Hull City vs. Manchester United: Final score 0-0, Tigers relegated

A scoreless draw was something Hull City desperately wanted to avoid, with a win needed along with a Newcastle loss in order to stay up in the Premier League. A scoreless draw was what they got, though, as they proved completely unable to break down a bored Manchester United side that had nothing to play for. It’s relegation time for Hull, and they’ll be spending next season in the Championship.

You could tell right off the bat how desperate Hull City were for a win. They were pushing forward with reckless abandon, pulling out all the stops to try to get a goal. They just couldn’t get things together in the final third, though, struggling to find the last pass they needed to set up a real chance to score. Manchester United were defending tightly and mostly willing to sit back and counter, but they did have a handful of chances to score thanks to how much Hull were pushing forward.

For a brief spell, it looked like Hull had gotten things together and had a chance at goal. In fact, they had the ball in the back of the net twice in the space of three minutes, thanks to a howler from Victor Valdes and a bad defensive mistake by multiple Manchester defenders. Trouble was, Hull were offside both times, and neither goal counted.

That run of bad luck seemed to take the wind out of Hull’s sails, and again they returned to struggling to create much of anything for the rest of the first half. The second half was, mostly, brighter for them, but even when they got chances in front of goal, they really had a hard time getting their shots on frame. A couple of attacking substitutions opened things up a bit, but didn’t really improve their performance in the final third.

Hull seemed to strike lucky when Marouane Fellaini stomped on Paul McShane and then caught him in the face with his knee for good measure. That earned the Belgian midfielder a red card and put United down to 10 men -- but by then, Newcastle were already up a goal in their match, and bagged a second shortly thereafter. Even if Hull scored, which they still didn’t manage to do, it was all over. The fat lady was singing, and the parachutes were being prepared for their drop to the Championship.

You have to give credit to Hull City’s players for fighting all the way to the finish, but they just couldn’t do what they needed to. They had to win to have a chance, and even against a mostly disinterested Manchester United side, the Tigers just couldn’t score. It’s always a shame to see any side relegated -- but it’s hard to say that Hull didn’t earn it.

Goals: none

Goals: none

1. Hull City just aren’t good enough

It’s little wonder that Hull got relegated. When you look at their squad, you just don’t see a team that makes you go “wow, this team really should be staying up.” It’s not like they’ve dramatically underperformed, they just don’t have the talent to hang around with the rest of the EPL. When your best player is Tom Huddlestone, and your top goalscorer is Nikica Jelavic, you have problems. When your “they’ll help you stay up!” players are Michael Dawson, Curtis Davies, Ahmed Elmohamady and David Meyler, you have big problems. They’ve got a couple of interesting younger players in Abel Hernandez and Robbie Brady, but they’re just that: interesting. They’re not big potential stars in the making. They’re fun and neat and intriguing. If Hull want to be a real, competitive Premier League side, then they have a lot of work to do to get there. Of course, they have to get back to the Premier League first.

2. Steve Bruce’s 3-5-2 never really worked right

At its best, a 3-5-2 can be a free-flowing, fluid formation capable of flipping from a potent attack to a defensive bunker at the drop of a hat. Hull’s is, well, not that. It tends to be more defensive and looking to hit on the counter, which the formation is quite capable of, but Hull’s execution and seemingly their understanding of how to make it work has been lacking all season long. Their midfield was sloppy and unorganized, the defenders often failed to cover for each other, the wingbacks were forever caught too high up the pitch -- it was just a mess. Part of that is certainly on the players, but a lot of it is on Bruce and his coaching staff, who never seemed to be able to train the side in how to execute the formation and tactics.

3. Hull could never maintain even decent form

Only twice all season did Hull win two league matches in a row. Heck, they only managed to not lose two matches in a row six times all season, and only once did that run stretch to three undefeated matches. At one point in the season, they went two months without a win. They just couldn’t keep up any kind of good form for very long, and that in the end doomed them as much as anything else. With as tight as the relegation battle is, one sustained run of good form can make all the difference, and that’s something Hull simply never had this season. Newcastle did, and they’re safe. Aston Villa did, and they’re safe. West Brom, too. Neither Burnley nor Queens Park Rangers ever managed much of a good run, and guess what? They’re going down right alongside Hull.