Julio Can Become Fans' Favourite
JULIO ARCA can make himself a firm favourite at the Riverside with the kind of skilful display he produced this afternoon, Gareth Southgate believes.
The former Sunderland midfielder capped his best display yet since switching Wearside for Teesside with an excellent strike to seal the three points for Southgate's men.
And although the Argentinian's Boro career started badly with a broken foot sustained in the opening day defeat at Reading, Southgate says we're now starting to see what he's capable of.
"We've been playing Julio in the centre of midfield to give us some creativity and he was excellent today and it's great that he got a goal," he said.
"We know how comfortable he is in possession and sometimes you need someone in midfield who can put his foot on the ball and show some composure.
"He's been unfortunate with the injury at the start of the season but he's shown the class he's got today and I think the crowd will really take to him."
Boro looked to be cruising after Arca's goal shortly after the break, which doubled home side's advantage given by Yakubu's first half opener.
But Charlton, who had looked dispirited and short of ideas up to then, rallied at the end and caused a few late scares.
"I thought we deserved the win on the day but we should have made it easier for ourselves and in the 15 or 30 minutes Mark Schwarzer had to make a couple of great saves to keep it at 2-0," said Southgate.
"It was nice not to go behind and not to give away a penalty. With the way Charlton set up we knew if they had scored first it would have hard to break them down."
After starting the game in the bottom three for the first time since the season got underway, the three points took Boro up four places to14th in the Premiership table.
"It's so tight, if we'd got some sort of result against Fulham as well we would have been within touching distance of them too. There's loads of football still to come and points to play for and we have to build on what we've done today."
Meanwhile, Southgate tonight said he would love to keep striker Mark Viduka at the Riverside after his current contract ends in the summer.
The big Aussie was subbed late in the game after producing another eye-catching display alongside Yakubu.
"I thought he had put a tremendous amount into the game and with a busy period coming up, he'd given us everything on the day," said Southgate.
"His hold up play is terrific and he makes a significant difference for us when he's in the side.
"I haven't hidden the fact that I would love him to stay here. He's a tremendous player and he can be a leader at the front for us.
"We've not had a chance to talk yet but at the moment his performances are doing the talking for him."
