MICHAEL CARRICK admits his Middlesbrough side are having a problem with “seeing games out” – but has told his players “not to overthink things” as they look to get their season back on track at Stoke City this evening.
Boro suffered their fifth defeat in a row as they were beaten at Bristol City last Friday night, and not for the first time this season, a promising position was squandered as a one-goal lead became a one-goal deficit in the second half.
One of Boro’s key weaknesses this season has been an inability to turn the tide of a game when an opponent gets on top, resulting in a series of dropped points as leads have disappeared.
“I think there's been a lot of times where we've been in good positions in games, and finishing games off and managing games towards the second half is something we need to improve on,” admitted Carrick, who welcomes Ryan Giles back into his squad tonight after the full-back shook off the illness that prevented him from featuring at Ashton Gate.
“The effort, the togetherness and the attitude the boys are showing at the moment can’t be faulted. Let's be honest, it's challenging when you're not winning games. And it doesn't necessarily mean that you can just keep dusting yourself off and going again, and attacking the next game or the next training session.
“But the boys have been unbelievable with that. I can feel that they’re ready to win games, and then we’ve got to put that into practice. But I don't think we're miles away.
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“I think the amount of times we've been up in games and let games probably get away from us, we're definitely taking the positive in the amount of time that we have been up in games, and we’ve just got to finish them off.”
A lack of physical fitness shouldn’t be an issue for Boro’s players, and the statistics suggest their running capabilities and work-rate do not drop off in the latter stages of a game.
Instead, it is weaknesses within Boro’s collective game management that tends to be decisive, with Carrick’s input, or lack of it, from the touchline also a factor.
The mental pressure ratchets up with every defeat, but Carrick has urged his players not to veer away from their natural game as they look to end their losing run at the bet365 Stadium.
“It's a number of things,” he said. “It's obviously how we see the games out - little things we do towards the end of the game, a bit of mentality, a little bit of getting that feeling of winning and not overthinking it as well.
“It can come into play where you really overthink it too much. I want the boys to keep doing what we're good at. Do the good things, keep doing them and be more consistent with it.
“All the good things that we're doing to put ourselves in good positions in games, carry on doing that, and maybe not overthink it as much as we might.”
