Football has always been a game of incremental changes. The vehement defence of the beautiful game's heritage keeping the integrity of the sport intact whilst allowing for steady changes to seep through when necessary.
Most changes are met with opposition however, every now and then, a major shift in the landscape of football takes place, allowing a sea of once opposed changes to break through and change the game forever.
Ambitiously dubbed 'project restart', the Premier League's return from the first coronavirus lockdown was an occasion that saw a large reposition of the sport with once rebuffed changes able to work their way into the rule books.
Many aspects of pandemic era football are thankfully confined to the depths of Premier League years and 'on this day in...' social media posts; horrifically timed crowd noises, cardboard cut out fans and the embarrassingly awkward socially distanced goal celebrations are all features of the game that I have worked tirelessly to remove from my memory.
Hull City played much of 2020/21 season without fans in the MKM Stadium (BBC)
On the other hand, some of the changes that came as a result of this bizarre chapter of football history have remained a part of the game long after the masks have come off and the fans have reentered the grounds.
Driven by increasing injuries and greater fixture congestion, there had always been an appetite amongst England's elite clubs for the number of substitutions per team per game to change from three to five. For those teams competing in the latter stages of domestic and European competitions this was a no brainer however, for the sides languishing towards the foot of the table, it tilted the scales even further in the direction of the teams with the most money and inevitably, the best squads.
Project restart offered a chance to soft launch this rule change under the guise of protecting the athletic condition of players who had spent the best part of three months confined to their own homes, far away from the state of the art pitches, recovery rooms and gyms they had become accustomed to.
Further fears surrounding post-lockdown fitness of players birthed the idea to bring in drinks breaks, allowing squads an opportunity to catch their breathe at the around 30th minute point of each half.
This rule was nothing new to professional football with leagues taking place in warmer climates often allowing time for mid-match refreshments. Drinks breaks have always been commonplace amongst teams battling the blistering heat of the Southern Hemisphere rather than the cold, rain and wind associated with football in Britain. English audiences were briefly made accustomed to these stoppages with the 2014 World Cup in Brazil mandating such breaks in order to combat the heat synonymous with South American summers.
Whilst effective and familiar to players and fans alike, the decision to bring these breaks to England still proved controversial. During Tottenham's 1-0 win over Everton in July 2020, Sky pundit, Gary Neville voiced his concerns for hydration breaks saying that:
"They are more tactical breaks than a drinks break. They are mini team-talks, every single one of them. I'm not quite sure they were designed for that."
To some extent, Neville was right however, any manager would be foolish to not impart some tactical wisdom to their team whilst they are conveniently huddled in one place mid-game. Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp offered a defence of the change stating that:
"You really go there for a drink, but you can give one or two information. All coaches have the same opportunity in that moment, so that's good, it's fair."
Jose Mourinho using a hydration break to speak to his players (INews)
Klopp's rationale towards hydration breaks appears the more reasonable. These quarter-match team talks were less of the dark arts and more of an opportunity that you might as well take whilst it's right in front of you.
With hydration breaks not formally adopted by the Premier League following the end of the pandemic, that hasn't stopped managers coming up with cunning ways to buy themselves a tactical re-think with their team outside of the traditional stoppages in play.
That takes us to Hull City's match against West Brom last Friday night...
Liam Rosenior is a striking presence on the touchline. Abandoning the school-uniform-esque dress code adopted by many Championship managers of either the ill-fitting club tracksuit or the somehow even worse fitting suit; Rosenior fits in somewhere between the laid back athleisure of a Bundesliga manager and the effortlessly suave attire of a Diego Simeone.
Rosenior's dress sense reflects his overall demeanour. Even when things are going bad, he remains composed, avoiding the red faced meltdowns all too common with the managers competing in England's second division. However, if a meltdown was to occur in the Hull dugout, it would have likely come during the first twenty minutes of last weeks game against West Brom.
Since taking over at Hull City in December, Liam Rosenior has been led the Tiger's away from the relegation zone (Norfolk Live)
Expectations were set fairly low amongst the Tiger's faithful going into the game. A dismal
1-0 loss on the road against Bristol City made the visit of a resurgent Baggies side one devoid of much optimism before a ball had even been kicked.
The opening passages of this fixture makes for fairly grim viewing for Hull fans, facing five shots by the away side and failing to muster up any threat of their own. Expected playmaking outlets, Regan Slater, Ozan Tufan and Ryan Longman were nowhere to be seen, managing just six passes between them whilst Hull's entire midfield and attack had less touches on the ball than West Brom midfielder, Okay Yokuslu had on his own.
With just 25% possession and many fans in the stands bracing themselves for nothing short of a drubbing at the hands of their Midlands opponents, the feeling amongst the Tiger's coaching staff was that something surely had to change and fast.
A simple clashing of boots between Regan Slater and Darnell Furlong presented the perfect opportunity for Rosenior to implement the changes his side had been crying out for. Furlong is quick to his feet, returning to his position as his team progresses up the pitch. Slater on the other hand is still on the ground, evidently not in significant pain but seemingly enough to see the Hull medical staff sprint from their seats to tend to the midfielder.
As play is stopped and treatment is received, Rosenior makes two gestures; first one to his own bench to come join him on the edge of his technical area before making the same call towards the players on the pitch. What started as a routine injury stoppage has now become a full blown tactical discussion, and a much needed one at that.
The huddle is formed just outside off the pitch, no Hull players are having refreshments or talking amongst themselves, all eyes are on the man in the grey scarf, notebook in hand, giving orders to his team. The discussion does not appear one of anger or frustration but the calm pragmatism Rosenior is known for.
Liam Rosenior gathers his players for team talk following Regan Slater's injury (Hull City)
It takes a good manager to admit when they're wrong and an even better one to do something about it.
I think that a lot of Hull's early problems stemmed from their pressing and an overall inability to win the ball back quickly. During the opening 25 minutes, West Brom's two centre backs had managed to rack up 67 passes between themselves, two more than the entire Hull team during this time.
Rosenior opted for a low defensive line during the early passages of the game, with the two wingers dropping back to form a clear line with the holding midfield players. When West Brom's centre backs had the ball, a midfielder would break out from the line to pressure the defence, proving largely ineffective due to not only the deep lying midfield set up but also the lack of support shown by the Tiger's only striker, Benjamin Tetteh.
In this instance, Greg Doherty breaks out of the midfield line to press the defence however, as Tetteh has not pressed with him and the rest of midfield are sat so deep, the West Brom player can make the easy pass to Yokuslu who has dropped deep to receive the ball.
This style of pressing proves largely ineffective against a team like West Brom who enjoy possession. Sitting back and allowing the defence to pass the ball out of the back freely means that whilst you may be better structured defensively, you have almost no hope of ever winning the ball back in the opponent's territory.
The tactical tweak implemented by Rosenior saw Hull shift from a very regimented 4-5-1 to a far more fluid 4-2-3-1, allowing a lot more freedom amongst the Hull attackers in both final third play as well as when pressing the opposition.
If you then look at Hull's pressing following the tactical rethink by Rosenior, you can see the changes firsthand. The solid midfield line has been broken up and the wingers have pressed further forward, stopping any potential passes out to the fullbacks.
Xavi Simons also moves further forward, preventing the easy passes to the midfield that were so common early on in the game. Tetteh, also plays a bigger role on the defensive end, blocking the option for a pass back to the keeper as well as moving out towards the other Baggies midfielder in space.
On this occasion, as a result of the Hull press, Dara O'Shea is forced into a clearance out of the back rather than allowing for a simple pass out of the back. The hastily struck clearance is met by the Hull defence who send the ball back up the pitch towards Tetteh.
Long balls had been inefficient for Hull in the first twenty minutes of the game with target man, Benjamin Tetteh, having 13 touches but only managing two passes. This suggests that whilst Tetteh was winning the ball, his options were limited for who to pass to. This changed following Rosenior's tactical tweak with Slater moving from a winger position to a more central one. Slater found himself playing directly behind Tetteh, giving the Ghanaian an option on the ball as well proving more effective in the press.
It was seemingly a moment in which all of Rosenior's changes came together that saw Hull take the lead. The Hull press forced West Brom into a long ball, won easily by Sean McLoughlin and sent up towards Tetteh. The Tiger's striker wins the ball and finds Slater who is perfectly poised to receive the headed pass from his teammate. A pass back to Tetteh from Slater and a superb finish later, Hull find themselves 1-0 up with their first shot of the game and all thanks to the changes made by Rosenior.
Benjamin Tetteh celebrates scoring the opening goal vs West Brom (Hull City)
Twelve minutes into the second half, Hull doubled their lead through an Ozan Tufan corner which ricocheted off Dara O'Shea and found its way into the back of the net. The thirty minutes of football that followed saw a mix of staunch Hull defence and what can only be described as calamitous attempts by the visitors to get back into the game.
With only a quarter of their shots being on target, West Brom's lack of composure in front of goal made what could of been a nervy finish for Hull into a fairly calm endeavour. Accompanied with a stellar home debut for Karl Darlow, Hull extended their home game unbeaten streak to seven and made it four home games on the bounce without conceding a goal.
In a game full of strong individual performances, the moment that changed the game did not happen on the pitch but rather a few yards off it. Slater's convenient injury break gave Rosenior the platform to make the changes he needed and arguably tip the balance to give his side the edge.
Rosenior himself spoke on the importance of the break in play to implement the tactical tweaks. Speaking post-match he told reporters: "We had to change the pressing shape and that’s why I’ve got to give the players so much credit".
Humble as ever, Rosenior stopped short of giving himself any of the plaudits for the rethink in his team's style of play. However, if Hull had played on through the first half with the same shape, there is no doubt that the scoreline would not have been as favourable towards the home side come full time.
Whilst 'hydration breaks' style stoppages in play will likely never be formally introduced into the game, the convenient 25th minute injury will live on in its memory. It could be argued that these injury team talks have perhaps now crossed over into the dark arts of management however, when results like this come from them, who can blame a manager for taking advantage of such an opportunity.
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