Middlesbrough: Derby County defeat reveals potential Michael Carrick flaw: View | OneFootball

Middlesbrough's unbeaten start to the 2024/25 season came to an end at Pride Park last weekend

Middlesbrough's unbeaten start to the 2024/25 season came to an end at Pride Park last weekend, as Boro slipped to a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Derby County on matchday two of the new Championship season.

Boro came into the game with the wind in their sails, having ended a decade-long wait for an opening win with victory over Swansea City, followed by a 3-0 thumping of Leeds United in the Carabao Cup.

The club had finally sealed the signing of Scotland international Tommy Conway from Bristol City, ending their summer-long wait for a striker, and with Derby having fallen to defeat at Blackburn Rovers on opening weekend, optimism was rife that three points would be heading back to Teesside.

But that wasn't to be, as Middlesbrough's performance at Pride Park highlighted a potentially fatal flaw in Michael Carrick's system that Boro fans had hoped their side had left behind them.

Middlesbrough's trademark style of play under Carrick has been centered around slow, patient build-up play, with his side calmly probing for an opening in the opposition's defence to reveal exploit.

It's been largely successful too, as Boro supporters have largely been thrilled with the football their side has been playing during Carrick's tenure so far.

This tactical approach works especially well when leading in a game, but is also a great way of making Boro's opponents chase the ball for longer than they'd like, hoping that their patient passing play will bear fruit later in the game when tired legs become a factor.

But as the Championship seemingly becomes increasingly competitive and flooded with more and more quality every year, every side for the most part is well organised and knows how to defend as a unit.

So if and when Boro go behind as they did against Derby, they've found that teams are happy to surrender the ball to them, inviting them to break them down, and that's precisely what Paul Warne's side did.

Middlesbrough ended the game with 71% possession, registering 20 shots with just four of those being on target. Whereas the Rams had 29% possession, just three shots with two being on target.

Boro huffed and puffed but just couldn't blow the door down, despite having a Delano Burgzorg goal chalked off for offside and the Dutchman hitting the post, in what was Middlesbrough's first frustrating afternoon this season.

It wasn't the first time in the Carrick era that this kind of performance has occured either, with similar results last season subsequently revealing a potentially fatal flaw in Carrick's system that the Boro head coach needs to find the remedy for, and fast.

Failing to unlock the door was a problem for Boro last season too

With the attacking talent at Middlesbrough's disposal since Carrick has been in charge at the Riverside Stadium, teams have often set up to be more defensively compact when taking on Boro, with the Teessiders often having more success against teams who look to take the game to them.

But an alarming trend has emerged which has seen Middlesbrough supporters finding themselves leaving the stadium thinking, 'how didn't we get something there?'.

Middlesbrough completed a league double over eventual champions Leicester City last season, whilst also picking up wins over the likes of Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, a 4-0 routing of Sunderland, and a 2-1 home win over play-off winners Southampton.

In all of those wins, Boro had a maximum of 51% possession which was against Southampton and Sunderland, whilst in the two games against Leicester City they had 33 and 29%, and against Chelsea it was 28% - per FotMob.

That shows how much better Carrick's side potentially are when teams come out and attack Middlesbrough, as in that same season, Boro took one point from 24th-placed Rotherham, lost at home to Plymouth, Bristol City, Stoke City, and Millwall respectively.

In all of those home defeats, Boro had a minimum of 58% possession and nine shots. This shows that when Boro dominate the ball and thus the tempo of the match, it doesn't lead to them picking up three points as often as they ought to.

Therefore, Carrick and his coaching staff clearly have a problem on their hands, as the majority of sides will no doubt have studied this trend too, and will continue to approach Boro with the gameplan of sitting players behind the ball and being defensively compact.

If Middlesbrough want to achieve promotion this season, they're going to have to find a way of punching through low blocks, as otherwise another Boro side filled with quality and promise could go to waste.