England’s performance in South America may not have been the highlight of what has been another successful sporting summer. However, as so often is the case, football fans across the country will no doubt return to their respective club sides with more optimism than ever before.
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| Aitor Karanka prepares for his first full season in the Championship |
For Middlesbrough the 2014/15 season is in many ways a step into the unknown, as the club prepare for the for their first full campaign under Spanish manager Aitor Karanka, the man who learnt his craft as Jose Mourinho’s assistant at Real Madrid.
Karanka’s relationship with the so called “special one” has already worked in Boro’s favour, with Centre back Kenneth Omeruo agreeing to re-join Boro on a season long loan from Chelsea. The Nigerian international impressed the Riverside crowd in a shorter loan spell last campaign when he was a regular selection in the heart of Boro’s defence alongside rising star Ben Gibson and the pair have both expressed that they are keen to reignite the partnership.
Omeruo may not be the only player to make the switch from South London to Teesside, his Chelsea team mates Patrick Bamford, George Saville and Nathaniel Chalobah have all been linked with moves to the Riverside but for time being they are still yet to materialise.
However Chelsea hasn’t been the only destination on Karanka’s transfer shopping list and it’s far from a case of the Spaniard placing all his eggs in one basket. Backed by chairman Steve Gibson, Karanka splashed a reported £2.7 million on Real Murcia striker Enrique 'Kike' Garcia on a three year deal. The 24 year old striker is now expected lead the line of the Boro attack in Karanka’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation following the sales of Lukas Jutkiewitz to Burnley and Marvin Emnes to Swansea.
Boro’s other additions this summer include the versatile Emilio Nsue who was a free agent from Real Mallorca and can play as a winger or full back, while Goalkeeper Tomas Mejias is expected to challenge Dimi Konstantopoulos and Jason Steele for the number one spot between the posts after signing from Real Madrid on a two year deal. Karanka’s only other piece of business was to sign the promising 20 year old full back James Husband who arrives from Doncaster for an undisclosed fee with striker Curtis Main moving the other way as part of the deal.
Pre-season has been something of a mixed affair, with the bulk of preparation for the new campaign taking part in the heat of Southern Spain where Boro recorded emphatic wins over local opposition. However Karanka didn’t hold back his criticism when his side suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Lucena CF, a team who play in the third tier of Spanish football . The final tests before the new season took place on more familiar ground, a 2-0 victory over Hartlepool at Victoria Park was followed by a 2-0 home defeat to Villarreal with all the summer signings participating in some way.
The sights of both fans and players are now set on the 9th of August as the opening day of a 46 game Championship season sees Boro host Birmingham at the Riverside. Attentions will abruptly switch to a Capital One cup tie with Oldham three days later, then a derby match at Leeds the following weekend.
But as the cliché goes “a week is a long time in football” and Boro’s squad could still look a very different outfit before the transfer window closes on the 31st of August. There’s still a vacant place for an experienced right back and a regular midfield partner for Grant Leadbitter. More attacking options would also be a welcome addition with Mustapha Carayol set to miss the start of the campaign with torn anterior cruciate ligament injury which he suffered towards the end of last season.
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