Michael Carrick admits his Middlesbrough side struggled to break down a brilliantly-organised West Brom side during Saturday’s 2-0 Championship defeat at the Hawthorns, speaking to the Boro website.
If things had worked out differently, perhaps Carrick would have been standing where Carlos Corberan stood this weekend. The Wallsend-born Manchester United legend was high on West Brom’s radar following Steve Bruce’s sacking in October, eventually opting for a return to his North East roots instead.
Victory, then, may have tasted that little bit sweeter for the Baggies; two goals in the first ten minutes from Daryl Dike checking Middlesbrough’s remarkable momentum while extending the gap between second and third in the Championship table.
Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough lose to Carlos Corberan’s West Brom
“We just couldn’t break them down,” Carrick sighs; his side mustering just three shots on target despite dominating 70 per cent of the possession.
“They defended well but we couldn’t find much of a spark either in the final third. It’s never an exact science in a game of football. There is obviously an opposition that is trying to stop you, while we’re trying to click.
“We’re usually really good with our connections and creating chances. But this was just one of those games where it didn’t drop for us. They defended really well. We couldn’t quite find that spark. But, even then, we still created a couple of decent chances.
“I still fancied us to score even though it didn’t quite happen.”
Defeat was Carrick’s fifth in 19 games in charge. And while Middlesbrough remain in third, Carrick will be hoping for an immediate response. There are, after all, just five points separating themselves from a resurgent Norwich City in seventh.
West Brom, meanwhile, have kept their own hopes of a play-off berth alive. Carlos Corberan, appointed within 24 hours of Carrick in the autumn, have been a team revitalised too in the last four months or so, that hard-fought 2-0 triumph over the Championship’s form side a fine response to a three-game winless run.
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