Michael Carrick will be left ruing one transfer decision he made after Sunderland vs Middlesbrough.
It was, unfortunately, business as usual when Middlesbrough lost 1-0 to Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.
Boro headed into the game at the Stadium of Light aiming to end an unwanted 18-year record vs Sunderland.
The Teessiders smashed the Black Cats 4-0 when playing at their ground last season but had not beaten their local rivals two games in a row at the Stadium of Light since 2006.
That unfortunate record is now set to continue for at least one more season after Chris Rigg scored the only goal of the game to hand Regis Le Bris his first win in the Tees-Wear Derby.
After the match, several issues have come to light for the North East outfit, including Isaiah Jones’ wastefulness and Finn Azaz struggling on the left wing for Middlesbrough.
But the fixture also exposed a mistake Michael Carrick made during the most recent transfer window.
Michael Carrick transfer mistake exposed vs Sunderland
Middlesbrough signed Tommy Conway from Bristol City last month for £4.5m.
Given his price tag, Carrick has been forced to try and hand the 22-year-old as much playing time as possible.
The Scotsman has performed fairly well so far this season but his arrival did lead to Carrick allowing Josh Coburn to join Millwall on a season-long loan.
Coburn is currently out injured but he had a bright start to life at The Den, scoring and assisting on his debut versus Sheffield Wednesday.
The decision to let Coburn depart on deadline day has since come back to bite Carrick, with his mistake on full display during the latter stages of the Sunderland tie.
Chasing the game, Boro’s gameplan went out of the window at the back end of the match.
Sunderland sat deep and all Middlesbrough could do was get the ball out wide and ping crosses into the box.
Had Coburn still been at the club, it would have been the perfect time for him to be introduced off the bench to provide a serious threat in the box.
Instead, Boro were forced to try and find the 5ft 8 Emmanuel Latte Lath and when he went off, Conway and Delano Burgzorg had similarly poor luck in the air.
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Middlesbrough Josh Coburn plan should now be clear
After Coburn left the club on loan for 2024/25, his long-term future was cast into doubt.
Under Carrick, Middlesbrough like to play the ball across the floor and try and get their strikers in with runs in behind.
This worked well during the second half of 2023/24, with Latte Lath’s speed a serious problem for Championship defences.
However, teams have now worked out that as long as you don’t press Boro too high, their main attacking threat is limited.
As a result, when Coburn does return to Teesside next year, it is clear he should be kept at the club, rather than selling him or loaning him out once more.
The Englishman offers Middlesbrough something completely different to every other striker at the club and even if he does not start too many games, his physical presence means he can completely change the way a team plays, which is exactly what was needed against Sunderland.