After a bank holiday weekend during which Boro performed a minor miracle and scored three goals against Hull, Boro fans started to believe that maybe we really could resurrect if not our season (that is so far gone it is no longer an issue) then at least some of the passion and ability that made us so promising at the start of the 2008-9 campaign.
And then Fulham arrived and brought Mark Schwarzer back to the Riverside. The big Aussie (that would make Brad Jones the little Aussie then?) has been on fire all season since leaving Boro and produced some excellent saves to keep the scores level. At the other end Jones caught most of what little Fulham could be bothered to throw at him.
As sustained attacks go, well, Fulham did not really attempt one. The difference was not up front, the difference is they are excellent defensively, we are not. However on this occasion we did not concede although we gave them enough opportunities to tie the game up.
Southgate has already had a go at the fans for singing about Tuncay being our only player but his time would have been better spent admonishing his players for giving us the ammunition and making them follow the Turk's example.
Despite losing interest/getting too big for his boots/simply being off form for at least the entire month of December and beyond if we are being honest, Tuncay has since been invaluable to the Boro cause.
Last weekend, once again Tuncay was attempting to play four positions and Aliadiere was covering the rest.
Incidentally, on the off chance the Frenchman decides to stay here I would give him the captain' s armband. Pogi clearly either doesn't want it or isn't up to it and Downing has never shown any interest or aptitude for the role of leader.
Against Fulham, while the ball was out of play for an injury and everyone was having a drink and/or staring into space wondering where exactly they would be next season, Ali was on the touchline getting instructions from Southgate and Cooper. Yes as the right winger he was nearest to them to pass on the tactics but, crucially, he was also making suggestions, and he implemented them.
This will no doubt be a controversial point as, because Ali is either a striker who doesn't score enough or a winger who can't cross, there are many that don't understand what Southgate sees in him.
I, on the other hand, think that when he is missing, which is admittedly far too often through injury, the lack of creativity in the team is frightening and the basics seem to go out of the window. He comes well trained from the Clairefontaine Academy and Arsenal and is one of the players most likely to win us a corner, keep position on the line and push forward. He has not had a great season but he seems to provide a link between the pretty football we want to play and the willingness to get stuck in that we need.
Tuncay has largely the same problem except that his other position is 'in the hole' making him a central midfielder who can't really defend or a striker who doesn't score enough.
Then there's Gary O'Neil. Another workhorse, also injury prone and also has two positions. In the centre of midfield he is so lightweight I'm fairly sure I could take the ball off him without too much trouble. On the wing he comes alive but his crossing ability is also hit and miss.
We are a team assembled of jack of all trades, masters of none. Sometimes this works for us, more often than not, particularly this season, it does not.
Matthew Bates also works hard but the defender and the striker in the central midfield partnership are starting to look increasingly desperate. Thank God Digard's back!
We lost all but one match in December and that match was against the Gunners. It was Ali's goal which secured the draw against Arsenal which was to be the only point Boro got for Christmas but we have had many matches since to get our season back on track and time and again we have spurned the chance.
I know I'm repeating myself but I'd start with Tuncay and Aliadiere up front, Digard if he's fit and Walker if he's not with Bates in the centre, Gary O'Neil on the right, Downing on the left and I suppose Taylor, Huth, Wheater and Hoyte with Brad keeping his place in goal. Despite the flapping and the fact that he makes me far more nervous than you want any goalkeeper to, I think bringing Ross Turnbull back in now would send a mixed message, these boys are in it together and they need a consistent team.
I realise I'm contradicting myself here because I would absolutely change the formation Southgate has been trying for the last two games.
I think McMahon has done well for the most part but I'd play Hoyte against his old team due to his pace.
Aliadiere doesn't score enough but he does tend to score against the Gunners. He also plays out of his skin against his former club.
Tuncay is looking red hot but needs a goal and I think both players relished their short-lived strike partnership the last time Southgate tried it.
Alves and King are either/or for me, I don't see what playing them together has given us - certainly not goals as King scored against Hull after Alves left the pitch and Ali was brought up front.
King also puts in a shift but looks too far behind the game to be much of a threat against the pace and sheer quality of a revitalised full strength Arsenal.
Alves, well, I haven't changed my mind. He has never fit in our side and hasn't scored enough to warrant a formation being organised around him.
I would put my faith in Tuncay and Ali, risky perhaps, but we have to have faith in someone and despite a poor combined tally, these two seem to have the most passion and ability of all of our strikers. After all, it worked against Liverpool...
First published on www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/fanzone - Apr 09
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