Despite making a promising start to the season, Middlesbrough have slipped up in recent weeks and now find themselves in 16th place in the Premier League table after seven games played.
Returning to the top flight after aseven year hiatus, Boro looked to make full advantage of their top flight status with five points from their opening three fixtures. Yet, three losses on the trot have curtailed that progress and one of the reasons why may have just been revealed thanks to the Premier League'sofficial website.
The statistics show that Aito Karanka's side have attempted the most amount of long balls from all of the 20 top flight clubs, 14 more than second placed Hull City.
Boro's 547 long ranged passes are not exactly the style of play that the former Real Madrid defender has instilled at the Riverside Stadium, but if it get results you won't hear many Boro fans complaining. So far, the jury is out, but on their current run of form, it may be time for a change in tactics.
Long balls do not exactly mean bad results though, as Everton and Tottenham Hotspur both feature in boththe top five of the long ball table and the top five of the Premier League table.
Unsurprisingly, Arsenal prop up the table by some way, with Arsene Wenger continuing to insist that his team play a fluid passing game from the back.
The official long ball table looks as follows:-