Middlesbrough: The lesson Michael Carrick must learn from Sunderland and Regis Le Bris - View | OneFootball

Boro fell flat in Saturday's Wear-Tees Derby, but Carrick must learn from how Sunderland and Le Bris' were able to defeat his side.

Middlesbrough dropped to their second defeat of the season in a 1-0 Wear-Tees Derby defeat to Sunderland, as Michael Carrick's side failed to land a glove on the Black Cats.

Chris Rigg's smart backheeled finish was all that separated the two North East rivals on the scoresheet, but in truth, it was a largely comfortable afternoon for Sunderland.

Middlesbrough would enjoy the lion's share of possession, but were only able to register a single shot on target throughout the full 90 minutes, in what was a frustratingly flat performance in a game that holds such weight for both sets of supporters.

Regis Le Bris' side disarmed Boro's attack with relative ease, and as such, Carrick must now learn from the lesson that the Black Cats delivered to his team on Wearside.

Le Bris & Sunderland televised how to nullify Boro for the Championship to see

In the days leading up to last Saturday's big clash, Sunderland's boss made no secret of the fact that he knew how to beat Middlesbrough and their tactical approach, and he was absolutely right.

Speaking via The Northern Echo, Le Bris said: "It will be another interesting game against a team with a different style of play. They're a well organised team in and out of possession, with specific attention in the way of building the game.

"They're very narrow and very interesting. For us we will have specific attention on many details and it will be interesting to solve that problem. They are very good in possession and very structured with this ability to create in the central corridor.

"They're a very interesting team. We know their strength and know they are very structured. We know we can solve that because they don't have random ranges of different attack, so we know exactly how they can beat us which means we know exactly how we solve the problem. Now we need to execute it, which is not always easy."

In amongst all that, Le Bris made a damning reference to Boro's lack of creativity in attack, and Middlesbrough evidenced that shortcoming once again in the defeat.

Carrick's side don't attack with great width, meaning Sunderland could clog up the middle of the pitch with as many bodies as possible, and thus funnel Boro's attack into dead ends.

Middlesbrough only looked like hurting Sunderland when Liverpool loanee Ben Doak entered the pitch for the last 30 minutes or so, and that coincided with the majority of Boro's attacking moves coming down his right-flank.

Carrick should take Le Bris' bold and worryingly accurate prediction of how the former Manchester United legend was going to set his side up as a crucial learning point. Championship coaches seemingly have his team figured out, and changes need to be made in order to keep aspirations of a successful season alive.

Carrick must now instill attacking urgency in his side

Whether it was as they flooded out of the Stadium of Light, discussed among friends in the pub, or from the comfort of their living rooms, Middlesbrough fans were all discussing the same point of reflection after full-time. Boro's tempo.

In what has dominated the opening chapter of Middlesbrough's 2024/25 season, Carrick's men once again enjoyed the majority of the ball, and yet simply couldn't find a way to punch through a defensive block.

In fact, the opening seconds of the game provided a premonition of Boro's struggles to come, as centre-back George Edmundson rolled his foot over the top of the ball for anywhere between 10-15 seconds, trying to see if he could entice a Sunderland player out of their defensive shape. He couldn't.

From that point onwards, Middlesbrough moved the ball with a frustrating lack of intent, with slow side-to-side passing allowing Sunderland's defensive block to simply move with the ball, and ensuring Boro would rarely see a clear route to goal in front of them.

This approach - which has been present throughout the season so far - has also meant that Middlesbrough very rarely craft attacking overloads, as defenses have the time to close up two-on-one situations.

Sunderland, on the other hand, were the complete opposite. As despite not having anywhere near as much possession, as soon as the Black Cats recovered the ball they were instantly firing passes out to their dangerous and direct wingers, Patrick Roberts and Romaine Mundle.

That ensured Boro's full-backs Luke Ayling and Neto Borges would be tested all afternoon, and is ultimately where their goal came from, as Roberts drove inside from the right and fired his shot into the box, before it broke the way of Rigg, who finished with fantastic poise and skill for a midfielder who is only 17.

In Trai Hume, Sunderland had a right-back who had been carrying a yellow card since the ninth minute of the game, but Middlesbrough's insistence to enter the final third patiently and narrowly, passed up the chance for Finn Azaz and later Micah Hamilton to potentially take advantage of that situation.

Sometimes, the best thing that can happen to a team is a real wake-up call of a result, and Middlesbrough must ensure that their Wear-Tees Derby day disaster becomes a watershed moment in their season.