Hull City’s relegation from the premier league was confirmed after they were held to a goalless draw against Manchester United. Despite starting brighter, Hull were not able to take the lead. With United sitting back and comfortably dealing with Hull’s pressure in the second half, the match finished 0-0. Let us look at the five things learned from the match:
Can Valdes be Degea’s replacement?
With David Degea’s future is yet to be ascertained, various names are being mentioned every single day as his replacement. But, after making his first start against Hull City, will Victor Valdes will be given the chance?. Valdes started his first game for the Reds at KC stadium before making his debut last week as a substitute against Arsenal. But, against Hull, Valdes looked shaky early on and spilled a ball from which Hull scored, but fortunately linesman called it offside. After which, he did produce two great saves to remind everyone about his former self. But, is that enough to be Degea’s replacement? Only time will tell.
Crosses coming into the box is a big problem for United
Even though Manchester United have achieved their primary target of reaching the top four, their problems remain pretty clear. And, one of them is dealing with the crosses in the defensive front. Every time a ball comes into the box United’s defenders looked nervy. No wonder Hull City’s best chances in the match came whenever the ball was put into United’s box. The defenders have struggled to head the first balls away and were neither able to win the second balls. If United are going to challenge for the league, then they definitely need better defenders next season and as a team needs to defend much better with crosses from next season.
United should look to push Herrera further forward
Against Hull City, one of United’s main attacking outlet was Ander Herrera. Anything United did good on the day went through Herrera. Infact he was at the end of many such attacks on the night. But, the Spaniard was unable to make the most of it. However, the one thing which we learned was Herrera was always available to go forward. So, perhaps Van Gaal should limit playing him in deeper midfield positions and should try to push him further forward from next season, thereby giving him more opportunities to score more. Herrera has scored eight this season and with more chances he will only increase that ratio.
The cohesion is still missing among United players
The game against Hull City summed up United’s season. There were great individuals on the pitch like Angel Di Maria, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata. Despite possessing them, United were never able to play to their full potential. The teams build-up was slow and was easily readable. Even when they had the ball in good positions, the team just missed that one decisive moment to make it happen. United just missed the glue to connect the midfield with attack. Hence, this match shows that there is still plenty of work needed to be done in the pre-season to ensure that United play as a team they used to be under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Where Hull City goes from here?
The season after a club being relegated is the most crucial one. Every time a club gets relegated from the premier league, they immediately look to bounce back, otherwise they may just lose that magic touch to return to the premier league. Also it will not be all straight forward as many of the stars may be bought by premier league clubs, hence they have to rebuild the squad again. And, the most important of the lot is who will be in-charge to rebuild the team? Will Steve Bruce be given the opportunity or a new manager will be appointed? No matter what these are testing time to be a Hull City fan.
Image Courtesy: BBC and Dailymail
