Deep in my heart... Middlesbrough vs Sunderland

By James Keen
September 23 2005

An unbeaten week for Middlesbrough with a win over Arsenal, victory in Europe and a scrappy draw with Wigan. Finally the deperate defeat to Charlton can be forgotten and we can all move on.

And so this week we come to the opening North-East derby of the season. The first of four and surely the easiest of the lot!

The Mackems will come to the Riverside on a high after their first win of the season, a tremendous 1-0 extra time victory over the most feared side in all of Cheltenham, Cheltenham Town.

I'm sure they'll be saying up on Wearside that the League Cup victory may just be the catalyst for their season to kick start but to be honest, have the Boro faithful got anything to fear this weekend?

Sunderland's main advantage is that their largely English/British squad will understand the importance of derby day and will play with hearts as well as heads, thumping every ball they can, kicking everything that moves and battling 'till the very very death.

And as with Boro against Arsenal, they have nothing to lose... except their pride... And lets face it, they lost that a long time ago.

Middlesbrough will have to be sharp, and because the players won't have the same bite and grit that the Sunderland boys will, we have to look to our skill and quality to win this game.

And lets be fair, we have much more of it than Sunderland. With Massimo firing again, Mark Viduka settling back in, Yakubu finding those feet he so haplessly lost against Charlton, and of course Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Szilard 'The Lizard Man' Nemeth back in training, Boro should have more than enough fire power to out gun the Mackems. We've just got to make sure that when the chances come we take them. And there will be chances.

Sunderland's last visit to the Riverside saw them comfortably disposed of 3-0 with Nemeth getting a brace and Maccarone bagging a goal. And the sad thing from Sunderland's perspective is that since then they've actually got worse as a club, and Boro have got better.

The formidable duo of Tore Andre Flo and Marcus Stewart has been replaced by Anthony Le Tallec and Jon Stead, but to be honest Flo and Stewart were equally bad in their time at the Stadium of Light.

After a competant and encouraging debut, Fabio Rochemback looked a little at sea at the JJB. McClaren's formation switching did not seem to suit Fabio.

But in a game like this it's players like Rochemback that can make the difference. Rochemback, alongside the newly recalled Dutch interantional George Boateng should prove too much for Sunderland. And with Sunderland boy Adam Johnson in the squad, surely its the perfect chance to exact our revenge for the goal Boro boy Darren Williams scored against his hometown club in 1996/97 when Sunderland won 1-0 at the Riverside.

Its a long time ago but unlike the Murphy's, I'm quite bitter. So let's see Johnson flying down the left wing and screaming balls over for Vids and Yak, and let's hope that maybe he can get one for himself.

One thing I think McClaren will avoid is playing Emmanuel Pogatetz on the left hand side of midfield. Although Emmanuel is a great player, perhaps he isn't quite creative enough as a midfielder.

Much of Boro's passion for this derby will have to come from the defence. Southgate and Ehiougu understand all about the game and its importance to Boro fans, and Frank Queudrue has been around long enough to know what its about. Abel Xavier, i'm sure, will go along for the ride helping him become a crowd favourite as he goes.

Whatever spin I try to put on the game and whatever anyone says, this is a game Boro simply have to win. Let's look at the stone wall facts.

Boro have been established in the Premiership for eight seasons now and Sunderland have just spent two years in the Championship.

Boro are 9th in the league, Sunderland are bottom.

Boro are in the UEFA Cup and Sunderland are, well, not very good.

Boro sign quality interantionals from top European clubs. Sunderland think signing a second division striker (Stead) and a second division midfielder (Liam Lawrence) is a good idea! Really Mick? What were you thinking?

I have probably just dug my own grave, and Sunderland will beat us 2-0 and Steady and Lawro will be all over the back pages of the papers. But with or without my rose tinted spectacles on the only way I can see them winning is if we don't want to win it... like against Charlton.

Sunderland are in for a long arduous and torrid season, and I hope Boro make sure of that in both fixtures against Sunderland this season. And let's hope that that run of no Premiership wins since December 15th 2002 keeps on going.

My head this week is telling me that we will take the three points with a resounding 3-0. But my heart is telling me that the Mackems may get a moment to cherish. 3-1. C'mon Boro!!

Probable Teams:

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Xavier, Queudrue, Ehiogu, Southgate, Boateng, Parlour, Rochemback, Johnson, Viduka, Yakubu

Sunderland: Davis, Nosworthy, Breen, Stubbs, Hoyte, Whitehead, Bassila, Lawrence, Arca, Gray, Le Tallec

Form:

Middlesbrough LWLWWD
Sunderland LLLLDW