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On Saturday, Aidan Morris made his debut for Middlesbrough in front of a raucous home crowd at Riverside Stadium. The Boro picked up a 1-0 win over Swansea on the opening day of English Football League Championship competition-their first opening day victory in ten years.
The former Crew midfielder was a surprise starter in place of injured Jonny Howson. Because he joined the club just over a month ago, head coach Michael Carrick may not have wanted to throw Morris too deep into the fray just yet, but by all accounts, he did not disappoint. FotMob gave Morris a favorable 7.2 rating, but it’s media reports from Teesside Live that really give a good assessment of his performance.
The observations from the Teesside Live reports will not be a surprise to Crew fans. Morris was strong on the ball when in possession and relentless in trying to win back the ball on defense. It was the tenacity without the ball that really pleased observers, because the feeling is this is where Middlesbrough has been lacking in recent years. Even when his sloppy pass in front of the Boro net was nearly turned into a goal by Swansea, observers were impressed by how he was unaffected by it. The biggest thing to take from these reports is Morris did not look out of place. Afterward, Morris had this to say about playing in the Championship,
"“It takes 90 minutes and more, full concentration. We could have won the game by more than one goal, but you see at the end there’s chances for them. So, I think full concentration for 90-plus minutes and the energy and the atmosphere is amazing as well.”"
His debut was made even more special because he became the 1,000th player to appear for Middlesbrough, who is one of the oldest clubs in all of English soccer. Morris and his teammates will be back at it Wednesday as they make the trip to historic Elland Road to take on Leeds United in the first round of the EFL Cup.
Oh, by the way, if you’re considering getting an Aidan Morris Middlesbrough jersey, he’s now wearing number 18 instead of his familiar 8.