Preston North End supporters may have been hoping that, after Chuba Akpom became the first Middlesbrough player in over 30 years to break the 20-goal barrier in a league season, he would take it a little easier when Ryan Lowe’s side came to town.
There was no chance of that; Akpom as ravenous and hungry for goals now as he was when Michael Carrick first arrived back in October. The former Arsenal youngster has been transformed under Carrick, from misfiring marksmen into the Championship’s most dead-eyed assassin.
It took him just 22 minutes to get off the mark against Preston; taking his tally to 25 for the season while setting promotion-seeking Middlesbrough on their way to a thumping 4-0 win.
“I don’t know why it’s clicked this season, is my honest answer,” says Carrick, who has committed his future to Boro amid reported interest from Crystal Palace.
“I’ve known Chuba for five months now and he’s desperate to learn and desperate to improve. The first thing he’ll say is credit to his team-mates as well, and they all work for each other. But he’s talented Chuba.
“He’s got a real presence and he’s playing with a real confidence. He can finish too.”
Carrick may insist that he does not know quite why Akpom is suddenly playing the best football of his nomadic career, but it is no coincidence that this unexpected purple patch blossomed following with the appointment of the Manchester United legend. Carrick, one of England’s brightest young coaches, has handed Akpom something of a free role in his attack; more of a roving ‘number ten’ than an orthodox ‘number nine’.
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It’s an approach which is reaping rewards. Carrick’s free-form system and modern interpretation of positional play doing wonders for Akpom, Ryan Giles, Marcus Forss and more.
But, having already scribed his name into the Middlesbrough history books, Akpom now has his sights fixed firmly on yet another record. Only three players in the history of the Championship have ever scored 30 goals ina single campaign; Glenn Murray, Ivan Toney and Aleksandr Mitrovic.
Few would be foolish enough to bet against Akpom turning three into four.
“The beauty about it is, he is not satisfied,” Carrick adds. He wants to keep pushing and wants to be better, improve.
“He wants to score more goals, but he wants to become a better player all-round because it’s not always about the goals.
“I know that’s what gets the headlines. But it would be easy to get to 20 goals and say to himself; ‘brilliant, well done, that’s a brilliant season’. But he’s striving for more and wants more, and so he should.”
In other news, Report: Bayern Munich now very interested in signing 21-year-old Arsenal-owned player
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