Hull City's pussy cat passivity against Ipswich Town a warning on how not to play it their way
Hull City should have learnt a lot from their 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town about how to play their own brand of football.
But they were lessons they ought to have taken on board a fortnight earlier, so we will wait and see if it goes in this time.
Coach Sergej Jakirovic has been in situ for nearly a year-and-a-half now, and for a long time, the Tigers seemed to have got his approach off pat.
But Saturday was a perfect “before and after” of how not to and then how to play their way.
The Tigers lost the first half 1-0 with timid football deserving of harsher punishment. But in the second they were aggressive, and came out 2-1 winners. The net result was a fifth draw already this Premier League season.
If you did not know better in the first half, you would have thought the team in black and amber was respectfully playing away to a far superior side, not at home to one below them in the table on goal difference.
Most teams in the top flight are more talented – not necessarily better – than Jakirovic's, so they tailor their tactics accordingly, Hull wrapping themselves in a double blanket of a 5-4-1 formation and inviting to the opposition to play. They even did in when alongside Ipswich in last season’s Championship.
It suited the Tractor Boys, who are much more eager to get the ball down but have not found anyone so eager to accommodate that since returning to the big league.
But there is a bit more to it than just that.
For it to work, Hull must be good defensively and effective on the counter-attack. They were neither for 45 minutes, playing with a passivity that was their downfall at Fulham too as if they had wiped it from their memories.
It took 20 minutes for Ipswich to play behind rather than in front of the Tigers but the hosts were not resolute enough in keeping them out, and far too sloppy on the ball.
The first-half passing accuracies of the teams – 74.1 per cent to 90.1 – said it all. Over the whole season, no other club has had worse or better.
It frustrated the home fans, who booed their players off at half-time. The only solace was that somehow it was only 1-0. That would be crucial.
Ipswich had taken the lead in the 22nd minute when Abdoul Ouattara glided rather too easily past Elliot Stroud and fed Florentino Luis to smash the ball past Konstantinos Tzolakis at the near post.
It summed up the passivity of the pussy cats.
When Semi Ajayi over-ran the ball he was fortunate Tim Iroegbunam – the exception to the dismal Hull rule in the first half – got back to tackle, and that referee Thomas Kirk spotted what must have been quite a soft foul on Oli McBurnie before the ball ended up in the net from Julio Enciso at the corner.
Hull had got slightly better by pushing John Egan into midfield, but it took until 39 minutes for Iroegbunam to take their first shot, and it was woefully wide.
And it needed the half-time introduction of Matt Crooks for Hull to finally live up to their nickname.
Crooks has struggled at times with the step up in class this season, but was instrumental in this game.
Rattling very late into former Leeds United and Middlesbrough winger Jack Clarke after an hour earnt him a fifth yellow card this season, the first player to that mark in the Premier League. But Arsenal away is not the worst game for a team in survival mode to miss a big player, and the tackle was another sign of Tigers baring their teeth.
Hull's goals mixed McBurnie brilliance with Ipswich culpability.
The Scotland striker is a big unit who gets kicked black and blue most games, but he can also drop into midfield and show class, as he did just before the hour, turning a ball around the corner for Iroegbunam to sprint over the halfway line to.
"It was a weird one because I wasn't looking to shoot," he admitted. "It was almost like he was forcing me to shoot, the centre-back. No one came and engaged me. It was like, I have to shoot now."
And if daring a player who had never scored a Premier League goal to score may have seemed low risk, egging McBurnie to find the bottom corner when he stood over a free-kick in the D was nonsensical.
McBurnie could go straight past the wall, no need for bend, and goalkeeper Christian Walton even touched the ball on its way in. After 930 days between Premier League goals, it was his second in a week. Not even London buses are like that.
With the tables turned, that should have been the cue for a home win, but if Ipswich were too stand-offish with Iroegbunam, Hull were too weak in the tackle when Enciso was on the ball, even if his 74th-minute finish was wonderful.
With about 20 minutes to find a winner, both teams tried, but neither could do it.
A draw was okay for Hull, who remain above the point-per-game mark even as winning is becoming an increasingly distant memory. If heeded, the lessons of the day could be much more valuable.
Hull City: Tzolakis; Coyle (Norton-Cuffy 77), Ajayi, Egan (Crooks HT), Mendy, Giles; Iroegbunam (Morita 77), Slater (Gelhardt 90); Belloumi, Stroud (Cho 58); McBurnie.
Unused substitutes: Phillips, McNair, Herrington, Mouzakitis.
Ipswich Town: Walton; Ouattara, Diop, O'Shea, Davis; Palacios, Florentino (Matusiwa 69); Fatawu (Maeda 69), Enciso (Akpom 90+4), Philogene (Clarke 69); Emersonn (Flemming 77).
Unused substitutes: Furlong, Greaves, Nunez, Scherpen.
Referee: T Kirk (Manchester).
TALKING POINTS
Star man: In the first half, Tim Iroegbunam was the only Hull player to look the part, energetic and driving his team forward. He deserved his first Premier League goal, and is the first player to force his way into the team which started the season so well. Naughty step: Summer signings Sorba Thomas, Robinhio Vaz, Lucas Gourna and Jens Hjerto-Dahl did not make the bench. "They need to train much better, especially Vaz," explained Sergej Jakirovic. Formation: 5-4-1 has served Hull well so far, but this was not the first time they have looked better after switching to a back four. Head above water: More points than gams is an important target for teams looking to avoid Premier League relegation, and Hull have stayed above the line all season.