By the time the final whistle blew, the morning’s clouds and rain had cleared to leave the splendour of the Cleveland Hills clearly visible from the main stand. The only problem for Aitor Karanka was that the sun elected to shine on Watford rather than his increasingly struggling side, with José Holebas’s glorious winning goal highlighting Middlesbrough’s mounting problems.
With Álvaro Negredo and Gastón Ramírez once again letting themselves down, Karanka’s horizon darkened appreciably as Boro rarely looked like curtailing a plummet down the table during which they have collected two points from six games and lost four of the past five. Their sole win came at Sunderland’s expense.
Karanka blamed this latest setback on Watford’s ability to waste time – a black art apparently cultivated by their manager, Walter Mazzarri – but the visitors would not have been able to slow things down with such cute gamesmanship had Boro proved capable of stringing more than two consecutive passes together.
“They made it impossible to play our game, it was impossible for us,” lamented Karanka before defending his hallmark 4-2-3-1 system which some observers feel is turning into a straitjacket for Boro’s players, partly explaining why they have not won at home since April.
“We have a style,” the Spaniard countered. “I’ve built the squad to play that way, we won promotion with one up front. With that style we have a good chance. We have to keep going. It’s just October so we have a long time to go.”
Mazzarri affected to be taken aback by the time-wasting accusations. “I don’t know what he refers to,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t think so.” The Italian then reminded everyone that Boro’s Antonio Barragán should have been sent off for a second yellow-card offence in the first half. “We all know the rules and it was very evident. But I don’t comment on referees.”
Without a ball being kicked, the team-sheets alone created a measure of controversy. While Mazzarri preferred Isaac Success’s attacking potential to that of Odion Ighalo, Karanka recalled Negredo and Ramírez, leaving Jordan Rhodes and Viktor Fischer warming the bench.
When Younès Kaboul – operating on the right of Watford’s back three – swiftly turned slapdash and conceded possession the former pair had a chance to show Boro fans what they were really capable of but, after exchanging passes with Negredo, Ramírez dragged a scuffed shot wide.
Watford initially looked vulnerable but Boro’s problem was that Ramírez – deployed in the No10 position behind Negredo that is so key to Karanka’s configuration – seemed to have developed an unfortunate penchant for persistently picking the wrong pass. Even when he took a corner, the Uruguayan Ramírez overhit it, leaving the ball sailing out of play. Negredo was similarly off key but, in mitigation, that pair were hardly helped by Marten de Roon’s lack of control in a midfield anchoring role.
Seeking a lucky break, Boro appealed for a handball penalty against Nordin Amrabat but, correctly, Roger East, the referee, refused to buy it and boos rang around a stadium studded with empty red seats.
The stay-aways quite possibly called it right. Although Watford improved as their formation gradually morphed from 3-4-3 to a defensive 5-4-1, the general standard was poor with far too many miscued passes and suspect first touches.
If Karanka had reason to be content with Calum Chambers’ and Ben Gibson’s containment of Troy Deeney, Boro’s manager must have been relieved that Barragán was not dismissed after committing that second bookable offence.
Already handed a yellow card for hauling down Success, the right-back was fortunate to escape a second for pulling back the same player 10 minutes later.
It seemed one of those afternoons when there would be more bookings than shots on target but Watford emphasised their efficiency by scoring with their first. Pouncing on a Boro clearance, Holebas took a steadying touch, before unleashing an elegant yet vicious 25-yard left-foot shot which defied the stretching Víctor Valdés en route to the top corner.
After that it was all about Boro’s lack of a Plan B and Watford’s Italianesque determination to hold on to the win.
Perhaps fortunately for Karanka, local anger was directed towards East. “We’ve had some shit refs but you are the worst,” they chorused after Holebas tripped Chambers on the edge of the area and no penalty was awarded. Replays showed the contact came fractionally outside the box.
Indeed, the referee was the wrong target; arguably East’s only key mistake was not handing Barragán a red card for that second bookable offence and, wisely, Karanka refrained from criticising him. Right now a manager who surely delayed too long in liberating Rhodes from the bench has bigger things to worry about.
