Middlesbrough and Michael Carrick may miss forgotten man more than they realise | OneFootball

Tommy Smith has announced his retirement from football, and his defensive dependability could have made a huge difference this season.

Middlesbrough could have done with newly retired Tommy Smith's defensive abilities in their Tees-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland on Monday night.

Bragging rights in the North East belong to the Black Cats as Regis Le Bris' side punished Michael Carrick's Boro despite falling behind early in the game.

Middlesbrough only had themselves to blame for not taking something from the game, as all three of Sunderland's goals consisted of varying levels of calamity as far as the Teessiders are concerned.

This trend of self-inflicted defensive wounds has been the storyline of Middlesbrough's season, and it's perhaps offered a reminder as to how much they are missing one player in particular.

Smith had become somewhat of a forgotten man at the Riverside Stadium, but this season's mishaps at the back should send a loud and clear signal as to how much his absence is and will continue to be felt.

The 32-year-old announced his retirement from football on Wednesday, having not kicked a ball for Boro since rupturing his Achilles back in October 2023. Prior to that, he'd been Carrick's first-choice starting right-back throughout the 2022/23 season, making 40 appearances for the club that year.

Despite not carrying much of an attacking threat - a trait that Carrick tends to desire from his full-backs, the former Stoke City and Huddersfield Town man provided a solid and dependable defender to the right flank of Boro's backline.

His presence in the team from an experience and leadership standpoint was evident too, whilst his defend-first mindset enabled the likes of Isaiah Jones and Marcus Forss to not have to worry as much about being caught too high up the pitch and leaving the right flank exposed.

Luke Ayling is enduring a difficult season in Middlesbrough's right-back spot

Since suffering his devastating injury, however, Luke Ayling has largely been the one to commandeer the right side of Middlesbrough's defence.

After initially impressing during a short-term loan spell with the club last season, Boro moved quickly to secure his permanent signature in the summer. The 33-year-old penned a two-year contract at the Riverside Stadium in the summer, but his performances so far this term haven't seen him build upon his fruitful start to his time on Teesside.

Unlike Smith, the former Leeds United man is very much an attack-minded full-back, and his crossing and through-ball ability has been the architect behind a handful of goals and big chances created this season.

However, what he's been offering in attack has come at the cost of being as reliable at the back, with a number of Middlesbrough's cheap goals conceded being able to be largely traced back to him.

His tendency to jump out of defence in an attempt to either press or get in front of an opposition player to intercept the pass has seen him get caught out of position multiple times this term, with Preston North End's first goal in their 2-1 win over Middlesbrough on 25 January being a good example of this.

What's costing Carrick's side from cementing themselves as a play-off outfit at the moment is the number of goals they're conceding, and so despite Boro's attack being one of the most potent in the Championship, constantly putting them behind the eight ball due to shipping far too many avoidable goals isn't conducive to winning football matches.

Carrick's cutting edge in attack is sharp enough to inflict enough damage on opposition sides to pick up three points most weekends. What's missing is solidity and stoutness in defence, but that's somewhat to be expected when the vast majority of Boro's backline consists of players who want to get forward too.

Therefore, if Smith hadn't suffered that injury which has forced him to retire this week, he may well have gone a long way to helping shore up the defensive weaknesses at the back and helped put a stop to Middlesbrough's seemingly unshakeable habit of hurting themselves.