United – Overall a deserved win and an emphatic score line in the end. We have battered quite a few teams at home, Barnsley and Reading spring to mind amongst others; and today had been coming for a while. The only thing I would say is on another day we would have scored 10 goals! Clarke especially as superb as he was could have had 6 goals! We did not have it all our own way and they had some decent chances too and we were indebted to a few last-ditch tackles second half but on chances alone; we really could have had a lot more. McGregor was inspired and we put a few more past the post. Hull were right in the game though and of course had a goal to defend which made it even harder.
First half we were not quite at it again; as with QPR and sloppy at times on the ball. Hull scored after a give-away and some poor keeping and had a few other half chances too. However, despite some sloppy play and it being a bitty performance, on another day we could have scored 3 or 4 goals. McGregor denied Sharp and Clarke. We had 2 or 3 other efforts narrowly missed or cleared off the line. We had still peppered the Hull goal and despite the play being not quite as fluent were very unfortunate to go in behind. Still we needed to step up the intensity, move the ball quicker and look after it better. We did that and then some.
Second half we were excellent and really went for it (led to them having a few breakaways too!) and were all over the Hull team. The midfield all upped the game with Coutts, Fleck and Duffy outstanding, Clarke worked so hard and they could not cope with him. I felt the defence all upped the game and won 50/50’s and played higher up the field. We pressed, we tackled and we started to win all our individual battles. We then made sure when we had it we got into great areas and put some good balls across.
Clarke was unfortunate not to score again. We then scored a really well taken goal involving a number of players and then had 3 or 4 other good chances with Sharp, O’Connell and Clarke all missing when on another day we could have scored all of them. Still as poor as they were and the fact we pegged them back so much, they still had 2 or 3 breaks and Stevens, O’Connell and Wright in particular.
At times O’Connell and Carter Vickers were like wing backs so dominant we were and you sensed goals could come at any moment and so it proved. Hull were never going to stem the tide for the whole half and after we went level, you felt there was only one winner. They did have a bit of a spell after we scored but we had all the chances. I cannot recall them having a shot of note second half and Moore barely had anything to do. In contract McGregor made more saves, the defence was pulled all over and United kept creating chance after chance. The stats say it all. 10 corners to 0 tells its own story and we had 59% possession; with 16 shots to 7 -somehow only 6 on target to 2 (it seemed more than that to me!).
United really put Hull to the sword second half. Clarke will get all the plaudits and deservedly so with his work rate, skill and hold up play allied to four goals. However, so many others played well around him too. The midfield stepped up massively after the break and the defence that had been sluggish all started to play on the front foot. I felt like it was wave after wave of attacks and that we would get goals if we kept patient.
It was *****ly important to go into the international break with a win after the set back in the week and you worried at half time (I said I would take a point to my mates) that we had hit a bit of a blip but we powered on second half and made sure there was no let down. It was a superb 2nd half performance and win in the end. Hull may be struggling but they still have a lot of experienced players but were took apart.
Now in the next run of games we have 2 out of 3 at home playing struggling Birmingham and misfiring Fulham. We go to Burton next of course who have been poor at home but kind of glad they won today as they are a side that rarely wins two in a row. With a noisy and packed away end, United have a chance to go back top of the league and put the pressure back on Wolves. At the moment it is important we just keep the wins coming and hopefully we are amongst the frontrunners come the turn of the year. At the moment we are playing really well and games are a delight to attend. Wilder has got such belief in the side that even when behind they can go and win games and win them well.
Hull – They have been on an awful form but were right in the game first half, scored a long ranger and then with a bit of luck, went in leading. They had played some neat football in patches and defended with bodies in the way. They did not look any worse than recent sides to visit Ipswich and Reading and carried more attacking threat. After the break you knew they would have to weather a storm but could not cope and even outside the goals United could have had a lot more.
They had 3 young-ish lads in the back due to injuries. Aina, Clark, Tomori played with Dawson but the defence fell apart second half but they were not helped by experienced performers in midfield such as Larsson, Meyler and Irvine that just lost the battle. The first half had been quite even and they nipped in and won some loose balls, they actually battled and competed and pressed. The striker Campbell ran around and pressed the defence and the midfield did not give us time to settle. However, they maybe ran out of gas and second half we picked them off when they had it but for the most part we had the ball and just pinged it about and kept stretching them from left to right and vice versa. Clarke gave them a torrid time and they could not handle him and it seemed goals were going to come. Dawson tried gamely and McGregor played well but they could not stem the tide and it was one-way traffic for so much of the second half. By full time they looked a sorry bunch as United played triangles around them and even started to embarrass them with little flicks, nutmegs and overs. It had been a demoralising experience for them second half. Their fans could scarcely believe that they had been in the game but just simply fell apart like a pack of cards but again credit to United.
They have been mismanaged recent years and lost so many good players and the ownership continues to frustrate Hull fans. Despite genuine concerns over the mismanagement from top down (they got up deservedly beating Wednesday but never gave it a proper go losing Steve Bruce from the outset and came down rather limply); they still have a squad packed full of talent. They spent over a million quid on Irvine, the lad from Burton and signed Dicko for 3.5 million. They also have a lot of Premier League players of recent years in Dawson, Hernandez (injured – out till after Xmas which is a big blow as he is a really good striker at this level), Larsson, Campbell, Meyler, Mason (injured), McGregor, Marshall etc. They certainly should be doing a lot better than they are. They have a talent in the lad Bowen who had scored a lot of goals and the Polish international, Grosicki, has a really good pedigree. They have hammered a few teams (Birmingham, Burton and Bolton) at home but also took some batterings too away such as today and at Derby. They seem to have a lot of players at the end of their career and then some just starting and it is not quite gelling. The manager ****sky seems a bit like a rabbit in headlights and unable to avert the slide from last season. He actually won 3 titles in 4 seasons at CSKA Moscow and got the Russian job but was unsuccessful as national team manager and then somehow ended up at Hull!
I cannot see them anywhere near the top and as you see with the likes of Sunderland, it is not ridiculous to envisage them getting sucked into a struggle. I think they will move the manager on as I predicted pre-season- my word were: ‘You sense that things might get worse before they get better. I’d wager that they will have a new manager before Xmas after being nearer the bottom than the top at the start of the season.’ Seems like it may be coming true. Indeed, he may not survive this week.
Opposition Man of the Match: Grosicky scored the goal with a long-range strike that was a good hit and showed some flashes and caused Basham some problems first half. The lad Meyler was also good for the first hour and did not give the ball away. The lad Campbell tried hard but got little support. The outstanding player was the goalkeeper McGregor though. He was superb and without him it could have been double figures. The two saves he made from Clarke were instinctive but brilliant reaction saves. I thought Dawson tried to keep things together but he was at full stretch and at fault for the fourth goal.
Opposition Weak link: The midfield did ok first half with Irvine getting on the ball and intercepting a few things but as the game went on they completely lost this area. Larsson looked a long way from the player I remember being a really solid player for Sunderland in the top flight and the lad Bowen was never really in the game. As for the weak links though, take your pick really from the three young lads at the back who all struggled. The two full backs never stopped the balls coming in but the centre back Tomori had a bit of a nightmare and Clarke gave him a really difficult game. He lost out on strength, skill, pace and movement. He had no answer for him.