Middlesbrough faced off with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon.
The Teessiders made a short journey up the road for a meeting with their bitter rivals over the weekend.
Middlesbrough were predicted to draw with Sunderland, a result most fans likely would have taken ahead of kick-off.
Boro have not had a great start to the 2024/25 season under Michael Carrick, with just eight points earned from a possible 15 ahead of Saturday.
Middlesbrough drew with Preston North End last time out, a result that left them 10th in the Championship table.
The Black Cats, meanwhile, had accumulated an impressive 13 points from their first five league fixtures prior to facing Boro.
As a result, a cagey affair was expected in the North East with plenty of talking points to be discussed after the 90 minutes.
However, one major Carrick problem was actually exposed prior to the game getting underway.
Sunderland game exposed huge Michael Carrick mistake
As is the norm, Middlesbrough released their starting line-up an hour prior to kick-off on Saturday.
There was one change to the eleven, with Aidan Morris coming back into midfield after Dan Barlaser underperformed versus Preston last time out.
One of the main talking points from the team news, however, came from Boro’s bench.
It was a strong bench but there was room in the 20-man squad for Alex Gilbert, with Riley McGree, Delano Burgzorg, Micah Hamilton and Ben Doak instead providing attacking midfield cover.
After signing from Brentford in the summer of 2023, the midfielder made just 12 league appearances in his debut campaign at the Riverside.
It then came as little surprise when it was reported in August that Middlesbrough were considering loaning out Gilbert.
However, after he shone in the Carabao Cup defeat to Stoke City, Carrick made a transfer U-turn on Gilbert, deciding he would remain at Boro for the time being.
Fans were likely pleased as the 22-year-old had impressed in his limited outings in 2024/25 to that point.
But after he did not even make the bench versus Sunderland, it is clear Carrick’s decision not to loan out Gilbert was a mistake.
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Alex Gilbert Middlesbrough future in doubt
Gilbert did play 20 minutes off the bench when Middlesbrough beat Cardiff City on August 31st.
But he was an unused sub against Preston and did not even make the matchday squad this weekend.
Now, it is hard to see where and when Gilbert will get his chance for Boro over the next several months.
Tommy Conway excelled as a number 10 versus Preston, with Carrick seemingly keen to recreate the Chuba Akpom-Cameron Archer partnership with him and Emmanuel Latte Lath.
Finn Azaz is then the backup to Conway through the middle, while Doak, Hamilton, Isaiah Jones, Burgzorg and McGree all appear to be ahead of Gilbert in Carrick’s thinking.
Should Gilbert continue to be left out, it seems obvious that Carrick must once again make a U-turn on the player and either loan or sell him in the upcoming January transfer window.