Kim Hellberg was asked how to make improvements, as Middlesbrough struggled with the low-block again
Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg (Image: Getty Images)
Kim Hellberg promised to do everything he can to find a solution to Middlesbrough’s million dollar question – how to be more effective against a low-block.
Boro missed a big opportunity to significantly strengthen their promotion chances on Wednesday evening when they were beaten 1-0 by Charlton Athletic at the Riverside.
The loss came after Conor Coady scored in what felt like a bit of a smash and grab for the Addicks, with Boro having 77% possession and 34 shots at goal. But they didn’t have any goal to show for it, as their problems scoring against a low block continued.
Asked how he and his side change that, Hellberg said: “That’s the million-dollar question. It’s been two points from three games at home, which is of course not the standard we want to have.
“It’s been games where we are creating a lot of opportunities to score a lot of goals, but we haven’t. We don’t let the opposition create many things. There was a free kick against Leicester and a throw-in today.
“I think we concede very, very little in the open play. But now it’s been two set-plays goals and we haven’t converted all the opportunities we had to score goals. That is frustrating.
“We scored seven in two games against tough opponents away, and now we don’t today. And if you don’t score, you cannot win, it’s as simple as that.
“It’s difficult to know where you should put your frustration because we’re doing everything we can, and creating a lot of opportunities. It’s just that for the moment we have problems scoring at home.”
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Hellberg’s frustrations were understandable. How can you legislate for having so much of the ball, and creating that many chances without anything to show for it? Hellberg can pick the team and prepare them
Asked if he just needed his forward players to step up, Hellberg said: “I need to find the solution. I need to take responsibility in terms of trying to help them. That comes down to me.
“If we don’t score goals, that’s failure on the coach, that’s how it works. So I will try to find the confidence in them and I will try to find solutions so we keep working.
“If you evaluate the performance in terms of overall play, it’s a very good performance. It’s weird to say it, I know. But If you evaluate the result from that, it’s not a good result.
“And so, yeah, I’m going to try to do everything I can to try to find a way to help them even more. That’s what I need to do.”
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