In order for Hull City to play to their full potential in the last ten games of the season, head coach Liam Rosenior has urged his team to mature.
Rosenior was incensed about the Tigers’ inability to convert their dominance into goals after Tuesday night’s draw with Birmingham City. Despite leading the game in the 25th minute thanks to a contentious goal by Ozan Tufan, Rosenior’s team was unable to put the Blues away and paid a price when Lukas Jutkiewicz came off the bench to head in the equalizer in the last ten minutes.
This season, City has already lost 14 points from winning positions. As the games approach closer, he believes his team needs to face reality head-on, starting on Saturday when they host league leaders Leicester City.
A straightforward Rosenior told Hull Live, “We have to grow up.” “We must. We need to be aware of our current situation. We play a fearless kind of football; while some of our one-touch play is fantastic, its main purpose is to score goals. Hence, we carry it out. This is entirely my fault; no one else is to blame. It is my responsibility to lead this team to its potential. However, in order for us to reach our full potential, we must all accept greater responsibility for earning the points that our efforts merit.
“At the moment, I’m experiencing a really strange emotion because, after watching and analyzing the game, I would estimate that 95% of our performance was excellent for this level. Wonderful. Since I’m always the first to admit when I’m wrong, let me start by saying that I felt we played some excellent football—control, possession, interlinking, and combination play—but we fell short of finishing. And in football, it’s all about scoring goals and ensuring that, in the event that you don’t, you keep a clean sheet—and we did neither.
“I adore this band. They’re a fantastic group of guys. I’ve told some of them—who are quite young—that this is their moment. If we don’t learn this lesson, time will pass us by. Many of them had incredibly encouraging things to say.
“It’s a very strange feeling, but I’m so happy with so much that this is an amazing interview.” I heard jeers following the match. I can relate to the crowd’s fury. Since everyone in the throng is seeking the same thing, I can understand their irritation.
“I think everyone can see the potential in this team, I think everyone can see it but we have to change the potential to reality and I think that’s the next step for this team.”
When the final whistle blew against the Blues, Rosenior’s team was jeered off. With nine home games under their belt—ten if you count the FA Cup draw with Birmingham, in which Jutkiewicz scored an almost identical goal—City now has just three wins. Despite this, he claims he shares and understands the frustrations of the supporters.
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