Michael Carrick addresses controversial Middlesbrough FC, Delano Burgzorg decision | OneFootball

Michael Carrick spoke on the controversial decision to drop Delano Burgzorg for last weekend's home defeat to Watford

Michael Carrick has defended the contentious decision to drop Delano Burgzorg for last Saturday's 1-0 home defeat to Watford, where the influential Dutch forward was reduced to the role of a second-half substitute.

Middlesbrough have endured a tricky run of form following the turn of the year and now find themselves slipping out of play-off contention, with significant pressure growing from supporters surrounding Carrick's future.

Indeed, the Teesiders have won just two of their nine matches in 2025 thus far, with Saturday's loss to the Hornets consigning them to their fourth defeat in as many games. Middlesbrough were widely expected to kick-on in the latter stages of the season following an ambitious January transfer window, which saw the likes of Ryan Giles, Morgan Whittaker, Samuel Illing-Junior and former Leicester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho welcomed to the Riverside Stadium.

That's not exactly how it has played out just yet, but one player who has turned in the opposite direction to grow in importance is Burgzorg. The 26-year-old joined last summer from Mainz after a mixed loan spell in the Championship with Huddersfield Town and took time to adjust to life at Middlesbrough, but has been the side's leading performer as of late.

Burgzorg found the back of the net in three straight matches against Preston North End, Sunderland and Sheffield United before being dropped for the visit of Tom Cleverley's side in a shock call from Carrick.

The 43-year-old's decision was hardly vindicated when he was forced to introduce Burgzorg at the interval, with the winger offering the strongest threat for Boro throughout the second-half.

Michael Carrick addresses controversial Delano Burgzorg, Watford FC decision

Ahead of Middlesbrough's trip to fellow play-off hopefuls Bristol City on Friday evening, Carrick was quizzed on the reasoning behind's Burgzorg omission from the starting line-up last time out.

Carrick hailed Burgzorg's improvement over the course of the season but ultimately played down the decision to drop him for Watford.

He told the press: "I think we always make decisions.

"That's just part of it, whether it's tactically or certain things in games we want to do better. That's just the decisions we have to make.

"I think Della has improved an awful lot since he's been here, positionally and his understanding of what we expect from him in the role.

"I think it's quite clear as the season has gone on that he's improved an awful lot. He's an important player, we have some good players across that frontline and we can make the most of that."

Middlesbrough FC must return to winning ways against Bristol City

Despite growing calls from supporters in recent weeks to part ways with Carrick, chairman Steve Gibson is still backing the ex-Manchester United midfielder. His belief that Carrick is capable of guiding Boro back to the promised land remains intact for the time being, but one must wonder how long that will be retained unless significant and swift improvements are made.

Those really need to begin taking shape, starting with Boro's trip to a Bristol City side sat three places above them in eighth tomorrow evening. Middlesbrough must stop the rot after a four-game losing streak and yet another defeat will only prompt more scrutiny from supporters while pushing the promotion dream further out of sight and perhaps loosening Gibson's faith, too.

Middlesbrough will surely have a better chance at returning to winning ways if Burgzorg comes back into the starting side.

Given the impression he made against Watford, and just how encouraging the ex-Huddersfield attacker has been as of late, that ought to happen, and it will be interesting to see if Carrick has learned his lesson.