Promotion seemed to come at the perfect time for Middlesbrough last season. After being out of the Premier League for seven years<\/strong>, the Teessiders took the long route back to the top flight. But it appeared to do them good and by the time they returned to the Promised Land, they appeared ready for the challenge.<\/p>\n The project of redemption kicked into action in November 2013 with the appointment of Aitor Karanka as head coach. It seemed like an odd marriage, given his three-year stint as Jose Mourinho\u2019s assistant<\/strong> at Real Madrid. The Riverside Stadium was not an obvious starting point for his managerial career, but getting to the playoff final in his first full season and then automatic promotion a year later showed it had become an ideal relationship.<\/p>\n Karanka put his team together very much in Mourinho\u2019s image, building from the back. They were the best defensive side in the Championship<\/strong> last season, and that solidity led many to predict a smooth return to the big time, provided their Spanish coach could loosen his grip, add some flair to the ranks and allow it to shine. Boro have not been brave enough this season, which is not consistent with the ambition they showed in the summer<\/strong>. Five games remain this season, and the club sit on 24 points, seven points adrift of safety having won just four games. Crucially, they\u2019ve scored just 23 goals, the fewest in the league, and Karanka was sacked in March. Coach Steve Agnew has since stepped into the hotseat.<\/p>\n Statistics show Boro\u2019s biggest issue throughout the whole campaign, scoring goals. Karanka was popular among fans, but he often frustrated with his structured system. It lacked pace, creativity and a propensity to gamble<\/strong>, and there was a general feeling that they were sleepwalking towards relegation. Their stubbornness has been made all the more annoying by the fact Traore, the most unique and unpredictable member<\/strong> of the squad, is not being utilised enough and when he is, he is shackled and often ineffectual.<\/p>\n Karanka previously admitted to not fully trusting Traore, instead opting for the likes of Christian Stuani and Viktor Fischer over the 20-year-old FC Barcelona youth product. His reservations centred on a lack of defensive abilities<\/strong>, but that has never been Traore\u2019s main problem. Growing up at Barcelona, his ability on the ball is obviously a strong point, in fact nobody has better dribbling statistics<\/strong> than him in the Premier League, and he matches that with lightning pace, but he often falls down with his end product, scoring none and assisting just one goal all season.<\/p>\n Agnew seems to share his former boss\u2019 scepticism over Traore, who may be raw but offers something completely different to his competition. Since Karanka departed, Stewart Downing has returned to the fray after being ostracised, but between he, Stuani, Fischer, who has rarely featured, and even Gaston Ramirez who has been played out wide at times, there is a distinct lack of pace in the side<\/strong>. Traore\u2019s inclusion always raises the temperature in the stadium and puts the opposition on the back foot whenever he plays, he has no fear, which cannot be said for the rest of the squad.<\/p>\n Middlesbrough started the season in decent fashion. An opening day draw against Stoke City at home, before a draw away at Sunderland, suggested they had a good balance between attack and defence. Traore arrived after both those games, towards the end of the summer, with a point to prove after an injury-hit spell at Villa Park<\/strong>. Ironically, though, his arrival coincided with the regression that is sending the club down.<\/p>\n Sunderland are the visitors to the Riverside on Wednesday night. When the game was rescheduled because of an FA Cup tie for Boro against Manchester City, it will have been seen as a chance for much needed points in the bid to avoid relegation. Instead, pride appears to be all that is on offer<\/strong>, with both all but doomed to the second division next season.<\/p>\n It cannot be said that had Traore played more of a central role in the team Middlesbrough would be closer to survival, because they often have not looked good enough overall. But, under both Karanka and Agnew, he has not received the faith to play his own game<\/strong>, even when throwing caution to the wind could have been of real benefit to the team.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Such a distrust of the unpredictable and flamboyant is nothing new, especially in England, but it does more bad than good. Adama Traore has all of the natural attributes to succeed at the highest level and time to develop the technical side of the game over the coming years. But a bit-part role<\/strong> in a team, which has needed an injection of quality, has helped neither him nor Middlesbrough and his lack of involvement over the course of the season has been nothing short of baffling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well Timed Promotion Promotion seemed to come at the perfect time for Middlesbrough last season. After being out of the Premier League for seven years, the Teessiders took the long route back to the top flight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[242,76,177],"class_list":["post-14008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport","tag-harry-de-cosemo","tag-premier-league","tag-ticker"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nTheir transfer deals last summer showed they meant business. Manchester United goalkeeper Victor Valdes arrived on a free transfer<\/strong>, and \u00a312million was shelled out to Italian side Atalanta to sign tough-tackling midfielder Marten de Roon. Firepower was added in the shape of Alvaro Negredo<\/strong>, who joined on loan from Valencia, Viktor Fischer from Ajax and Aston Villa winger Adama Traore.<\/p>\nPremier League Frustrations<\/h2>\n
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Same Old\u00a0Problems<\/h2>\n
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Doomed to Relegation?<\/h2>\n