Form Guide: How Silva turned ill-fated Hull's fortunes around

Marco Silva’s Hull appointment was met with uproar by the 'proper football men', who felt that the Tigers weren’t giving English managers a chance in the Premier League, despite overlooking the fact that seven of their previous eight managerial appointments had been English, dating back to Peter Taylor in 2002. Upon his unveiling, Paul Merson said of the Portuguese manager: “What’s he know about the Premier League? What’s he know?” Phil Thompson went on to add: “It’s totally astonishing that they have plumped for someone like this.” 

Silva’s managerial CV may not be lengthy, but it remains impressive. He led Estoril back to Portugal’s top tier before leaving in 2014 having guided the Canaries to a club-record fourth-placed finish. He landed the Sporting head coach position before moving on to Olympiakos for a solitary season. In Greece, he won his opening 17 league games, which remains the longest winning start to a European league campaign this millennium. While he’s won just four of eight competitive games he has managed at Hull, he’s overseen just one defeat in the Premier League, coming at the home of league leaders Chelsea. 

The 2-0 win over Liverpool certainly silenced any remaining critics on the back of his appointment, with seven points from a possible 12 a more than respectable return for the Tigers and Silva. After looking destined for relegation, Hull are now one point off safety as winter begins to turn to spring, with just a solitary point separating themselves from Middlesbrough, Leicester and Swansea in the race for Premier League safety. What’s all the more impressive is that Silva has been forced into selling key men Robert Snodgrass and Jake Livermore, all the while implementing players into a new system in their bid to stave off the drop. 

New signings were made in January, but the departures of two of their best players still overshadowed any optimism surrounding the new arrivals. Hull signed no fewer than seven players last month, both on loan and permanently, to compensate for the departures of Snodgrass and Livermore, and the faith placed in the 39-year-old has been rewarded. The obvious improvements have come at the back. Only Swansea (54) have conceded more Premier League goals than Hull (47) this season, but only three of those have come in Silva’s four games managed in England’s top tier this term. 

Indeed, an average of 0.75 goals conceded per game is a significant drop from the 2.15 under Mike Phelan, despite being unable to call upon both first choice centre-backs Michael Dawson and Curtis Davies at the same time in two of their four leagues matches. The performances of Harry Maguire and January arrival Andrea Ranocchia have both offered encouragement in Dawson and Davies’ absence, with the latter earning the WhoScored man of the match award on his full Premier League debut at the weekend. 

Yet, it’s the application away from the pitch that has undeniably boosted Hull. Silva’s work on the training ground and on positional awareness in particular has made the Tigers a tougher team to break down. Interceptions per game have increased from 15.2 to 20.3 as the team is now defensively more sound as they read situations better when out of possession. What’s more is that tackles per game have dropped from 17.6 to 15. While this could be portrayed as a negative, it suggests that Hull are relying less on last ditch tackles to deny the opposition and more on the aforementioned anticipation, which has to be credited to Silva’s coaching qualities. As was the case with Estoril, he is a manager capable implementing a gameplan that relies on soaking up pressure before hitting opponents on the break, with the Portuguese side not expected to see much of the ball. 

This is notable in that Hull are averaging 36.8% possession under Silva compared to 45% under Phelan, though that in part is due to the Tigers facing Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool - three teams that rank among the top seven for possession in the Premier League this season - in three of the four Premier League games he has overseen. Yet despite seeing less of the ball, Hull are conceding an average of 13.8 shots per game under Silva compared to a massive 19 per league match under Phelan. 

It speaks volumes that Hull are seeing far less of the ball, yet at the same time conceding fewer shots per game, which points to Silva’s regimented approach to defending. What’s more, as they soak up pressure, there is greater opportunity to hit teams on the counter. Hull had five counter-attacking opportunities in the 20 Premier League matches Phelan managed compared to three in Silva’s four league games at the helm; only Leicester (4) have had more in that same period. The arrivals of Lazar Markovic and Kamil Grosicki - two pacey wideman capable of hurting opponents with their speed - have certainly improved Hull’s chances of countering teams who commit too many men forward. 

The defending from set-piece situations also required improvements and that perhaps remains the case. The Tigers have conceded 12 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season, 10 of which came under Phelan. While under Silva, Hull have still looked a little suspect in that regard, though one of the two conceded from these scenarios was a penalty in the 3-1 win over Bournemouth, with the other a Gary Cahill header from a Cesc Fabregas free-kick that any team would have struggled to defend against. 

“He was physically grabbing players, saying ‘I want you here and I want you there’. It’s set-pieces and team shape every day,” Curtis Davies said in the wake of Silva’s appointment. The young Portuguese boss rapidly identified areas of improvement and has quickly gone about improving the defensive side of Hull’s game. There is now a solid foundation in place for the Tigers to stave off relegation, with Silva working wonders on the back of his short-term appointment.