Middlesbrough collapsed in spectacular fashion when they faced off with Norwich City over the weekend.
After seeing off Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United in midweek, Middlesbrough had a great chance to finally start building some momentum in the Championship this season.
They faced off with Norwich City at Carrow Road, knowing a win against their fellow promotion rivals would move them into the play-offs for just the second time this season.
Things did not get off to a great start for Michael Carrick and co. when the league’s top scorer, Borja Sainz, put the hosts in front after just eight minutes.
However, Middlesbrough deserve immense credit for how they reacted to going 1-0 down on Sunday.
The Teesiders played some spectacular football and were argubally the best they have been all season right up until half-time.
Ben Doak, Neto Borges, Finn Azaz, Tommy Conway and more were all immense and helped Boro take a 3-1 lead into the break.
Where it all went wrong for Middlesbrough vs Norwich City
After completely dominating the first 45 against Norwich, three points looked certain to be heading back to the Riverside Stadium.
The game should have been won in the 69th minute when Riley McGree was fouled and Conway stepped up to the penalty spot to put Boro 4-1 up and score his first hat-trick for the club.
However, the striker’s penalty was weak and that wasted chance allowed Norwich a way back into the tie.
Just a few minutes after his miss, both Conway and his fellow countryman Ben Doak were taken off for Emmanuel Latte Lath and Isaiah Jones.
This greatly weakened Boro’s attacking threat with Jones in particular really poor at both ends of the pitch.
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Michael Carrick must now axe Middlesbrough winger Isaiah Jones
Jones offered very little attacking threat when he came on versus Norwich and his poor defensive work-rate allowed the home team an easy way back into the match.
The 25-year-old started the 2024/25 campaign as Middlesbrough’s primary right-winger but barring a 20-minute spell against Swansea City on the opening weekend, he has been poor.
Jones was dubbed ‘wasteful’ after the Sunderland defeat earlier in the campaign and has since lost his starting place to Doak.
However, he has since come off the bench in all of Boro’s following Championship fixtures in place of Doak.
While Carrick made the right call to drop Jones for Doak, it is clear the Middlesbrough manager must now go a step further and completely axe the winger from the matchday squad.
The North East outfit have a plethora of right-wing options including Micah Hamilton and Marcus Forss, both of whom would be better replacements for Doak if and when Carrick decides the Liverpool loanee needs to be subbed.