Talking Points: Boro will be fine, Hull should be worried

Michael Graham
Battle: Middlesbrough and Hull face contrasting fortunes

Battle: Middlesbrough and Hull face contrasting fortunes

Middlesbrough beat Hull City 1-0 at the Riverside, but what does the result mean for either side? Very different things, says Michael Graham.

Boro should be fine

This win took Middlesbrough out of immediate threat of being dragged into the relegation zone, and I’m not sure you would expect them to be in too much trouble this season.

Aitor Karanka has instilled some genuine consistency into his troops, and that’s always the hallmark of a decent coach and a decent side.

Granted, man for man there isn’t too much you’d worry about, but every man seems to know his role, they very much look like a team, and that will see them generate enough points to keep themselves clear.

In many ways, they actually remind me of Bournemouth from last season. They’ll have the odd tough spell, I’m sure, and they won’t be dominant at this level by any means, but when opportunities arise to win games, they’ll be good enough to take advantage.

Tigers lacking bite

It’s not looking good for Hull City right now. They were comprehensively beaten at Sunderland a couple of weeks ago and they were probably even worse at Middlesbrough.

The problem they seem to have is that they just don’t appear to carry any attacking threat. In a relegation battle, that’s a very worrying limitation to have.

You look at the other teams down there and you see where threat is going to come from. Sunderland have Jermain Defoe. Swansea have Gylfi Sigurdsson. Crystal Palace have Christian Benteke. Burnley have Andre Gray. West Ham have Payet. Leicester have Riyad Mahrez, among others. Hull have…

And that’s the big issue that Hull have right now.

Defensively, you would back Hull to dig in. Any defence marshalled by Michael Dawson is not going to give in easily. That has got them through games and given them a chance to grab some points here and there, especially with the set-piece threat they seem to possess.

But are they going to take games by the scruff of the neck and impose themselves in this division?

It’s very difficult to see them doing that with the players they have, and that’s got to be a huge concern for Hull fans.