Hull City Fan View: Strong spine key to rejuvenated Tigers' revival

After Hull City’s much admired 0-0 draw at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening, the Marco Silva revolution continued to roll on at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday as his men beat Liverpool for a quite incredible third consecutive match on home soil. Now just one point away from Premier League safety, Hull City under Silva look a team easily capable of avoiding the drop, and even one able to finish in the dizzy heights of mid-table this season.

Unquestionably, this revival all stems from the organisation, discipline and mentality the Portuguese has instilled in his limited squad, and particularly City’s impressive looking spine Silva has built over recent weeks. This backbone, which runs through the heart of the Tigers’ starting XI, could well be the difference between relegation and survival come May.

With key players leaving the club in January and an almost never-ending list of injuries, few City supporters would have predicted we could pick up any points in Marco Silva’s opening four of five Premier League matches, with fixtures against Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal being the former Sporting boss’ first taste of the Premier League. However, with Arsenal still to come next weekend, Silva’s Hull City have picked up an impressive seven points, taking City off the foot of the Premier league table.

For me, by far the most noticeable change in the club’s performances under Silva compared with those under Phelan is the side’s overriding tactical awareness and organisation. This group of players have never lacked fight or desire, as the first half of the season under Mike Phelan’s stewardship illustrated, however, points were being dropped through preventable, often individual, errors.

Based on the first month of the Silva reign, it is clear the Portuguese, aided by his hand-picked backroom staff, have managed to remove these preventable errors from the Tigers’ performances through the use of a totally revamped training, fitness and theory-based tactical awareness program, while at the same time maintaining this squad’s unique and ever-present fight and desire. Indeed, it is worth noting, in a world obsessed with ‘alternative facts’, if the season had begun the day Marco Silva had taken over, Hull City would be sitting in 5^th place in the Premier League with seven points, above the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool. Utterly useless, but interesting.

At the heart of the Silva revolution on the pitch has been City’s solid backbone. The return of fans’ favourite Eldin Jakupovic in goal, with Harry Maguire sat just in front of him, who it has been a pleasure to watch flourish into a top-draw centre-half this season, and finally, Tom Huddlestone starting to ‘quarterback’ matches from the centre of midfield under Silva’s guidance, after a quiet few years, has been a pleasure to watch recently. Unquestionably, this ever-present spine during Silva’s reign has been absolutely essential in our current upturn of form.

This was as apparent as ever during our victory over Liverpool on Saturday. Despite Zlatan’s claim that many of Jakupovic’s fine saves on Wednesday evening had been ‘merely for the cameras’, the Bosnian-born Swiss goalkeeper pulled off some truly majestic saves once again at the KCOM on Saturday, cementing his justified inclusion in City’s starting XI and keeping Hull City’s first clean sheet at the KCOM in the Premier League all season.

Harry Maguire, who at the start of the season had slipped behind midfielder Jake Livermore in the centre-half pecking order following an injury, has been outstanding this season and will be key if City are to stay in this division. His effective no-nonsense approach to defending has been refreshing to watch at a time when ‘ball-playing centre-halves’ such as John Stones seem to be more fashionable. However, don’t get me wrong, Maguire can also play with the ball at his feet, something Marco Silva is clearly encouraging in certain circumstances. The 23-year-old was excellent in defence all game against Klopp’s men and made a number of what are fast becoming his trademark marauding dribbles forward. Following Curtis Davies’ injury blow last week, and Michael Dawson picking up a knock during yesterday’s warm up, seeing Inter Milan loanee Andrea Ranocchia partner Maguire at the heart of defence was a promising sight, with two centre-backs who are very comfortable on the ball implementing Marco Silva’s total football philosophy, against a top six side, to perfection.

His effective no-nonsense approach to defending has been refreshing to watch at a time when ‘ball-playing centre-halves’ such as John Stones seem to be more fashionable. However, don’t get me wrong, Maguire can also play with the ball at his feet, something Marco Silva is clearly encouraging in certain circumstances. The 23-year-old was excellent in defence all game against Klopp’s men and made a number of what are fast becoming his trademark marauding dribbles forward. Following Curtis Davies’ injury blow last week, and Michael Dawson picking up a knock during yesterday’s warm up, seeing Inter Milan loanee Andrea Ranocchia partner Maguire at the heart of defence was a promising sight, with two centre-backs who are very comfortable on the ball implementing Marco Silva’s total football philosophy, against a top six side, to perfection.

The 23-year-old was excellent in defence all game against Klopp’s men and made a number of what are fast becoming his trademark marauding dribbles forward. Following Curtis Davies’ injury blow last week, and Michael Dawson picking up a knock during yesterday’s warm up, seeing Inter Milan loanee Andrea Ranocchia partner Maguire at the heart of defence was a promising sight, with two centre-backs who are very comfortable on the ball implementing Marco Silva’s total football philosophy, against a top six side, to perfection.

Finally, the rejuvenated Tom Huddlestone has looked entirely back to his absolute best over recent weeks and produced yet another man-of-the-match performance against Liverpool on Saturday. The former Spurs man has had a frustrating few years at the KCOM after a wonderful maiden season at the Tigers which saw us reach the FA Cup Final and Europa League football. A relegation season in the Premier League followed by a season in the Championship saw the former England international almost coast at times, seemingly holding back. However, Marco Silva’s mentality appears to have kick-started Huddlestone back into top gear. His passing game from a deep-lying midfield position has been brilliant, and his ability to control and set the pace of matches has been essential in City’s mini-revival since the beginning of the new year. Turning defence into attack and essentially ‘quarterbacking’ matches are qualities we thought we were going to get from Hudds when we signed him three and a half years ago. Now, I believe, we are finally beginning to see the best of him.

His passing game from a deep-lying midfield position has been brilliant, and his ability to control and set the pace of matches has been essential in City’s mini-revival since the beginning of the new year. Turning defence into attack and essentially ‘quarterbacking’ matches are qualities we thought we were going to get from Hudds when we signed him three and a half years ago. Now, I believe, we are finally beginning to see the best of him.