Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick addresses goalkeeper situation
The decision by Michael Carrick to start in goal for the Carabao Cup match against Leeds United this evening should not be seen as proof of a shot-stopping hierarchy inside the team.
Despite the departures of Zach Hemming and Jamie Jones this summer—the former signed a permanent contract at Salford City, while the latter joined Leyton Orient on loan—Boro still has three senior goalkeepers with experience.
Seny Dieng is unquestionably the top player for Boro; Tom Glover and Sol Brynn are his competitors. Dieng started the team’s Championship opener against Swansea City last weekend. In the match against the Swans, Glover was named on the bench while Brynn was left off of the matchday roster.
At Elland Road tonight, Dieng is probably going to be rested, but Carrick feels it would be incorrect to infer too much from his decision between Glover and Brynn about who will start in place of the Senegal international.
The Boro manager remarked, “I really believe we have three very good goalkeepers.” Tom had a fantastic season last year while he was on the squad, and Sol has returned from an excellent loan and is eager to play. Seny has certainly participated in most of the games.
There’s not a set order. It is much the same as the rest of the playing group in that everyone needs to be prepared to play at specific times. The fact that we have three capable goalkeepers to select from and are confident in their ability to step in when needed is a plus in my opinion.
Boro’s first League Cup matchup could not have come at a worse time, as they were drawn away to play Leeds, who were the preseason favourites to win the Championship.
Nonetheless, Carrick is happy to have such a challenging match at this early point in the season since he believes it will offer a useful indicator of
We anticipate it being a good draw,” he remarked. It’s a decent game with good gameplay. We’ve used up all of our allotment, and we have an excellent game coming up. We will assault what we believe to be an excellent cup tie.
“You never know how teams will approach these kinds of games, but it’s nice for us to have a chance to play after spending so much time in training and friendlies over the summer,” the player said. The lads are itching to participate in these kinds of games. With three games this week, we’re pretty content.
