Sitting in an East London sports bar, draped in a freshly bought replica shirt and sipping an egregiously priced pint, I had made an effort to go out to watch Hull City's Carabao Cup first round tie against Bradford City. A rarity for The Tigers to be broadcast live, I even requested for the game to be put on one of the TVs, presumably to the annoyance of the establishment's regular punters.
The only Hull fan in a sea of people who couldn't care less, it was a slightly awkward feeling made better by an early goal for the Tigers and a growing confidence that we would see out the often tricky first round fixture. Despite my faith that we would go on to win, two goals for Bradford before half time caused a complete capitulation for the away side and The Bantams would go on to progress to the next round.
Vindication for those in the pub who would rather be watching anything else than a drab affair between two cities they wouldn't send their worst enemy to and cause for embarrassment for the only Hull fan in the building.
Twelve months on and Hull City have once again gone out of the Carabao Cup in the first round. In near identical fashion, falling short against League Two opposition after an early goal. This time around, it was the turn of Doncaster Rovers to cause an upset and embarrass what looked on paper to be a strong Hull side.
It appears fitting for a match against a Grant McCann led Doncaster Rovers to revert us back to some of the darkest days under previous managers. Stagnant on the ball, nothing going forward and crumbling under the slightest amount of pressure, it felt like the progress of last season had been wiped away in just ninety minutes of football.
Wrongfully in my opinion, Tiger's goalkeeper Matt Ingram ended up on the receiving end of much of the criticism. Forced to spend prolonged periods on the ball waiting for movement from his players that ultimately never came and forced to give away possession through a lack of options from the ten players in front of him.
In games in which he starts, Jean Mikel Seri is essentially a get out of jail free card for teams wanting to play out of the back. Able to receive the ball under pressure, the Ivorian is proficient at playing compact teams to his advantage. Either turning his man and finding the pass or drawing the foul from an over-enthusiastic man marker, Seri is at his best getting his side out of tricky situations and allowing play to progress up the pitch.
In the absence of Seri, Hull adapted by moving Adama Traore into this position. The Malian has had a difficult start to life in East Yorkshire, spending his first six months on the treatment table before becoming a sticking plaster for Hull's ongoing fitness issues amongst their forward line.
Whilst Traore was able to excel playing primarily as a ten, his foray into central midfield on Tuesday night was not successful. Often the recipient of the ball from his goalkeeper, the 28-year-old struggled to find a pass or turn his man meaning Hull rarely progressed up the pitch and offered any threat to the Rovers goal.
Compare this to Seri who led his side for key passes and passing success last season and was crucial to some of Hull's best results.
During The Tiger's thrilling 4-4 draw with Sunderland last season, Seri was vital in progressing the ball to the forward line with almost three quarters of his 56 passes going forwards. This meant that when the 32-year-old was receiving the ball from the defence he found an attacking player most of the time, only using a pass backwards as a last resort.
Compare this to Traore who on Tuesday, only managed to play the ball forwards with half of his passes, twice as often looking to play the ball back to his defence rather than move up the pitch. Against weaker opposition on paper, a midfielder with the on the ball confidence of Traore should've been finding his forward players on a more consistent basis and this is were Hull fell flat against Doncaster.
Obviously, in regards to this current Hull side, Seri is irreplaceable. There's a reason why he was linked with Barcelona a few seasons ago and why The Tiger's had to fend of interest from Europe to secure his services last summer. But Seri cannot start every minute of every game and the Hull coaching staff know this.
There needs to be a plan B for when Seri can't play. In theory, Regan Slater or even Ozan Tufan could play in this role but when both players were due a rest after featuring heavily the previous weekend, the change must be to tactics as apposed to personnel.
Whilst a change in formation may rectify this issue, Hull boss Liam Rosenior has made it clear that he is not willing to make this change and just two games into the season, a knee-jerk tactical alteration like this may do more to hinder results than help them.
Once again going back to the game against Sunderland, the match in which Rosenior's attacking philosophy worked best in my view, the game saw Hull's front two players getting on the ball far more than on Tuesday night.
Below is the respective strike partnership's heat-maps of both the games against Doncaster (orange) and Sunderland (blue). At first glance, the make-shift strike force of Ozan Tufan and Adama Traore deployed against The Black Cats saw them get on the ball more frequently and in deeper positions, dropping into the midfield to assist with build up play and get the ball up the pitch.
This kind of movement was not visible during the Doncaster game with the two strikers taking very few touches around the centre circle, the exact area that Tufan and Traore thrived back in April.
In the passage of play below, Seri picks up the ball from the defence and finds himself in a position similar to that of Traore on Tuesday; a sea of opposition bodies between himself and his forward line. Whilst the two strikers against Doncaster appeared glued to the last man, against Sunderland, Traore dropped deep to receive the ball and help break down the opposition forward line.
Traore then goes onto carry the ball into Sunderland's half, allowing the two wingers,
alongside his strike partner Ozan Tufan to make runs in behind.
Against a side as compact as Doncaster, allowing one of Hull's strikers to drop deep would've given them the man advantage in midfield and given the defence an extra option when playing out of the back. It would've also allowed the wingers to run beyond the midfield and get in behind, creating more opportunities for the team.
In the screenshot below from the Doncaster game, the opposition's compact style meant that when the midfielders received the ball they had a sea of red and white shirts between them and their attack, limiting their forward options.
If Aaron Connolly, a striker on the night who is comfortable carrying the ball, had dropped deep, it may have allowed Hull to bypass the away side's low block and work their ball into the forward line more frequently and with less risk of losing possession.
In this particular instance, the lack of options for Traore upon receiving the ball, coupled with his lack of experience in this position led to the midfielder being caught in possession and Doncaster going on to score an easy goal to level the match.
By moving into the space in his own half, Connolly would not only give Traore an easier pass but would also create a dilemma for the opposition. Hull's striker dropping deep would force either one of the centre backs to follow him or one of the midfielders to step back, creating gaps in the Doncaster shape that can be exploited.
Playing a flat front two gives you better attacking options in the final third, but if you can't get the ball to them they're fairly useless. One player dropping in to receive the ball is a way to help tackle a compact team like Doncaster and create better goalscoring opportunities.
This message appeared to get through to the team in the form of Liam Delap replacing Connolly an hour into the game and immediately looking eager to get on the ball, dropping deep and pulling out wide to create options for his teammates. Whilst it didn't come with an equaliser for the home side, it was clear that Delap's influence spurred on his team late into the game.
Delap managed 16 touches, as many as Connolly in just a third of the time, showing that when a striker drops deep they are more likely to contribute to build up play and create chances.
I think it's a small tweak like this that will get Hull City firing and back on track this season. Those campaigning for a complete abandonment of Rosenior's style or even a change in management are right to be frustrated but wholesale change just two games into the season would be a disservice to the man who steadied the ship after a disastrous start to the 22/23 campaign.
Saturday's match against Sheffield Wednesday offers a completely different proposition. Hull's Yorkshire rivals come into the game having also lost their first league game and narrowly avoiding a cup exit, beating Stockport County on penalties.
This game is a must win for both sides with Xisco Muñoz's men eager to get their season up and running and get their first points since promotion back to the Championship. This weekend's opponents will offer a different tactical battle for Hull, coming out of the blocks early, attacking the home side and looking to get ahead.
Whilst Doncaster sat deep and let the Tiger's dominate possession, it will be a far more open game when The Owls make the trip to East Yorkshire.
This fixture will be a true test for Rosenior who is back in the dugout after serving a one match suspension during the loss on Tuesday night. Whilst Carabao cup games rarely raise the pulses of fans, Saturday's game will be one that even the most casual of Tiger's supporters will have an eye on.
A win will look to claw back some of the pre season confidence that has been obliterated by the opening results and a loss will deflate even the most optimistic of fans, placing a large question mark on the style of play Rosenior has hung his reputation on.
For me, there are just a couple of certainties against Wednesday. Firstly, Delap and Seri are the first names on the team sheet. Secondly, things can only get better from here...
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