Match Day Thread Hull City v Middlesbrough

d) go to the bar Ernie... and dont worry about a,b and c.... we've done it for you..

 

I see Baz Cooper has finally devoted a piece in the HDM to our woeful performance in midfield. i have been banging on it for a while. Simply put our midifield is atrocious. Its worse than it was last season and then we were very nearly relagaed. We can't seem to string 2 passes together. Our league position belies our actual performances. Not sure what player(s) could turn it around. McCarthy has been bench warming for sometime now, maybe we see what he is made of?

 

Genuine question. UNLESS he has players back who are PROPERLY match fit, does he have the tools to "sort it".
McB, Millar, Belloumi, Lundstram, Matazo, Drameh, Hughes, plus Crooks carrying his injury. It's beyond ridiculous.

 

All I can say is...... lucky bastard. Sat on a ferry in a warm bar whilst we had to put up with that. On an aside, I understand that the delayed kick-off was due to Middlesbrough being stuck in traffic as they were staying at Forest Pines. It took me 90 minutes to get over from Barton due to a 3 car smash on the bridge blocking one lane. If one of the cars had been in the outside lane I guess the bridge would have been closed and the game called off.

Oh, and to answer the question:

D. Pizza and a ****. Works for me

 

Aye, I tried that once…







… but that’s why I’m now banned from Zizzi’s.

 

Something has to be said about the atmosphere and supporters as well. The booing and mass exodus at half-time is just pathetic. So much for the North Stand’s reputation in particular. Two-thirds of them ****ed off. The home atmosphere has been pathetic all season.

 

One reason the bottom half of the north stand ****ed off was because they were facing the wind and everyone got completely soaked not to mention it was freezing anyway - so 4 0 down, soaking wet kegs - the pub probably seemed a better option - that's my guess anyway

 

Serj seems to get things wrong a lot, then has to change again in the second half. Not that I’m advocating change, he’s our guy. The midfield quality doesn’t help.

 

I passed under the bridge at around 5pm yesterday and it was full of emergency vehicles then. Sounds like someone dropped

the ball on the Boro travel side as you'd think they would check the traffic well in advance, even though it was just a short journey.

 

I really don't know if he has the tools but something needs to change, maybe go 3 at the back until we get some stability and confidence. As I'm writing this I'm watching Soccer Saturday who are reporting how aggressively Ipswich are defending their lead against Coventry, closing down spaces and stopping Coventry playing. Is it a shape thing or an attitude change? Maybe a bit of both, but the team's body language when defending last night was shocking.

 

I know the first half was shocking last night but was it really the worst half of football some of you have ever seen city play? Do you not remember some of the absolute turgid dross served up under the likes of Dolan, Hateley, Parkinson etc.

Off the top of my head the first half against Sheff Wed at home last season under Walter was worst than last night when you compare the quality of opposition.

 

Yes - it really was that bad. Admittedly we had some shocking performances under the managers you mention - but how many times did we concede 4 goals in 45 minutes- and we were lucky it was only 4? Last night was truly woeful

 

I don’t think that first half was even the worst first half this season. Thought we were worse in the first half against Stoke. Didn’t see the first half against Norwich as I got the times mixed up but going by what was said on here, Norwich’s xG and what my dad said, we should’ve been 3 or 4 nil down in the first half in that game. Boro had five good chances and were clinical with four of them.

It’s been a common theme all season though. We allow the opposition so many chances so it’s not surprising that a couple or more end up going in every game. That’s why we have the second worst defence in the league for goals conceded and one of the worst for xG against. Some of it is down to individual errors by defenders but I think a bigger part of it is down to the midfield and the space between the lines, which is more of an overarching issue than Ajayi or whoever dawdling on the ball too much.

Against teams like Oxford and Charlton which don’t have many technical players, we can pin them in their own half more and they don’t have the quality to play through us. Against the likes of Boro, Ipswich, Bristol City and even Blackburn who have a lot or even a couple of quality players in the side, they can play a simple straight pass that cuts through our entire team like piss through snow. Off the ball, the midfield should be organised and disciplined as a second line or block in front of the defence to prevent or discourage those straight passes by the opposition but the midfield don’t do that. The whole midfield tends to be scattered off the ball so there’s so much room for other teams to play through us.

 

Not sure what your point is but I think you're missing it. We're discussing an ongoing issue that the manager seems unable to correct and threatens to derail what was looking like a possible promotion push. What's your point?

 

To add onto this, there’s a phrase tacticos use called ‘rest defence’ which refers to a team’s defensive positioning when they have the ball. Our rest defence is piss poor. In possession, when playing 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, we have both fullbacks getting high and wide, Slater gets forward, Crooks often gets forward and Hadžiahmetović doesn’t get as high but also doesn’t have the positional discipline to stay back either. In any case, our rest defence is a 2-2 or 2-1 comprised of the two centre-backs and two or just one midfielder. You can see why we’re so vulnerable when the other team gets the ball back as we don’t have enough bodies back.

Lots of teams go for a 3-2 rest defence these days. Usually, that means one of the fullbacks tucking in as a third centre-back. Guardiola’s treble-winning team had Stones joining Rodri as a holding midfielder whilst the fullbacks Walker and Gvardiol/Aké tucking in as centre-backs either side of Dias. I’m not suggesting we do exactly that but we need better positioning when we lose the ball and a few more bodies deeper to cover space whilst the rest of the team tracks back.

This is also why Liverpool have been so **** this year. They bought all these players for big money but they’re unbalanced. Kerkez, Frimpong, Mac Allister, Wirtz, Szoboszlai and even their defensive mid Gravenberch all like to push forward when they have the ball. That leaves only the two centre-backs back. It’s suicidal football.

 

I've been watching since 1969. Yes, it was certainly up there. 4-0 down. Not even one shot, never mind one on target. We literally struggled to string 2 passes together. Virtually no threat up top whatsoever. It really was that bad.

 

Depends on how much of a masochist you are Ernie

Or, if you like slapstick comedy? (Egan & Pandur)

Edit…..doesn’t quite sound right, masochism, slap, stick, you know what I mean, hopefully I’ll get m’coat.

 

I'm just saying however long we've all supported city I'm sure we've all seen and experienced a lot worst than we did last night.

I 100% agree though it is a worrying ongoing issue that needs addressing.

 

Sounds odd given the score but I don't think it was even the worst half this season in terms of overall performance.

 

I would rather lose 4-1 than draw 0-0.