A lot has changed since Michael Carrick became the manager of Middlesbrough.
The former Manchester United midfielder took up his first permanent role in management on October 24th, 2022.
Middlesbrough began the 2022/23 season expected to make a promotion push under Chris Wilder.
However, the now Sheffield United boss was sacked very early into the campaign, with Boro on a run of just two wins from their opening 11 games.
After having little success under established coaches, owner Steve Gibson turned toward a young, hungry manager to try and get his side back in the promotion hunt – much like he did with Aitor Karanka.
Carrick has not had the same success as the Spaniard did at the Riverside just yet, but things are certainly looking up.
Middlesbrough finished fourth in 2022/23, losing to Coventry City in the play-off semi-finals. This was followed by an eighth-place finish last term.
However, after an excellent summer transfer window, Boro should be on course for a top-six finish this time around.
Michael Carrick reveals key change at Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough beat Cardiff City 2-0 this past Saturday, ending a run of three games without a victory in all competitions.
Boro now go into the September international break sat seventh in the Championship table, five points off top spot.
Normally, Carrick would use this break to work closely with the majority of his squad and fine-tune any issues.
However, speaking recently, as per Teesside Live, Carrick has highlighted how there are now so many more Boro players going away on international duty than there were when he first arrived in the North East.
He said: “All of a sudden, we’ve got quite a few players going on international duty. When I first came, there wasn’t an awful lot. We would have quite a big squad training in the international break. Now, I think we’ve only got eight senior players training on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in different ways.
“That’s what it looks like. We’ll get the balance right. We’ll train well; train as normal. But we have to balance that because some lads have played a lot and some haven’t played as much. It’s important to take a deep breath and take a few days off as well at some point.
“Then we’ll come back strong. George [Edmundson] will train with us and get settled in. Ben [Doak] is away with Scotland. Neto [Borges] is settling in. But certainly, we’ll train for a little bit, have a good rest over the weekend and then be back ready for next week.”
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Which Middlesbrough players are on international duty this week
Carrick is certainly right in his assessment as 10 Middlesbrough players have been called up for international duty this week.
Anfernee Dijksteel and Isaiah Jones are set to do battle when Suriname travel to Guyana in the CONCACAF Nations League.
Seny Dieng (Senegal) and Emmanuel Latte Lath (Ivory Coast) will also take part in the CONCACAF Nations League games.
Elsewhere, Tommy Conway and Ben Doak have been called up for Scotland, Hayden Hackney will represent England at U21 level, Eric Hamelberg will feature for Portugal’s Under-18s and loanee Sammy Silvera has been called up for Australia.