Will it end with a much-needed win as Middlesbrough look to get back on track?
Boro head for Bristol City on Friday night looking to halt their recent slide after four successive defeats and a run of just three wins in 15 games.
That sequence led to managerial uncertainty at the weekend but Carrick retains the backing of chairman Steve Gibson, who still believes the former England and Manchester United midfielder is the right man to lead Boro to the Premier League.
If that is to happen this season, Boro need to rediscover their form as soon as possible – and a win against rivals Robins would be a good place to start.
So what issues does Carrick need to address and resolve to ensure Boro can start climbing the table once more?
WHAT’S THE STRONGEST TEAM?
Ask a manager about his strongest starting XI and they’ll always claim there’s no such thing.
And you can see where they’re coming from. Different players and line-ups suit different games, so what might work one Saturday won’t necessarily be the answer seven days later.
But rewind a couple of years to Carrick’s first season in charge and the team largely picked itself in the run-in. The backline wasn’t tinkered with, Jonny Howson and Hayden Hackney were the nailed on midfield starters, Chuba Akpom was always at No.10 and Cameron Archer up-front. The only real question, when everyone was fit was which two out of Marcus Forss, Riley McGree and Aaron Ramsey would start in the wide areas.
Of course, it’s a lot easier to pick a team when you’re winning, but right now having a punt at Carrick’s first choice XI wouldn’t be easy. After two disappointing displays against Sheffield United and Watford, it will be interesting to see how the head coach lines up at Ashton Gate.
FORM OF KEY PLAYERS
Picking the team will be a lot easier if Carrick can help certain players rediscover something like their top form.
Carrick is Finn Azaz’s biggest fan but it had become increasingly difficult to keep the misfiring forward in the starting XI and the decision to drop the 24-year-old for Watford came as no surprise.
But the former Aston Villa man can still play a huge role between now and the end of the season. Getting Azaz back on form must be a priority. Think back to Boro’s best short spell of the season and the emphatic wins over QPR, Luton and Oxford – Azaz scored four goals and created four more in that mini sequence.
He’s scored as many goals this season as Tommy Conway, only two players in the league have more assists and only Watford’s Giorgi Chakvetadze has created more chances.
Azaz isn’t the only player who Carrick could really do with finding some form. If Ryan Giles is to win back his place in the side and justify Carrick’s faith and desire to sign him in January, he needs to dramatically improve on his showing at Sheffield United. George Edmundson hasn’t hit the heights of earlier in the season either and appears fortunate to be in the side over Dael Fry.
And Tommy Conway obviously isn’t out of form – he’s been injured – but how Boro could do with the striker hitting the ground running now he’s back in action. And where better to start than at Ashton Gate against his former club.
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BALANCE
Carrick has talked repeatedly about the need to find the right balance between attack and defence, again evident in the weekend defeat to Watford.
An extra midfielder was brought into the side in a search for “stability” but that resulted in Boro failing to hit the net for just the second time in the Championship since the end of November.
At the other end, Boro have kept a clean sheet in just one of their last seven games and have conceded more goals than the Championship’s top eight sides.
KEEP KEY PLAYERS FIT
Easier said than done, obviously, and injuries have been a problem for Boro over the course of the last two seasons. But how crucial it is for Boro to avoid any further setbacks, particularly in certain areas, between now and the end of the season.
Carrick felt there was no need to replace Matt Clarke in January, insisting Boro would be “alright” with three central defenders in Edmundson, Fry and Rav van den Berg. Carrick pointed to Luke Ayling and Jonny Howson as potential cover options if needed but the former is currently out of form and the latter is injured.
Boro also need to hope Aidan Morris gets through to the end of the season without any further setbacks. He was sorely missed during his recent lengthy spell on the sidelines. Another player who has been badly missed is Ben Doak. The return of Boro’s best player in the first half of the season can’t come soon enough.
2024 REPEAT
This time last year, Carrick was facing a challenge and a run of form not too dissimilar to the current situation.
From mid-January to early March, Boro won just one of seven games last season and on the back of successive 2-0 defeats to Plymouth and Stoke, Carrick – for the first and only time during his tenure – found himself being asked about the prospect of being dragged into a relegation battle.
The response? A 3-1 home win against Norwich City that kickstarted an impressive end to the season in which Boro lost just one of their final 12 games.
That Norwich game, however, could have been very different. Boro trailed 1-0 before Borja Sainz’s controversial red card changed the game. It was a timely stroke of luck for Boro but they took advantage and turned their form and season around.
They need to do the same again.
