A Point Gained or Two Points Lost?
I'm sure everyone saw the game either live or on TV so won't go through the details too much.
Before the season, I ranked all our matches in order of the degree of difficulty and only two home matches were in the top ten most difficult games - Boro & Hull. Maybe it is a measure of how far we have come in that Boro swept us aside two months ago whereas yesterday we matched Hull all the way.
It wasn't a great game. It probably wasn't as entertaining as recent games but we were playing a side who were in the PL last season and still had the majority of the squad from last season. A draw against Hull probably rates higher than wins against Fulham, Brentford & Preston.
CC produced a surprise by preferring Joao to Nuhiu up front. We started slowly but gradually grew into the match and by the time we scored, we were certainly the better side. A great instinctive finish by FF. Bannan should have made it 2-0 when he fired over with the goal gaping from 15 yards.
Hull equalised against the run of play when we failed to clear several times and the ball broke to Hernandez to score.
After that, we were still in it for a while but Hull dominated the final 20 minutes after Joao had departed. There was the comedy moment when the referee got his position wrong and was wiped out by a Hull player and had to depart. He had let a lot go in the challenges which contributed to the game but had got a bit picky in the second half.
Our midfield was less dominant than in recent matches but this was hardly surprising against better opposition. Lee moved forward to support the striker well but his passing was very hit & miss. Bannan didn't have anywhere near the influence he has had in recent matches while Wallace was largely anonymous. Hutchinson was the stand out midfield player on the day & the way he took control of two dangerous situations in the closing minutes was particularly impressive.
Westwood - 6 - generally sound but his kicking was poor
Hunt - 5 - easily beaten several times
Lees - 6 - set up goal but bothered by pace of Hernandez
Turner - 7 - a rock in defence
Pudil 6 - did his usual effective job
Hutchinson - 7 - protected our back four well
Lee - 6 - good movement, mixed passing
Wallace - 5 - not really involved & crosses not as effective
Forestieri - 7 - some real quality & a good instinctive finish for goal
Bannan - 6 - less effective & missed chance
Joao - 7 - his pace force Hull to defend deeper, needs to be stronger but good link up play
.........................................................
Nuhiu - 6 - doesn't hold it up as well as Joao but is stronger
Helan - 6 - hardly involved
Stat Attack:
Goals:
Forestieri 1
Assists:
Lees 1
Tackles:
Turner 5
Lee 4
Pudil 3
Hunt 2
Lees 2
Wallace 2
Hutchinson 2
Bannan 2
Forestieri 2
Helan 1
Interceptions:
Turner 5
Hutchinson 3
Lees 2
Hunt 1
Pudil 1
Lee 1
Forestieri 1
Joao 1
Clearances:
Turner 10
Lees 8
Westwood 1
Hunt 1
Pudil 1
Lee 1
Attempts:
Forestieri 4
Lees 2
Joao 1
Pudil 1
Wallace 1
Bannan 1
Attempts On Target:
Forestieri 1
Joao 1
Key Passes:
Lees 2
Forestieri 2
Westwood 1
Hunt 1
Wallace 1
Lee 1
Bannan 1
Dribbles:
Forestieri 2
Joao 1
Lee 1
Wallace 1
Dispossessed:
Forestieri 7
Hutchinson 2
Hunt 1
Lee 1
Bannan 1
Joao 1
Bad Control:
Joao 6
Lee 3
Bannan 2
Nuhiu 2
Forestieri 1
Turner 1
Crosses:
Wallace 7 (2 accurate)
Bannan 6 (2 accurate)
Hunt 2 (1 accurate)
Lee 2 (1 accurate)
Pudil 1 (1 accurate)
Hutchinson 1 (0 accurate)
Forestieri 1 (1 accurate)
Passing Accuracy (number of passes in brackets)
Turner 77% (30)
Forestieri 76% (25)
Lees 73% (33)
Hutchinson 71% (49)
Wallace 71% (24)
Joao 71% (17)
Bannan 70% (27)
Helan 67% (3)
Lee 64% (36)
Pudil 63% (27)
Hunt 52% (29)
Nuhiu 44% (9)
Westwood 29% (34)
Total Touches:
Westwood 63
Hutchinson 60
Lee 53
Turner 52
Lees 49
Forestieri 45
Bannan 41
Hunt 39
Wallace 36
Pudil 35
Joao 32
Nuhiu 13
Helan 5
There was some hostility from a number of fans to Joao and he received quite a bit of abuse each time he touched the ball and even more each time he lost it. I really don't understand this. Maybe it was because he replaced the fans favourite, Nuhiu, for this game but here we have a young lad who is incredibly talented and is going to be a big star and a few idiots decide to boo his every touch. He is raw but it is clear that he will improve rapidly and he could well be the player to fire us into the PL, like Hirsty did in 90/91.
I was intrigued by several hostile comments made against Gary Birtles during the TV commentary during the matches. When I got home, I viewed the key moments of the match and the pundits comments. Usually I find fans over react but this time Birtles' views appeared to be rather biased. The possible penalty for a foul on Lee fell into the category of "I've seen them given" yet Birtles accused Lee of diving. He should know that when you are moving at that pace that the slightest knock sends you tumbling and Lee suffered here by trying to stay on his feet. The Hutchinson tackle was a bit wild and may have been close to a red but in the context of the match, it was a yellow. The referee had allowed normal yellow card fouls by Hull players go so this was a yellow but Birtles said it was a clear red. Strange that no Hull players seemed to think so.
Finally (on TV coverage), a word about Peter Beagrie. He usually gets a bad press from Wednesday fans as an ex United player but his views yesterday were very positive about Wednesday and pretty accurate. He praised our style of play and summarised where we are pretty well.
We move to QPR on Tuesday, a game which I see as no tougher than Saturday's game. They have continued to score despite Austin's injury but they do concede goals as well so if we are positive, we could get a result.
I would also add that the movement of the Hull City players was terrific. I don't know if it showed up on the TV coverage but Hernandez, Huddlestone & Clucas were always finding space by moving which made it increasingly difficult for us to get any control of the match.
Most teams in this division won't have so many players of that quality but it is a great benchmark for us to see how far we have come in a short space of time.
Onwards & Upwards!
I'm sure everyone saw the game either live or on TV so won't go through the details too much.
Before the season, I ranked all our matches in order of the degree of difficulty and only two home matches were in the top ten most difficult games - Boro & Hull. Maybe it is a measure of how far we have come in that Boro swept us aside two months ago whereas yesterday we matched Hull all the way.
It wasn't a great game. It probably wasn't as entertaining as recent games but we were playing a side who were in the PL last season and still had the majority of the squad from last season. A draw against Hull probably rates higher than wins against Fulham, Brentford & Preston.
CC produced a surprise by preferring Joao to Nuhiu up front. We started slowly but gradually grew into the match and by the time we scored, we were certainly the better side. A great instinctive finish by FF. Bannan should have made it 2-0 when he fired over with the goal gaping from 15 yards.
Hull equalised against the run of play when we failed to clear several times and the ball broke to Hernandez to score.
After that, we were still in it for a while but Hull dominated the final 20 minutes after Joao had departed. There was the comedy moment when the referee got his position wrong and was wiped out by a Hull player and had to depart. He had let a lot go in the challenges which contributed to the game but had got a bit picky in the second half.
Our midfield was less dominant than in recent matches but this was hardly surprising against better opposition. Lee moved forward to support the striker well but his passing was very hit & miss. Bannan didn't have anywhere near the influence he has had in recent matches while Wallace was largely anonymous. Hutchinson was the stand out midfield player on the day & the way he took control of two dangerous situations in the closing minutes was particularly impressive.
Westwood - 6 - generally sound but his kicking was poor
Hunt - 5 - easily beaten several times
Lees - 6 - set up goal but bothered by pace of Hernandez
Turner - 7 - a rock in defence
Pudil 6 - did his usual effective job
Hutchinson - 7 - protected our back four well
Lee - 6 - good movement, mixed passing
Wallace - 5 - not really involved & crosses not as effective
Forestieri - 7 - some real quality & a good instinctive finish for goal
Bannan - 6 - less effective & missed chance
Joao - 7 - his pace force Hull to defend deeper, needs to be stronger but good link up play
.........................................................
Nuhiu - 6 - doesn't hold it up as well as Joao but is stronger
Helan - 6 - hardly involved
Stat Attack:
Goals:
Forestieri 1
Assists:
Lees 1
Tackles:
Turner 5
Lee 4
Pudil 3
Hunt 2
Lees 2
Wallace 2
Hutchinson 2
Bannan 2
Forestieri 2
Helan 1
Interceptions:
Turner 5
Hutchinson 3
Lees 2
Hunt 1
Pudil 1
Lee 1
Forestieri 1
Joao 1
Clearances:
Turner 10
Lees 8
Westwood 1
Hunt 1
Pudil 1
Lee 1
Attempts:
Forestieri 4
Lees 2
Joao 1
Pudil 1
Wallace 1
Bannan 1
Attempts On Target:
Forestieri 1
Joao 1
Key Passes:
Lees 2
Forestieri 2
Westwood 1
Hunt 1
Wallace 1
Lee 1
Bannan 1
Dribbles:
Forestieri 2
Joao 1
Lee 1
Wallace 1
Dispossessed:
Forestieri 7
Hutchinson 2
Hunt 1
Lee 1
Bannan 1
Joao 1
Bad Control:
Joao 6
Lee 3
Bannan 2
Nuhiu 2
Forestieri 1
Turner 1
Crosses:
Wallace 7 (2 accurate)
Bannan 6 (2 accurate)
Hunt 2 (1 accurate)
Lee 2 (1 accurate)
Pudil 1 (1 accurate)
Hutchinson 1 (0 accurate)
Forestieri 1 (1 accurate)
Passing Accuracy (number of passes in brackets)
Turner 77% (30)
Forestieri 76% (25)
Lees 73% (33)
Hutchinson 71% (49)
Wallace 71% (24)
Joao 71% (17)
Bannan 70% (27)
Helan 67% (3)
Lee 64% (36)
Pudil 63% (27)
Hunt 52% (29)
Nuhiu 44% (9)
Westwood 29% (34)
Total Touches:
Westwood 63
Hutchinson 60
Lee 53
Turner 52
Lees 49
Forestieri 45
Bannan 41
Hunt 39
Wallace 36
Pudil 35
Joao 32
Nuhiu 13
Helan 5
There was some hostility from a number of fans to Joao and he received quite a bit of abuse each time he touched the ball and even more each time he lost it. I really don't understand this. Maybe it was because he replaced the fans favourite, Nuhiu, for this game but here we have a young lad who is incredibly talented and is going to be a big star and a few idiots decide to boo his every touch. He is raw but it is clear that he will improve rapidly and he could well be the player to fire us into the PL, like Hirsty did in 90/91.
I was intrigued by several hostile comments made against Gary Birtles during the TV commentary during the matches. When I got home, I viewed the key moments of the match and the pundits comments. Usually I find fans over react but this time Birtles' views appeared to be rather biased. The possible penalty for a foul on Lee fell into the category of "I've seen them given" yet Birtles accused Lee of diving. He should know that when you are moving at that pace that the slightest knock sends you tumbling and Lee suffered here by trying to stay on his feet. The Hutchinson tackle was a bit wild and may have been close to a red but in the context of the match, it was a yellow. The referee had allowed normal yellow card fouls by Hull players go so this was a yellow but Birtles said it was a clear red. Strange that no Hull players seemed to think so.
Finally (on TV coverage), a word about Peter Beagrie. He usually gets a bad press from Wednesday fans as an ex United player but his views yesterday were very positive about Wednesday and pretty accurate. He praised our style of play and summarised where we are pretty well.
We move to QPR on Tuesday, a game which I see as no tougher than Saturday's game. They have continued to score despite Austin's injury but they do concede goals as well so if we are positive, we could get a result.
I would also add that the movement of the Hull City players was terrific. I don't know if it showed up on the TV coverage but Hernandez, Huddlestone & Clucas were always finding space by moving which made it increasingly difficult for us to get any control of the match.
Most teams in this division won't have so many players of that quality but it is a great benchmark for us to see how far we have come in a short space of time.
Onwards & Upwards!
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.