Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick has heaped praise on Leeds United loanee Sam Greenwood after the young attacker scored the winning goal to put Leicester City to the sword at the weekend.
The Foxes suffered their second consecutive defeat in eight days, this time at the Riverside Stadium, allowing Ipswich Town and Leeds to gain ground in the race for the automatic promotion spots.
Greenwood’s goal helped his parent club move within eight points of Leicester at the top following a relatively comfortable 2-1 win over newly-promoted Plymouth Argyle at the same time.
Carrick’s Boro had slipped up in recent weeks, picking up just one point from a possible six across their previous two games but a win over the league leaders at the weekend courtesy of Greenwood moved them up to tenth in the table.
The sumptuous free-kick from the 21-year-old was his fourth goal of the season so far for Middlesbrough in 13 appearances and earned him some huge praise from his manager.
Speaking after the game, Carrick called Greenwood a “real weapon” in his side [quotes via Leeds Live]:
“He practices that all the time. He had one before that that I think was probably just a bit too close. You can only get so much power and dip. The one he scored from, I was going to say perfect… it probably was that.
“I kind of had a feeling as he stepped up, I fancied him because it looked like it was set up just at the right spot for him. It’s a hell of a free-kick. There are not many people who can pull that off, but he’s got that in his locker consistently. It’s a real threat and a real weapon for us.”
Writer’s View
Greenwood is an excellent player and could still have a bright future at Elland Road, but he has at least proven this season at Middlesbrough that he’s a Championship-level player.
Even if Daniel Farke has no plans for Greenwood going forward, particularly if the Peacocks are promoted to the Premier League, there will be a host of second-tier clubs lining up to compete for his signature.
Deputy Head of Writing
