'Increasingly difficult to imagine Middlesbrough making it to the Premier League'

It is premature to claim the same fate is inevitable this time around, but after another dispiriting afternoon at the home of Aston Villa, even the most optimistic of Teessiders would have to concede it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine Tony Pulis’ side making it to the Premier League.

They might still cling to a top-six position, but this is a Middlesbrough team in freefall.

Saturday’s defeat, which felt inevitable from the moment the team sheet was submitted, was Boro’s third in the space of a week, the club’s worst run outside the top-flight since the dark days of the Tony Mowbray era some six years ago.

Will @Boro make it to the @premierleague ?

— Northern Echo Sport (@TNEchoSport) March 18, 2019

Whereas the home reverses to Brentford and Preston could be written off as somewhat unfortunate, with Boro spurning a succession of chances and falling foul of a poor refereeing decision that was subsequently overturned, there were no such mitigating factors against Villa.

As had been the case in December’s home game, which also finished in a 3-0 defeat, Pulis’ side were simply outclassed by a much better team. Or at least a team that was much better equipped to do the job that was asked of them.

Once again, the main post-match talking point agitating the travelling fans that streamed out of Villa Park in the wake of Albert Adomah’s late third goal was Pulis’ negative approach. On the back of successive home defeats, some managers would have focused on the attacking third and urged their players to get on the front foot.That is not Pulis’ way. Instead, the Boro boss doubled down defensively, naming five out-and-out defenders across the backline and playing with four defensively-minded central players in midfield. Suffice to say, the plan did not work.

With Jordan Hugill finding himself 40 yards away from his closest team-mate in his lone-attacking role, the Teessiders had no way of relieving the pressure that Villa were able to build in the first half. Mistakes became inevitable as Boro’s defenders attempted to play their way out of trouble in a packed defensive third, and when two arrived before the interval, Villa’s effervescent attackers took full advantage, with Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn both firing neat low finishes past Darren Randolph. By the time the attacking cavalry arrived in the second half, with Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher both coming off the bench, it was too little, too late.

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Pulis will claim that because he was unable to recruit the attacking players he wanted in the last two transfer windows, defensive resilience is the only way for his side to achieve any success. To be fair, results in the first half of the season just about justified his approach.

The tide has turned though, and having conceded seven goals in the space of a week, Boro no longer look like a team capable of shutting out their opponents. That would be enough of an issue if they were free-scoring themselves, but it is exacerbated by their failings at the other end of the field. In front of goal, they look even more desperate.

The challenge in the next two weeks is to find a way of solving the current imbalance. Negotiating a solution to Stewart Downing’s contractual impasse would help, as the veteran winger was once again the most composed visiting player on the pitch once he clambered off the bench to replace Ryan Shotton. It is frankly absurd that Boro have got themselves into a position where arguably their best outfield player is unable to start.

Tweaking the system to accommodate more attacking players should also be a priority, but perhaps the most alarming thing to emerge from Saturday’s meek surrender was Pulis’ post-match comments assessing what had gone wrong. Rather than accepting a need to be more expansive, the Boro boss appeared the suggest that tightening things up further would be the priority when leaders Norwich City visit the Riverside in 12 days’ time. Perhaps he is going to be play a sixth centre-half in the number ten role against the Canaries?

“I’m just really disappointed with the way we let Villa in,” said Pulis, who hinted on Friday he could walk away of his own volition when his contract expires in the summer. “They’ve had five shots on goal, and scored three goals. It’s something that wasn’t happening when we were doing well, and we have to get back to that.

“We’ll do our best (to make the play-offs), but there’s some good teams. Look at the size of this club (Aston Villa), it’s a good league. Sometimes, you get carried away with your own self and don’t look around at what you’re competing against.”

If that was a rallying cry, it was certainly an understated one. For much of the season, Villa have looked anything but promotion candidates, but whereas Boro have lost form dramatically, Dean Smith’s side appear to be peaking at just the right time.

Saturday’s success took them to within a point of Boro in the final play-off position, and owed much to some sparkling attacking interplay between El Ghazi, McGinn, Tammy Abraham and Jack Grealish. Without labouring the point, it is obvious to anyone who has seen Boro this season that they do not possess anyone with the attributes of either of those four players.

Assombalonga is their most accomplished finisher, but even he was found wanting when he was presented with his side’s best chance of the game quarter-of-an-hour after coming off the bench.

George Friend swung over an inviting cross from the left, and Assombalonga directed his header well wide of the target from eight yards. As a snapshot, it was a neat encapsulation of a thoroughly miserable day.