When Middlesbrough plays Aston Villa, Michael Carrick discusses his tactical change.

Middlesbrough played with a back three in their narrow defeat to Aston Villa.

Michael Carrick explained that there was an element of tactical thinking and also availability behind

his Middlesbrough tactical tweak against Aston Villa.

Carrick switched to a back three against Villa, with a greater emphasis on the defensive discipline on his side to

usual. That said, with plenty of pace, particularly from Isaiah Jones and Alex Bangura at wing-back, Boro were still

able to do plenty of their own attacking in the game once they settled.

In the end, Boro’s effort demonstrated true grit and resolve, and the tactical adjustment proved effective. Despite

Villa’s outstanding play this season, they were able to limit them to few opportunities, and in the end, a late

deflection goal by Matty Cash beat the outstanding Tom Glover to guarantee the visitors’ spot in the FA Cup fourth-

round draw.

Asked about his changes after, Carrick said: “It was slightly a back three but it wasn’t a massive change from what we

do. We had our two midfielders, we play with two in the pockets, one striker, Izzy on the last line high on the right at

times. So there wasn’t for us principally a massive change.

“Defensively there was a little bit but still then it wasn’t a huge change. Probably more personnel when you look and

think it looks a bit different, but credit to the lads. I thought Lukas tucked in on that left-hand side and did fantastic.

Other than that it was probably what the boys were used to.

“We tried to get a system in place with the boys we had to choose from, who fit the system and made it difficult for

Villa. Credit to the boys, they pulled it off very well.”

The tweaks game despite this being what Carrick described pre-match as a one-off game. He had similar feelings to

last season’s third round tie against Brighton and Hove Albion. On that day he didn’t make tweaks and instead

decided to ask his players to continue doing what he they’d usually do. Brighton won 5-1, though to be fair, it was

only in the last 25 minutes of that one that the Premier League side took it away from Boro with their quality.

On this occasion, though, Boro will also face Chelsea in a Carabao Cup semi-final; the first of two legs will take place

at the Riverside on Tuesday night. When asked if he was thinking of Chelsea when he made the tactical adjustments

against Villa, which was a one-off match, Carrick downplayed it.

“It was exactly what we thought gave us our best chance today,” he declared. Once more, it comes down to personnel,

balancing them within a system that works for them, and considering Villa’s preferred style of play and development

in particular. It didn’t really change since the fundamentals of how we play with the ball and when in control were

pretty much the same.”

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