The point made on Radio Lancashire after they went through Burnley’s disastrous late show at Leeds was that they need to be capable of bouncing back from disappointments. If they need an example of how to do this, they need only look to the other side of Lancashire, where Blackpool have now twice come back from a big defeat and poor performance. After the humiliation at Turf Moor, Blackpool came back and put 5 past Leeds at Elland Road, and a similar response was needed against Middlesbrough, and they didn’t disappoint.
One look at the teams and it was plain to see that Middlesbrough had set up to stop Blackpool playing their natural game. A crucial part of Blackpool's success this season, particularly due to the departure of Charlie Adam, has been the intricate passing between the midfield three. The loss of Nicky Bailey with injury will have severely harmed Middlesbrough's hopes of stifling the threat from the trio of Angel, Sylvestre and Basham with the ball at their feet, and while Robson is undoubtedly a fantastic player going forward, one can certainly doubt his credentials as a ball winner.
The addition of Tom Ince to the front three was a very aggressive and bold move by Holloway. Ince is undoubtedly a special talent, but he and Matt Phillips are very similar players, and while Ince has done nothing wrong in a Blackpool shirt, at the moment, Phillips is the first name on the teamsheet. Callum McManaman, however, was the unlucky man, and paid for being one of many anonymous figures at Birmingham, as did Gary Taylor-Fletcher. By bringing in LuaLua and Ince, it guaranteed express pace across the front line, which was obviously not expected by Tony Mowbray, as the two wingbacks were caught out regularly in the first half hour, which forced Mowbray to return to a 4-4-2, with McMahon moved to an orthodox right back position, with Hoyte on the right of midfield, and Robson on the left.
The change in Middlesbrough formation then allowed for the part of Blackpool's play that they were trying to prevent to flourish. Against a physically inferior duo of Smallwood and Haroun, Chris Basham had a field day as the enforcer of the midfield trio. His strength in the tackle, excellent reading of the game, and eye for a pass make him the natural successor to Keith Southern in the middle for Blackpool, although do not write off the Blackpool legend just yet. Basham put in what was probably his best display in Blackpool colours so far, even finding the time and energy to play as a central striker when the ball was worked wide, coming close to converting a number of crosses throughout the 90 minutes.
Ángel Martinez certainly started to prove his worth, playing in the centre of the three, and dropping back between the central defenders when Mark Howard was in possession. This allowed him far more room to distribute the ball around the pitch, as he filled a role not too dissimilar to the one played by David Vaughan. Defensively his positioning was superb, whether in front of the back four when Middlesbrough attacked through the middle, and when they moved the ball wide, he placed himself on the edge of the penalty area, ready to receive possession and start a counter attack. The only member of the midfield three that relatively struggled was Sylvestre.
Sylvestre is a fantastic football player. His main problem, however, is that he remains very square to the ball when he receives possession. This stops Sylvestre from rotating or pivoting with his first touch, to allow him the momentum to move forward. His first touch always goes in the direction he is facing, whereas last season, the speed that Blackpool moved forward was down to the fact that when either Adam or Vaughan received possession, they were able to immediately face the goal, and start an attacking move. With so many teams operating a high pressing game to stop Blackpool moving the ball with comfort, Sylvestre's first touch needs to be inch perfect so that he has time to turn with his second touch and pick out a pass, and with the Bloomfield Road pitch not currently conducive to passing football, more often than not, Sylvestre lost possession.
In the back four, Ian Evatt returned to form in spectacular fashion, in part due to Middlesbrough not attempting to run in behind him, and also possibly down to the fact that his place is now under threat with the addition of Danny Wilson. Cathcart was once again brilliant, as he kept Scott McDonald in his back pocket, and dealt with the physical threat of Ogbeche and later Emnes comfortably and efficiently. Baptiste and Crainey were never threatened due to the lack of a natural wide man in the Middlesbrough side, and were able to cause problems going forward, and Mark Howard only had one save of note to make, making a fantastic reflex save to touch Robson's shot onto the post with the score still at 0-0.
Overall, a fantastic start to the new year, and with the likely additions to the squad to come over the next 4 weeks, Blackpool are very well placed to mount a serious charge on the playoffs.
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