Andy Munro watches as Blues are beaten by Hull City.
Two games in and it’s a concern that Wayne Rooney is naive enough to think that he can change things completely overnight, instead of implementing a gradual change. Apparently, and unsurprisingly after the match the players told Rooney that they were not happy with the way they were being asked to play.
The match itself could have ended 3-3 but, in truth, Hull probably deserved to edge it. At times Blues were all over the place as they were caught in possession numerous times but part of the problem was a poor set up and selection.
Playing the defensively suspect Longelo in a back four only shielded by one natural defensive midfielder was really footballing suicide. This was proven when he lost the plot trying to play the ball back which led to Hull’s opener. On the subject of Longelo, in terms of Rooney’s instruction to press, the former couldn’t even press a shirt, giving his winger the freedom of the park.
Our two most gifted players Myoshi and Dembele were crowded out too often and Jay Stansfield laboured on his own up front when in reality he is most effective just behind a centre forward. Ollie Burke sent in a decent amount of inviting crosses but bizarrely that supply line stopped when the Juke came on.
The whole thing was a tactical disaster but Rooney is now our manager and Blues fans must hope that he can pull things round in the long term.
