Tommy Smith on Michael Carrick's style of play and the Middlesbrough player who's 'pivotal'

Tommy Smith insists Michael Carrick’s way is the right way for Middlesbrough, as he named Hayden Hackney as the player pivotal to that.

Carrick’s desire for Boro to play out from the back was under scrutiny once again this week as poor application of it cost them against Leeds United. Having got back on level terms and while pushing for a potential winner of their own, two sloppy balls out from the back offered Leeds the chance to break and punish Boro.

But discussing Carrick’s style of play before the game as the injured defender worked the game as an analyst for Sky Sports, Smith spoke of the huge belief in the way the head coach wants the team to play. He pointed to Carrick’s record as a Boro boss as proof, with Carrick’s win percentage just under 50% after two years at the club - remaining the best record of any permanent Boro manager to date.

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Smith said: “I think he believes in what we’re trying to do as a team and as a football club. He’s been hugely successful since he joined the club. In the way we play and the way we set up, that doesn’t change no matter where we go.

“We’ve had a lot of success from it, so ultimately he’s a firm believer in what we’re doing. We’re doing the right things and I think the evidence is there. How we’ve been playing and how we are setting up as a team.”

While it might cause frustrations when it doesn’t come off, Carrick once again defended the style, and his players, in the aftermath of the Leeds defeat. The Boro head coach will always point out that it is ultimately that way that provides the enjoyment we’ve had of late from high-scoring wins over QPR, Luton, Oxford and Hull.

As Carrick’s record proves, it works more often than not, though as Leeds showed, when it doesn’t come off it can often prove costly. It was something else the Boro boss highlighted after Leeds as he highlighted the positioning of players to better defend the transition as the bigger problem than giving the ball away.

As for Smith, who continues his rehabilitation from a serious Achilles injury that has kept him out for over 12 months, he highlighted midfield star Hayden Hackney, who went on to struggle against Leeds in a rare off-night for the Redcar star, as pivotal to Carrick’s way of playing.

“Hayden is hugely important,” Smith said. “He’s pivotal. He’s made the most amount of passes this season in a Middlesbrough shirt, and that says a lot really about what happens on the pitch for him. A lot of the play goes through the two central midfielders, which allows the likes of Doak, Azaz and McGree to flourish further up the pitch.”