Jakirovic gives his thoughts on City’s 0-0 draw with Aston Villa
Sergej Jakirovic with Unai Emery after Hull City’s draw with Aston Villa(Image: Getty)
Hull City’s defence is what can keep them in the Premier League following their third clean sheet in three games, says Sergej Jakirovic.
The Tigers held Aston Villa to a 0-0 draw on Saturday night, frustrating and rebuffing the Villans before going close on a number of occasions at the other end.
The likes of Nobel Mendy, John Egan and Semi Ajayi were kept busy but they handled everything the West Midlanders threw at them to continue their fine start to the Premier League season. Ultimately then, the performance was enough to claim their seventh point of the campaign, with City moving up to second in the table.
Understandably, Jakirovic was beaming with pride about his side’s defensive efforts when speaking after the game.
“I think we played good game, it was not easy to handle some situations there because they tried to overload us through midfield, especially with McGinn coming in as a right number eight,” the head coach said. “We tried to fix us this at half-time and I wasn’t too happy with the aggression in the first half because in the first half we made just four fouls, especially in the midfield when we have to be more aggressive.
“I won’t be ungrateful, I’m very happy because we have seven points and again a clean sheet. We are looking forward.”
On his side’s backline specifically, he said: “I think this system suits us and of course, always it could be better with some transitions and some decisions, but at the end some of the technical mistakes are about fatigue, for example the Oli McBurnie chance.
“If you asked me who will have this chance, I would say put Oli, but he’s great for during the game because if you are not compact or solid immediately, you will have chances.
“Especially their two chances, we lost the first and second ball and the space behind you, they will use this immediately because they are a good team. They have one point but they are a good team and they need time with the new players.”
“In my opinion, defence wins titles and of course, our title is to stay in the league. 100 per cent. You will always create some chances.
“Even today, from 70 minutes to the 85th minute, we sat back waiting for our opportunity and in the end we had two excellent chances. I am aware of what we can do and how we can play. It’s a great recipe for us but also we can try and improve and we have plan B always.”
The Tigers can now look forward to going to Chelsea next weekend in the league with a healthy amount of points in the bank after three games.
“I will sign immediately, if you offered me it,” Jakirovic said on his side’s points tally. “It’s great for us because we show we can compete at this level, that we can be dangerous. Maybe we can play some situation better in possession, of course, you need confidence but we are growing here. Every game we will be better.”