change of style for Boro Wembley final?

[damn that Ralph Coates! 74]

Fantastic result today over the scum - awesome!

But the 1st half we were effectively stifled by the binners, and the way Boro parked the bus when they won here last month, mean we may not be allowed to play our Wes-esque expansive game.

Wes will be man-marked by Leadbitter or someone superior to that ex-Scuse bloke today.

Wembley is a wide pitch and we can get fullbacks bombing along and I think we could consider not just having the one player up top. We also get to pick between Jerome, Grabban and Hooper now.

Exciting times - do we give Boro a surprise formation or stay with the 1-up-top? Does AN prefer Grabban to come back straight in?

[Gainer the Gopher 0]

Dance with the girl wot brung ya. No point trying to do something new but maybe tweek our approach from last time we played them. Dominate possession again, but find the finishing touch.

[Capt. Pants 5,001]

Good point about the size of the pitch. Carrow Rd is actually only 1 yard narrower than Wembley so I don''t think Boro will give us anymore space than when we played them at home. We need to start the game super quick. The longer the game goes on and we haven''t conceded the better chance we''ll have.

[mrs miggins 0]

I expect us to have the same starting line-up as we did today. The problem in the first half was that we went long far too often because of the scum pressing so high up. What we have to do is be brave enough to get on the ball in the middle of the park and build from there. If we play our game, we''ll win, the thing is Boro are a better side and are better at pressing from midfield than the scum so we have our work cut out. It will be a good game that''s for sure, if we can dominate the midfield...otherwise it''s not going to go well. (though I do think we''ll win)

[lake district canary 4,813]

A yard wider can make quite a bit of difference - and it''s not just the physical width, but the perceived space that is key.  Every pitch looks different, even though the sizes may be quite similar.  Wembley is reknowned for seeming like a wide pitch - and that should help the way we play.

[damn that Ralph Coates! 74]

Boro will have watched these 2 scum matches and will fill the midfield high up, and also send binner-like balls over the top to Bamford, Adomah etc to run on to - We will ceratinly need another very good game from our centre-backs.

[Horse Renoir 1]

Start 4-5-1!!!

''Boro will start fast and I''d say there''s a very good chance they''ll go ahead pretty quickly again. For all our strengths we have not been fast starters (That''s being kind) under Alex Neil and ''Boro will so we need the midfield to compete.

However, whatever the score we will start to build our game and from (at the latest) the 60th minute or so we''ll have them pegged back while we build, that''s when we need Hooper or Grabban on, when we don''t necessarily need 5 in midfield against a team parking the bus or one who''s pinned back.

If we''re in any situation but narrowly winning go two up top early in the second half, if we''re winning by one goal at that time O''Neil for Hoolahan as we''ll probably be under pressure and i don''t rate Hoolahan as a counter attacker, it''s not his game

[Dave 0]

Need to change things it was obvious in recent games that Boro and Ipswich especially have began to read the way we play and react to it.

The last thing we can afford to do is go behind against boro again or they will play all at the back and play for the 1-0

[Adycakes 8]

For those talking about the pitch size, Wembley is the same size as Boro''s Riverside & we all know what happened when we played up there.

I think the only real way you can beat Boro, is to score first. If you don''t they are capable of shutting up shop & frustrating you all game long. But get in front, then they have to open up a bit, that''s the only way I can think that Fulham got 4 goals past them. Much like yesterday, the first goal will be vital! Hopefully we have learnt from the Wigan & Boro home games & we won''t allow them to get their noses in front.

[havemyhowsonit 0]

Need to score first. End of.

We haven''t scored against them in 2 games. Let''s hope we do this time

[lake district canary 4,813]

Adycakes -"I think the only real way you can beat Boro, is to score first. If you

don''t they are capable of shutting up shop & frustrating you all

game long. But get in front, then they have to open up a bit, that''s the

only way I can think that Fulham got 4 goals past them. Much like

yesterday, the first goal will be vital! Hopefully we have learnt from

the Wigan & Boro home games & we won''t allow them to get their

noses in front"

Truth is that Middsbro were poor away from home most of the last few weeks of the season. Lost several away games and they had to rely on a spoiling tactic against us - although we didn''t help by a slow start.    It will be interesting to see which middsbro turns up to Wembley, whereas we know what we will turn up with, such is the consistency of approach that AN has established.    If we play at our best and get amongst the goals it could turn into a match like their one at Fulham.

[Mr Jenkins 0]

mrs miggins wrote the following post at 16/05/2015 5:17 PM:

I expect us to have the same starting line-up as we did today. The problem in the first half was that we went long far too often because of the scum pressing so high up. What we have to do is be brave enough to get on the ball in the middle of the park and build from there. If we play our game, we''ll win, the thing is Boro are a better side and are better at pressing from midfield than the scum so we have our work cut out. It will be a good game that''s for sure, if we can dominate the midfield...otherwise it''s not going to go well. (though I do think we''ll win)

Fully agree with this, Tettey for example yesterday first half, you could see was getting very frustrated as he was given no time on the ball whatsoever, thus we were unable to build anything through the midfield.

IMO on Monday we will see this again and we are going to need to move the ball wider and more quickly, Whitts and Ollsen could be crucial for us.

[king canary 8,749]

I''d say we''ve had a bit of a problem all season with starting slowly and Boro are good enough to punish that. Need to be quick out of the traps