THERE are, as Michael Carrick admits, two different ways you can view Middlesbrough's start to the season and their struggle to break teams down.

Some will point to the xG Championship table that Boro sit top of and the fact no second tier side have averaged more shots per game than Carrick's and confidently claim results will turn.

But others will lean more towards the fact Boro have only managed to score once from open play in their first six games and have come unstuck against teams happy to sit deep and frustrate, with Sunderland last week following in the footsteps of Derby, Portsmouth and Preston.

“It’s whether your glass is half-full or half-empty, to be honest," said Carrick.

"That’ll determine which way you look at it."

Carrick's job is to work out why the stats and the "good things" that he says he's seeing from his side haven't yet translated into results. And do something about it.

"When I say there are a lot of good things happening, it’s easy for me to throw that out," he says.

"But, genuinely, I think that we are and I think the way the games are being played shows that. I’m not massive on stats and data to tell the whole story, but certainly, to have that many shots on goal, to have that many entries into the opposition box, I think it shows there are a lot of good things and a lot of positive play within the group.

"But, of course, goals make the difference in games. The longer it goes, we’ve got to be calm about it and keep doing the right things, keep staying sharp and focused and continue to believe in it.

"If we keep putting ourselves in the right positions, we’ve certainly got the quality to make the difference. It’s a balancing act, of course, because we’re desperate to pick up more points and win more games.

"In some ways, you can get too desperate and that overspills a little bit. So the key is to keep doing the right things and keep trusting ourselves and I’m certain we will be fine."

That doesn't mean that Carrick is burying his head in the sand.

"There are always things to do better," he says.

"I'm not sat here thinking we've cracked it. There's the balanced view but then there's also the things we can do better. It's not just the forwards, it's not just the widemen, it's as a team to create space for each other, to be more positive with every little action.

"It's a team thing. As a group we can do things to get better, what it is I'm not going to tell you right now but hopefully it sorts itself out in the weeks to come."

RECOMMENDED READING:

Carrick insists he wouldn't be afraid to mix things up and change his tactical approach if he felt it was necessary - but that's not the case as things stand.

"I'm open minded," he says.

"I've said all along about formations, it's more about principles. We've been pretty consistent with formation but when we're judging on team and shape, we take a balanced view and dig a bit deeper than just results.

"There are times when we might change and have changed for different reasons. Certainly at the minute a lot of things we're doing we feel will benefit us as long as we get a couple of bits right to go along with it."

As Boro demonstrated at Leeds in the Carabao Cup earlier this season, they can be lethal when teams go toe-to-toe - which has inevitably sparked the string of games against sides happy to sit deep.

It's a challenge Boro must overcome if they're to get themselves in the promotion mix this term but but that's easier said than done, as was clear in the second half of last weekend's Premier League encounter between Manchester city and Arsenal.

Carrick, though, insists Boro will "find a way".

Carrick said: "I don't think teams are deliberately setting out to do that. The games have developed like that for a reason, largely because a lot of the good play we've been involved with.

"It's too easy for me to say all teams are doing that. I watched the Man City Arsenal game last week, Arsenal had one man less and pretty much had their whole team in their own box and Man City didn't break them down until the 97th minute, so it shows when there are that many bodies around the box it's not easy to break down.

"We will find a way, I believe that, but it just shows if you are in that situation, that was the prime example, it's not as easy as flicking a switch and having an easy answer."

Boro must now wait to see whether Stoke follow the lead of their recent opponents in their approach when the Potters - under new boss Narcis Pelach - visit the Riverside tomorrow.

Carrick said: “Some teams have set up like that, some haven’t.

"I don’t think teams are necessarily setting up to deliberately sit in and around their box as much as they have done. But who knows?

"Part of the game is figuring out what’s in front of you and finding the solution in different ways. Everyone is entitled to play however they want to play and it’s up to us to find a way of dealing with whatever that is."