an energy. We can definitely take something from that.”
Hayden Hackney’s deflected effort on 90 minutes and Morgan Rogers’ first goal for the club in stoppage time after a shot was parried out for him to stroke home, meant that the general disquiet that had filled the social media channels was thankfully eased. However, most fans would acknowledge that there is work to be done to turn the side into genuine automatic promotion contenders this season, and Carrick will know that more than anyone.
The issue he has – as is the case with all football clubs – is that the season starts before the window ends, and that may be the real reason behind the slightly frustrated nature of the interview from the usually unflappable Boro boss.
Middlesbrough missed out on Ryan Giles who moved to Luton Town and the club were also told that Cameron Archer would be remaining with Villa for the forthcoming campaign. When you add that to the news that Tommy Smith, Anfernee Dijksteel will definitely be out, while captain Jonny Howson and last season’s top scorer Chuba Akpom are yet to return from injury, you can understand the concern surrounding players coming in.
Asked about the transfer situation, Carrick admitted, “We’re constantly looking to improve the squad and add to the group, and that won’t change this week in terms of how much we’ve been trying, because we’ve been trying for quite some time. It is just dropping things in place at the right time.
“Hopefully it is soon, the window goes on for a bit longer, which is something I think we all kind of struggle to understand, why the season carries on when the window is still open, but it is what it is, we have got to deal with that and make the best of it.”