Hot Streak: Can wantaway Snodgrass guarantee Tigers' survival?
A lack of serious investment over the summer had many tipping Hull to drop straight back down into the Championship and after 20 games played, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who genuinely believes they will retain their Premier League status. The Tigers have 13 points and are currently three points off safety and with Crystal Palace hosting Swansea on Tuesday, there is reason to believe that gap will increase to six come full time in that fixture.
Their position would be far more perilous were it not for the impact of key man Robert Snodgrass. No team has scored fewer goals than Hull (17) in the Premier League this season with their goalscoring woes clear for all to see. Were it not for Snodgrass, though, they’d have scored just the eight league goals. The Scotland international is far and away their top scorer with seven league goals to his name, while the attacker is one of three Hull players with two assists.
To further amplify his importance, Snodgrass’ goals have secured Hull a vital five points in the Premier League this season and it’s without question that the Tigers would be as good as down were it not for the 29-year-old. After playing just 40 minutes of Hull’s previous Premier League campaign and missing much of the following Championship season, he’s evidently making up for lost time following the Tigers’ promotion.
For any team that is promoted to England’s top tier, they’re unlikely to see much of the ball and Hull are no exception. 46.2% possession is one of the lowest returns in the Premier League this season, meaning the Tigers need to rely on set piece situations to hurt opponents. Indeed, it’s little surprise that their solitary statistically calculated WhoScored strength is ‘shooting from direct free kicks’ and that in part is down to Snodgrass. Only Dimitri Payet (17) and Christian Eriksen (16) have had more shots from free kicks than Snodgrass (14) in the Premier League this season, while no player has scored more goals than he (2) from these situations.
As one might expect, Snodgrass’ two strengths that are deemed ‘very strong’ are ‘taking set pieces’ and ‘direct free kicks’. As a means of attacking opponents, Hull can do a lot worse than relying on the Scot’s delivery from dead ball situations in order to hit the back of the net. With Curtis Davies and Michael Dawson able to act as attacking outlets from set piece situations, Snodgrass’ delivery is a boost to the centre-back duo and the team in their pursuit of goal.
It’s no wonder, then, that Snodgrass ranks third for key passes from set piece situations (18) behind Dimitri Payet (38) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (23) in the Premier League this season. One of his two assists was for a Michael Dawson goal in a 2-1 win over Southampton from a free kick, while the centre-backs other two strikes stemmed from a Snodgrass set piece, the first a free kick by the attacker against West Brom and the second from a Snodgrass corner in the 2-2 draw with Everton last week.
Much of the time, though, is that it’s Snodgrass who is not only the man standing over the set pieces, but he is the player winning the necessary free kicks to help hurt opponents. Only Dieumerci Mbokani (2.3) is being fouled more times per game than Snodgrass (1.8) of all Hull players in England’s top tier this term, with his ability to draw fouls from the opposition not only easing pressure on the Hull defence, but increasing the Tigers’ chances of scoring the necessary goals to haul themselves away from the relegation zone.
1.4 tackles per game is also a respectable return for the attacker and signifies his importance to the side both on and off the ball. Given Hull’s possession average this term, the Hull players need to help defend across all quarters of the pitch and Snodgrass evidently lends a helping hand where required. Not only that, but with Mbokani and Ahmed Elmohamady now unavailable for the remainder of January due to the Africa Cup of Nations, there’s further responsibility on Snodgrass to maintain his good form, particularly given Hull’s paper thin, injury hit squad.
As Hull battle for points in their bid to beat the drop, Snodgrass has an influential role to play for the Tigers in the final third. With their now no risk of him leaving in January for a low fee or on a free at the end of the season, Hull can now focus on him playing a key role for the side in front of goal. Without his contribution, Hull would, at the time of writing, be eight points off safety and there’s no denying they will look to their key man between now and the end of the season as they look to consolidate their place among England’s best teams, particularly in the wake of Mike Phelan's sacking on Tuesday night.
