Villa Preview

By: Matt | December 30th, 2008

Ouch

So I didn’t post on the Boxing Day demolition at the hands of Man Citeh, and for good reason I think. Too much shock and awe for this writer. If you haven’t already, watch the first half at least on DVR or something because it was more or less footballing perfection by the citizens, Stephen Ireland in particular. I would love to hear someone try and tell me that he isn’t the best player in the Premiership right now. Because he is, end of story. McShane was a bit of a disaster at left back, as all four City goals in the first half came from Citeh’s right wing (and Ireland’s boots, save the fourth, which was setup by Elano and SWP), but I can’t blame him too much, we were just simply outclassed.

Moving On

On to tonight’s match vs Aston Villa, and Hull fans could be forgiven for envisioning more of the same. Thankfully we do have Phil Brown at the helm, and if anyone can steady the ship its Brownie. His half time antics vs Man City seemed to have worked as the second half was a 1-1 draw, so hopefully some positive momentum can be carried over to the home tie with Villa tonight.

Sam Ricketts should be back which will alleviate the McShane problem at left back, although chances are he’ll switch over to the right side. Now Ashley Young running at Paul McShane all night sounds like a bad dream, so I’d imagine Brown will have the defensive middies helping out right away when Young comes high to collect it. Consistent doubles on Young, and Zayatte parking himself in Gabby Agbonlahor’s pocket should neutralize most of the attacking threat from the Villans, and it will be interesting to see how Hull’s mids handle the passing of Barry and Petrov in the middle of the park.

What scares me most about Villa is their overall team speed, which our lack of was dreadfully exposed by Man Citeh. The KC roar should spur the lads on however, and I could certainly envision a 1-1 draw at the final whistle. Since we’ve shipped nine goals in our last two outings, holding the explosive Villa to just one would just fine in my book.

Transfer Tidbits

Some of the Brit tabloids are linking the Tigers to Rangers striker Nacho Novo, and Inter Milan holding mid Olivier Dacourt. Both would bring the experience needed I think to see out the remainder of the season and ensure survival, so that would be positive if they were brought in.