Hull City

[pete0]

 

 

couldn't tell if it was a dive or not..if it was then shame on him..don't want divers at this club

The Gerrard/Rooney type or what may become known as the England dive. I can see why they do it as most refs don't have the balls to give pens if there is no contact, but we should call for better officials not use sly tactics to make their job easier.

[Matt]

 

If that shot had been an inch to the left we'd be about what a superb & cool finish it was.

 

Far too early to judge.

ifs, buts and maybes, Mike. That's the 4th attempt he's had to tuck a goal away from well inside the area. I was impressed with 1st half of last season - even had him in my fantasy team - but it looks to me likes he's done a Jela. Rather sell them both for 10-12m and buy 1 solid striker (Rhodes for example) because neither Kone nor Jela have taken their chances.

[Romey 1878]

ifs, buts and maybes, Mike. That's the 4th attempt he's had to tuck a goal away from well inside the area. I was impressed with 1st half of last season - even had him in my fantasy team - but it looks to me likes he's done a Jela. Rather sell them both for 10-12m and buy 1 solid striker (Rhodes for example) because neither Kone nor Jela have taken their chances.

 

 

It's not the first time he's managed to hit the post when it was easier to score as well.

 

I was sat there laughing my head off after the miss. People must have thought I was a bit mad. Maybe that's why Martinez bought him; for the shits and giggles he'll provide!

[Romey 1878]

I thought we started the game very well and were dominating the game. We had control of the ball, passed it accurately and with purpose. Everyone was wanting the ball and each attack was a team effort. Hull were chasing shadows and I was thinking that if we could break them down that we'd have a comfortable win. We deservedly took the lead through Mirallas, albeit it was a lucky goal really. But we don't get the luck going our way all that often so I'm more than willing to take it when it comes our way. After we took the lead, though, our levels dramatically dropped and Hull started to get a foothold in the game and their confidence grew and it showed in their play. They saw more of the ball which in turn meant that they could be more of a threat. They got back in the game in more than just possession and were on level terms before half-time. I thought Baines defended the situation very poorly as he was beaten far too easily to allow the ball to be played into the box for Sagbo to smash in.

 

Second half we saw a lot of the ball but I didn't think we did very much with it at all. We struggled to impose ourselves due to a lack of intensity and a lack of movement from players off the ball. Everything was played at a pedestrian pace and I didn't think we'd manage to find that second goal. Bringing on Pienaar changed that. He brought a freshness and directness to our play. Ossie's been a good servant but he's a pointless wide man in the modern age and Pienaar gave us what we needed out there. He scored with his very first touch after a good move involving another 4 players. What a cool finish it was too.

 

It was good that we showed that we can grind out a result under Martinez even when we're not at our best. And it's also a positive that even below par we restricted Hull and they weren't really a threat from open play. However, the negatives were there too. Our intensity levels were simply not good enough. Our movement was lacking for the most part. And the biggest concern was our defending, again. Especially from set-pieces. It was scary just how many free headers they had throughout the game. Every time they put the ball in the box I wanted to hide behind my hands. Better, more clinical sides, will punish us badly if we allow them that much space. Our centre-backs had a bit of a shitty game all round really and if they can't get used to being asked to play it out from the back pretty quickly they'll more than likely find themselves replaced.

 

 

Howard - Couldn't do a thing about their equaliser and wasn't really called upon to do anything else. Played a part in our winning goal as well. So a fairly good afternoon for Tim.

 

 

Baines - Offered very little resistance for their equaliser but was pretty good going forward and was involved in the majority of our attacks.

 

Distin & Jagielka - I'm putting them together because they were a joint nightmare yesterday. The pair of them defended set-pieces terribly and it's a wonder we didn't concede more than one because of that alone. Then you've got Jagielka thinking he's fucking Beckenbauer spraying long balls out from the back, except he failed to find a team mate every time and handed possession back to Hull. Distin looked like the ball at his feet was a totally alien concept to him; awkward does not do justice to how he looked in possession of the ball. Even though Jags is captain and Distin's pace at the back is valuable I think Martinez will have his eye out for replacements for the pair of them (Stones is probably one that's already here).

 

Coleman - A nothing game really tbh. Other than a couple of forages forward in the second half we didn't use him an awful lot in an attacking capacity and I don't remember him being called into action too much in defence.

 

 

Mirallas - A better performance from him than in recent games in that I actually realised he was playing and he influenced things (goal and an assist) but I still didn't think he was anywhere close to as good as we know he can be. He started the game looking very good and then got his goal. I thought that goal would give him a much needed confidence boost and he'd go on from there, but I didn't think that happened. Some improvement is better than nothing though.

 

Barry - I know he was lucky to be on the pitch but he was easily one of our best players and covered a phenomenal amount of ground throughout the game. He was everywhere. When Baines went forward he covered the left flank for him time after time. And he could see how uncomfortable our defenders were at playing the ball around at the back and seemed to make a conscious decision to drop very deep in the second half as much as possible so he could receive the ball from them. He also marshalled the space in front of the defence brilliantly too and was a big factor in why Hull weren't much of a threat from open play. Despite a couple of bad challenges he also put in some great challenges too to win the ball back. His partnership with McCarthy is blossoming and he looks like an astute signing. My MOTM.

 

McCarthy - I was so pleased with his performance yesterday and I hope it's gone some way to proving some of our fans wrong. His energy and willingness to put himself about by putting challenges in were invaluable to us. He and Barry were the reasons why Hull found it difficult to get at us from open play.

 

Osman - I didn't actually think he had a bad game per se, I just don't think he offers enough to play in that position. He doesn't have the strength to make up for his lack of pace to get past his man so he's always looking to lay the ball off for someone else to finish the job. His position should only be centrally but we have better options than him there too so hopefully now Pienaar's back it'll be the end of him as a starter.

 

 

Barkley - It wasn't a great performance from him but there were still some good things that he did, so I'm not going to get too downbeat about it because this is what you expect from a player making his way in the game; inconsistency. His passing wasn't as good as we've come to expect but at other times it was top notch. He showed the ability to go past players like they weren't there, other times he'd get caught in possession. He showed intelligence to be in the right place to get to Lukaku's knock down and then lay the ball off to Mirallas for our winner, but at other times showed poor decision making by shooting when in an impossible situation or passing when a shot really should have been taken. It'll all come together. All in good time.

 

 

Lukaku - Completely dominated by the Hull defence. He was locked in Davies' back pocket from start to finish and didn't get a sniff. What was disappointing though was that he just seemed to accept it and didn't try to do anything to combat the situation i.e. change his movement. In fact, his movement throughout the game was abysmal and he seemed disinterested.

[Matt]

Usual great write up, Mark. Just swap McCarthy for Barry and I'd agree it it all

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

I thought we started the game very well and were dominating the game. We had control of the ball, passed it accurately and with purpose. Everyone was wanting the ball and each attack was a team effort. Hull were chasing shadows and I was thinking that if we could break them down that we'd have a comfortable win. We deservedly took the lead through Mirallas, albeit it was a lucky goal really. But we don't get the luck going our way all that often so I'm more than willing to take it when it comes our way. After we took the lead, though, our levels dramatically dropped and Hull started to get a foothold in the game and their confidence grew and it showed in their play. They saw more of the ball which in turn meant that they could be more of a threat. They got back in the game in more than just possession and were on level terms before half-time. I thought Baines defended the situation very poorly as he was beaten far too easily to allow the ball to be played into the box for Sagbo to smash in.

 

 

 

It seems to be a recurring theme this season, one minute its quick, sharp passing and slick movement and we look like a real footballing side. The next minute the passing goes to pot and the some of the players look like they've never been introduced before.

I thought we played some great stuff early on and had Hull chasing shadows but from the moment we scored Hull looked the better side. All the things we were doing well we were suddenly hopeless at.

 

I suppose its going to take time to find that level of consistency but in the meantime its good to see that we were capable of grinding out a result

 

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/everton/8980932/merson:-martinez-will-be-pleased-with-result

Edited October 20, 2013 by duncanmckenzieismagic

[weebittight]

Only saw the highlights. Got the rub of the green on a couple of major decisions I thought. Three points - and only four off the top of the league.

[Hafnia]

I know Kone has a fair bit to prove to many but I think he will come good. He's extremely spritely, hard running and puts the defender on the back foot. His effort that hit the post was maybe a case of "trying to be more precise than he needed to be" - bit a couple of inches to the left and we would be hailing a tremendous finish.

 

Glad McCarthy is proving the initial doubters wrong. Like a young Peter Reid.

[weebittight]

Agree on Kone. Game of inches isn't it?. I have a feeling when this chap finally notches it is going to be an important one at it will kick start his season.

[Sibdane]

I agree. Kone has great movement, and once he puts in that first goal I believe a plethora of goals will follow.

[Brett Angel]

Kone is waiting for the derby to bag a second half hatrick. I can be patiant :-)

[Matt]

Agree on Kone. Game of inches isn't it?. I have a feeling when this chap finally notches it is going to be an important one at it will kick start his season.

not when youre 4 foot out with a near open goal...

 

I agree. Kone has great movement, and once he puts in that first goal I believe a plethora of goals will follow.

 

 

Kone is waiting for the derby to bag a second half hatrick. I can be patiant :-)

hope you 2 are both right...

[Sibdane]

 

hope you 2 are both right...

 

Me too!

[Bailey]

Yeh I have no worries about Kone either. Even if he doesnt score a goal this season his cobtribution to the team will be far greater than Jelavics. He will score though and I look forward to seeing him getting more game time.

[Brett Angel]

I agree with you Mr Bailey... When defenders are fucked after 45 with lukaku I think they'd choose to play against jelly over kone any day..... That's why he'll be an asset... I think back the fa cup game against Wigan. He opened are defence up totally by hugging the flanks something jelly does not do.... Nothing against jelly though, just think his confidence is at it's lowest.