The Tigers have found it increasingly difficult to stop the flow of goals this season
Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic says his side is too polite and wants to see much more aggression in their game, especially on the defensive side of things.
City battled back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Preston North End on Tuesday night, responding to their 2-1 loss at Watford with a battling point at the MKM Stadium, but took their goals against tally to 16 in the opening eight games.
Both goals were terrible from a Tigers point of view, with Cody Drameh and Ivor Pandur at fault as the hosts conceded twice in the opening 10 minutes, and were the epitome of being too polite and passive, something which has blighted the league’s worst defence so far this season.
“More tactical discipline, we must stick together more,” he said when asked how he could go about solving their defensive issues. “You can try to help your teammate. It’s important that we are closer so there is not such a big gap between the lines.
“This is very important, and we have to be aggressive, especially in one-on-one duels, because sometimes they pass us very easily. We try to take the ball clear without using hands, without using our bodies, and for me now this is the main problem for us because we are, and this is my opinion, very polite.
“We try to play clear but this is a problem, and we have tried to change this over the last three months. It’s not easy because this is also the profile of the players.
“When we lose the ball, if you don’t have a reaction on the ball, or at least to make a foul, an easy foul, not a foul for a yellow card, or you have negative transitions, you need to run.
“The crowd are coming for the goals, for the chances, for the intensity, but we have to find the balance between defence and the attacking style of play because it seems like now we have to score three goals for us to take something.
“It’s not easy to score three goals every game. It’s much easier to have balance in the middle or in the defensive line so that you can be aggressive. You’ll be defending together, and then, it will be much easier to keep a clean sheet.”
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