Hull away review

Got some time on my hands at last. An excellent win yesterday, not a good performance but an excellent, niggly win. A comfortable win in the end and some good performances from some players too. I'll add that I think Hull are in trouble to go down, they aren't playing the best, they're not experienced and I don't think the manager, nor the players, know how to stay up. I hope I'm wrong for their sake but from what I saw, they're in trouble. Hull don't have power and pace, they make a lot of mistakes and their heads drop. A lot of work to do, I don't know their finances but they need to get rid of some fringe players and sign some quality, they have some, but not enough. You need goals and pace in attack, they don't have that. They're 2 or 3 players short up front. That will probably tell in the end. At the other end, City are back to 2nd, Liverpool play tonight and everyone around them has won, so pressure on them. It's Anfield away for City's next match. A very difficult match but City have a days extra rest so not as much rotation is needed. 

The first half of this match was dull, City dominated possession, not a lot of shots from either and Hull really grew into the game. Bravo had 2 or 3 saves to make all match but never looked in danger. He made just one mistakes all match, he came out to punch a cross, missed and lucky Sagna was on the line to head clear. Hull's best chance. They had some chances from the edge of the box and range, the ones on target were straight at Bravo and a lot went miles off target. I'm sure Hull will be disappointed. They defended good until late on. The pressure told, Robertson gets pulled in by Sterling running across the box, he misses the ball and gets the man. Totally unnecessary, he was going no where and Hull had all their players back. Penalty City and Yaya scores. He's never missed for City from the spot so long may it continue. I felt sorry for Stones, he went off early with a bruised knee. He isn't injured but probably won't play on Saturday, no reason why he can't start for Burnley at home and the cup game against West Ham away though. Lots of games to go. The second goal was wonderful. A classic City counter, running through KDB. What a player. He dictates where Silva makes the run, he dictates where and when Iheanacho should make his run and in the end, they combine and City make it 2 with a tap in for Kelechi. The third was a lot more direct, Sterling on the counter cuts in, runs into the box and squares a low, hard ball into the legs of Davies and into his net. 3-0. That's all really. Nothing much happened, I thought City were a lot better second half and if they can match the second half performance for 90 minutes at Anfield, they stand a chance. I'm not hopeful though. I'll preview the match on Thursday. 

I will judge Bravo's performance on Saturday, Liverpool will have a lot of shots so if we keep a clean sheet then, then excellent. Sagna was good yesterday, he's solid and worth keeping for rotation next year. That's my opinion though. Kolarov and Otamendi were excellent. Liverpool is a real test though so again, like Bravo, we'll see how far they have come. Clichy was hit and miss and I really wish we had a LB, it's a problem. I'd contemplate selling Clichy and Navas in January and let G.Jesus and a new LB have some game time. I'd like Alaba but that isn't realistic, but there are a lot of other players like the young Bosnian I'm always mentioning in my transfer blogs and Rodriguez and Srna have also being linked (Srna a rb i think). Options. Midfield looks ok, Gundogan being injured means we look short so I'm hoping Delph will step up (injury problems over I hope) otherwise I'd get rid in the summer, Kompany too and sign some home grown players and promote some young players. Maffeo is back out on loan to Spain, disappointing. Will Kelechi be the only player promoted? Garcia looks good, get him some game time. Yaya is looking world class at the moment. Fernandinho needs some game time, I'm hoping he'll look fit and sharp with the rest he has had. Fernando is another option. Sterling was excellent yesterday, him and Sane are musts on Saturday, they can hurt Liverpool, Kun Aguero is back, he can make the difference too. Liverpool's defence is very similar to City's, he can score goals, he should be fit. His match sharpness could be an issue. Nolito looked alright yesterday. He's very quiet at the moment, I hope he isn't unsettled. I know Navas and Negrado have suffered from this. He got off to such a good start. Maybe 6 in midfield doesn't suit his directness, I don't know. Silva and KDB were excellent, more of the same please. Overall, I'm pretty happy. I feel like GJ is a real gem, he isn't the quickest but he is technically brilliant and can win games against slower teams. That's a lot of teams in the PL, it'll suit him. He would have been very handy yesterday, valuable on Monday against Burnley and valuable against WHU in the cup too. I look forward to seeing him. I'm happy at the moment. Bring on Liverpool.