Middlesbrough have Finn Azaz problem Plymouth Argyle had answer to: View
Although Finn Azaz was a frequent goal scorer for Plymouth Argyle, he hasn’t scored any this season. This presents Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick with a decision to make during the October international break.
Since signing for a reported £2 million from Aston Villa in January, Carrick has trusted the Irish international to play as his primary number 10, but he has also been forced to play on the wings due to injuries in Boro’s squad.
Although Azaz is the playmaking cog in Boro’s center-forward lineup, he hasn’t been able to develop into a premier offensive midfielder at the Championship level because of one component of his game thus far this year: goals.
After missing a gilt-edged chance in Middlesbrough’s most recent defeat to Watford, Boro must find the answer to this problem soon as they continue to be punished for being wasteful in front of goal.
Boro and Carrick need Azaz to start finding the back of the net
As Middlesbrough looks to control possession, create lots of chances, and score lots of goals, Azaz’s position as the team’s number ten is crucial in Carrick’s system.
So far this season, two of those fundamentals have been fulfilled; nevertheless, Boro’s forwards have found it difficult to put the ball in the back of the net in the first few games of the 2024–25 campaign.
Since the first game, Emmanuel Latte Lath has not scored, while the top three scorers for Middlesbrough—Hayden Hackney, Matt Clarke, and Tommy Conway, in that order—have just two goals apiece.
| Azaz’s 24/25 Championship stats as of matchday 9, per FotMob | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Shots | Shots on target | Chances created | Expected goals (xG) |
| 30 | 12 | 26 | 2.28 |
No Championship offensive midfielder has created more chances than Azaz’s 26 or registered more shots on target than the Irishman’s 12 this season, according to FotMob, demonstrating the strength of his underlying attacking statistics.
According to FootMob, only 2.6% of his positional counterparts in the second division have made more shots than he has so far this season, underscoring his crucial role in Middlesbrough’s attacking approach.
He’s taxing goalkeepers, but he’s not winning games at the moment. As a result, rather than aiding in the solution to Boro’s goalscoring issue, his poor form in front of goal simply makes things worse.
In fact, after the first nine Championship games, Middlesbrough has only managed 10 goals. Despite this, Carrick’s team is still only two points outside of the play-offs, and teams like Millwall, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County, and Oxford United have scored more goals than Middlesbrough.
Scoring goals wasn’t an issue at Plymouth
One of the key reasons Middlesbrough made Azaz a priority transfer target last winter was the amount of goals he had scored in his one and a half years with Plymouth.
Following eight goals and eight assists in 34 League One games in the 2022–2023 season, seven goals and five assists from just 26 Championship outings in the first half of the previous season were scored.
Azaz increased his total for the season to 11 goals and 10 assists after joining Boro midway through the previous campaign. He also scored four more goals and five assists while playing for Middlesbrough.
Only 2.3% of Championship offensive midfielders had more shots (84) and more shots on target (27) than Azaz did the previous season, according to FotMob.
Though Azaz plays attacking midfield for Middlesbrough, it’s interesting to note that in 15 of his 26 Championship outings for Plymouth last season, Transfermarkt had him operating from centre midfield.
Could Carrick’s solution to getting goals out of Azaz come from moving him back to a more central midfield role in this system? Argyle had a tendency to use a 4-3-3 formation with a flat midfield three during the first part of the previous season.
If Azaz can’t produce the goods, Carrick may turn towards summer signing
Conway is Middlesbrough’s most productive forward in the Championship thus far this year, having made just five appearances and scoring two goals in the process.
This is following his late signing for the team, which was announced after the first match, and his three-game absence from Boro due to injury; his last appearance for Carrick’s team came on September 21 against Sunderland.
Since joining from Bristol City in mid-August for £4.5 million, the Scotland international has played almost exclusively as a number 10, and before suffering an injury setback at the end of September, he appeared to be on the verge of securing a spot in the starting lineup.
Carrick will have to make a difficult choice on who will start at number ten, though, as he hopes to have the 22-year-old back and available for selection during the international break.
Because Riley McGree was injured and Azaz was selected to play out wide, the two were allowed to start in the same starting lineup before Azaz’s injury.
But the Australian international looks fully healthy again, so he’ll probably be preferred to play again on the left wing, which could mean Azaz and Conway will have to fight for a position in the midfield.
The number of opportunities and shots on target that Azaz is producing will undoubtedly delight Carrick, but if he doesn’t start scoring goals soon, it might get more and more difficult to justify starting him in that position.
Carrick would be inclined to select Conway over Azaz in an effort to put an end to Middlesbrough’s goal-scoring woes, as he has demonstrated his ability to find the back of the net in both his time with Bristol City and brief appearances with Boro.
