Hull City v Barnsley Match Thoughts .

[animallittle3]

I actually saw something last night that concerned me .

I didn't post my thoughts straight after the game last night because I didn't want to put a negative on a very good win and we haven't had too many of those this season .

When the final whistle went around half a dozen of our players dropped to the floor absolutely dead on their feet after giving everything they had .

Now you tend to see this after you've lost a game and there's a bit of players feeling sorry for themselves in there .

Last night was in my opinion a fairly routine championship victory , Hull had one or two moments but nothing substantial , we weren't chasing a class team around the park for 95 minutes and having to work twice as hard just to compete .

In fact we enjoyed the lions share of possession and everyone will tell you who have played this game that it's easier on the stamina when you have the ball .

I maybe reading too much in to it but my thoughts were that these players may run out of gas because there's no way we can rotate the squad too much .

Interesting to see what our energy levels will be like on saturday .

[perkytyke]

I see what you are saying Animal and Struber will have to rotate at some point, but they did play Boro in a force ten gale and then Hull 4 days later they were bound to be knackered at the end, I think it shows how much they are trying and playing for Struber with the effort they are putting in.
I think we are one key injury away from it all falling apart so he needs to be very careful with training and how he rotates certain individuals? For me If we lose Mowatt or Sollbauer we have had it, Mowatt because he is the key link in the team and Sollbauer because it means Andersen would have to play!
I’ll say now as soon as he rests Halme or Sollbauer and puts Andersen in we will lose!

[Ponte_Steve24]

I actually saw something last night that concerned me .

I didn't post my thoughts straight after the game last night because I didn't want to put a negative on a very good win and we haven't had too many of those this season .

When the final whistle went around half a dozen of our players dropped to the floor absolutely dead on their feet after giving everything they had .

Now you tend to see this after you've lost a game and there's a bit of players feeling sorry for themselves in there .

Last night was in my opinion a fairly routine championship victory , Hull had one or two moments but nothing substantial , we weren't chasing a class team around the park for 95 minutes and having to work twice as hard just to compete .

In fact we enjoyed the lions share of possession and everyone will tell you who have played this game that it's easier on the stamina when you have the ball .

I maybe reading too much in to it but my thoughts were that these players may run out of gas because there's no way we can rotate the squad too much .

Interesting to see what our energy levels will be like on saturday .

The hardest thing is winning the three games and realising your work has just begun. That is mentally challenging. Have these lads got the balls and bottle to brush it away and start from scratch?

[pass_and_move]

I actually saw something last night that concerned me .

I didn't post my thoughts straight after the game last night because I didn't want to put a negative on a very good win and we haven't had too many of those this season .

When the final whistle went around half a dozen of our players dropped to the floor absolutely dead on their feet after giving everything they had .

Now you tend to see this after you've lost a game and there's a bit of players feeling sorry for themselves in there .

Last night was in my opinion a fairly routine championship victory , Hull had one or two moments but nothing substantial , we weren't chasing a class team around the park for 95 minutes and having to work twice as hard just to compete .

In fact we enjoyed the lions share of possession and everyone will tell you who have played this game that it's easier on the stamina when you have the ball .

I maybe reading too much in to it but my thoughts were that these players may run out of gas because there's no way we can rotate the squad too much .

Interesting to see what our energy levels will be like on saturday .

I raised concerns about this during the Jan Window. The fear of burn out and our inability to have the necessary tools to rotate the squad. There's certain similarities for me of the 2013 Flitcroft escape. By that I mean momentum. These lads will be high on adrenaline after 3 successive victories, I think our momentum will carry them through the season just as it did in 2013. However, i this time I think we will be relegated.

[Ponte_Steve24]

I think they've bought themselves time because they need five wins from 11 matches. It's a weight lifted knowing that because everyone at the bottom is playing each other you can be adrift and still afford luxury of six defeats.

[animallittle3]

I raised concerns about this during the Jan Window. The fear of burn out and our inability to have the necessary tools to rotate the squad. There's certain similarities for me of the 2013 Flitcroft escape. By that I mean momentum. These lads will be high on adrenaline after 3 successive victories, I think our momentum will carry them through the season just as it did in 2013. However, i this time I think we will be relegated.

The team lead the championship with the highest number of turnovers through the press .

Now that could be deemed an impressive statistic but my own opinion is that it's because we deploy the tactic far more than any other team at this level and so we are bound to be high up the rankings .

The other statistic which is more commonly known was the lack of success in midweek games up until Wednesday night granted .

Is that just coincidence or is it the fact the style of play is a factor and two games close together doesn't convert with the press , at least the press having to be deployed as much as we need to use it .

It didn't convert last season either a league lower , we won one midweek game and that was back in August 2018 and only the fourth game of a new season .

Our better players are all offensive members of the team and it was Woodrow , Chaplin , Brown and Mowatt who were laid on the floor when the final whistle blew on Wednesday night .

Bahre was subbed early in the second half and he's another one who has struggled to play two games in a few days in the time he's been with us , Oduor looks to have the same issues .

My point is , is that for this group to escape relegation every player in that team has to perform both technically and be at 100% fitness wise for us to do so because we have to deploy the press so much to earn our points .

The problem is that the players who will keep us up are the ones tasked with the press and it's inconceivable that any of them could be given a rest in some games , could Patrick Schmidt come in for Woodrow or Chaplin ? , clearly not .

This post isn't a criticism of the players or the HC but rather more a reflection on how thin the squad is and the reliance on those tasked with implementing the press whilst winning us games .

It's a fecking tall order .

Even though I'm old skool and remember the days when resting players never existed I have to recognise that even for young fit athletes this style of play is brutal .

If anyone thinks Wilko and Hendrie could play this style then I'd suggest they think again because they couldn't .

Yet for all this the club does not lack football players in numerical terms , far from it .

Plenty out on loan , two frozen out and some simply not up to it .

That's down to the flaws in recruitment and the distance between the HC and the recruitment department who operate as two separate identities .

Any relegation escape will be despite the above and not because of it and any success is likely to be seen from them as a job well done and continuation .

Any football brains at the club would look at this quite differently and accept they got away with it .

Guess where my money would be going on ? .

[Ponte_Steve24]

I'm with SBRed on this I don't think the press is a tactic or anything new. It is simply what you should be doing without the ball. Trying to win the fecker back.

The best teams do this better. It's what you do with the ball when you win it back that matters and we're right up there with giving the ball away and unforced errors.

[bill46]

The team lead the championship with the highest number of turnovers through the press .

Now that could be deemed an impressive statistic but my own opinion is that it's because we deploy the tactic far more than any other team at this level and so we are bound to be high up the rankings .

The other statistic which is more commonly known was the lack of success in midweek games up until Wednesday night granted .

Is that just coincidence or is it the fact the style of play is a factor and two games close together doesn't convert with the press , at least the press having to be deployed as much as we need to use it .

It didn't convert last season either a league lower , we won one midweek game and that was back in August 2018 and only the fourth game of a new season .

Our better players are all offensive members of the team and it was Woodrow , Chaplin , Brown and Mowatt who were laid on the floor when the final whistle blew on Wednesday night .

Bahre was subbed early in the second half and he's another one who has struggled to play two games in a few days in the time he's been with us , Oduor looks to have the same issues .

My point is , is that for this group to escape relegation every player in that team has to perform both technically and be at 100% fitness wise for us to do so because we have to deploy the press so much to earn our points .

The problem is that the players who will keep us up are the ones tasked with the press and it's inconceivable that any of them could be given a rest in some games , could Patrick Schmidt come in for Woodrow or Chaplin ? , clearly not .

This post isn't a criticism of the players or the HC but rather more a reflection on how thin the squad is and the reliance on those tasked with implementing the press whilst winning us games .

It's a fecking tall order .

Even though I'm old skool and remember the days when resting players never existed I have to recognise that even for young fit athletes this style of play is brutal .

If anyone thinks Wilko and Hendrie could play this style then I'd suggest they think again because they couldn't .

Yet for all this the club does not lack football players in numerical terms , far from it .

Plenty out on loan , two frozen out and some simply not up to it .

That's down to the flaws in recruitment and the distance between the HC and the recruitment department who operate as two separate identities .

Any relegation escape will be despite the above and not because of it and any success is likely to be seen from them as a job well done and continuation .

Any football brains at the club would look at this quite differently and accept they got away with it .

Guess where my money would be going on ? .

Good post apart from the coach and recruitment working as 2 separate identities.I can assure you the coach beit Stendel or Struber work hand in hand with the recruitment team and also get the final say.

[animallittle3]

I'm with SBRed on this I don't think the press is a tactic or anything new. It is simply what you should be doing without the ball. Trying to win the fecker back.

The best teams do this better. It's what you do with the ball when you win it back that matters and we're right up there with giving the ball away and unforced errors.

Yes that's true that the press tactic is nothing new but we are talking about Gegenpressing which is a fundamental advancement .

Offensive players in the past were never tasked with pressing so high up the pitch whilst still expected to make runs when their team has the ball .

The standard tactic was to retreat to the half way line and let their back four have possession knowing it was a part of the field they couldn't hurt you .

You then condensed the play as a result in your own half denying them time and space .

Half the workload in my opinion for the midfield and hardly anything for the forwards .

I wanted my energy saved to make runs in their half not chase and close down defenders and still be expected to make runs .

Forwards do the most work and run more yards without Gegenpressing .

Had more arguments with defenders about the role over the years , fecking stood about whilst we make lung busting runs and the ball never comes half the time and then it comes again , people never saw half of it because they followed the ball .

Totally different thing is Gegenpressing as opposed to simply pressing .

[animallittle3]

Good post apart from the coach and recruitment working as 2 separate identities.I can assure you the coach beit Stendel or Struber work hand in hand with the recruitment team and also get the final say.

So where were Stendel's experience he asked for following promotion ? .

We've had this debate before , Stendel had the final say on choices presented to him by the recruitment team .

To say he had the final say is true but what if he didn't want any of the choices ?

We employ HC's Bill not managers , fundamentally different role .

Struber has been allowed more of a say I'll give you that with the addition of the two Austrians .

Hopefully the penny has finally dropped with the policy but it didn't have to be this way in my opinion .

We should have brought it in last summer when everyone could see the path that lay ahead .

It may cost us yet and be too late .