Manchester United supporters will be in no rush to return to Hull. If a lacklustre display on the pitch wasn't bad enough, being informed that two of the trains back to Manchester had been cancelled during the second half compounded a sorry first away trip of the season.
Everyone would much prefer to forget what happened on Humberside and focus solely on the return to Old Trafford against Ipswich Town. However, brushing over such a chastening defeat means United could end up forgetting the lessons they need to learn.
With this in mind, MEN Sport has taken a look back at the painful defeat to Hull to assess how United can improve.
Take the game to the opposition
In a game against a newly promoted side, you would expect United's forwards to be running at the Hull defence, trying to give the back line something to think about. Instead, according to Opta, the Reds attempted just 17 dribbles in the entire game. Harry Maguire was the only Red to successfully complete more than one dribble (two).
Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford were the other United players who completed one successful dribble each. This meant the Reds had a mere 23.5 per cent dribble success rate. To sum up how bad things were in the first half, it was just Fernandes who completed a successful dribble, and that came when United were already 2-0 down.
This was indicative of United's cautious approach to the game. Instead of looking to run at the Hull defence, the Reds looked to pass through them. At Old Trafford this week, United must take the handbrake off and look to change things up.
More penetration
Michael Carrick's gameplan was to pass through Hull. This led to a whopping 71.7 per cent possession and 669 passes, the highest total attempted in a single match in the Premier League since the start of last season, according to Opta.
Their pass completion stood at a healthy 87.9 per cent, but those passes were not penetrative enough. Out of their 669 passes, 261 were made in the final third, at a completion rate of 82 per cent. However, the top combination of passes for United throughout the game was between Ayden Heaven and Maguire, with the youngster playing all but two of those either sideways or backwards.
That's not a slight on Heaven, but more on what United were doing when they were passing. Too often the Reds were happy to make safe passes rather than force Hull to break their defensive shape. There were plenty of key passes made in and around the area, but at some stage you have to use those passes to get into positions where you can test the goalkeeper. 21 shots with just five on target suggests United did not do that.
Tackles and duels
Carrick was furious when asked post-match if he felt his team showed 'a lack of passion' in the defeat to Hull. It was a question that rightly received short shrift from the boss. But one way the players can show more determination is in their tackles and duels.
Remarkably, United only made six tackles during the entire game. That is a very low figure, even if they won four of those tackles. Midfield enforcers Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans made one tackle between them.
That lack of bite in midfield is alarming and something that United will hope Carlos Baleba can address once fit. In truth, United were second-best across the park in those all-important duels.
There was a total of 86 duels during the match - United were successful in just 41.9 per cent of those. Of the 86, 39 were aerial and, again, United were second-best, winning just 43.6 per cent.
Simply put, the Reds need to be stronger. They missed having a player like Casemiro who can get stuck in and win possession. United cannot be out-fought on a regular basis like that, especially against a team expected to struggle.
Final third entries
We have touched on it briefly with the passing and dribbling, but United's attack was just too blunt against Hull. Maguire having the third-highest final third entries in the team (11) should be concerning. He was only behind Tielemans (12) and Fernandes (19), but you want your forward players to be attempting these more than your centre-back.
But this summed up how poor United's forward line was. Take Cunha as an example; he managed just three shots all game at an xG of 0.24. His average position was far too deep, more akin to a No.10 than a centre-forward. He made just two final third entries.
As shown by the Opta graphic below, Benjamin Sesko occupied a more advanced position when he was introduced and that's what United needed from Cunha. That lack of a focal point killed the Reds but there isn't a quick fix.
Sesko looks like a player who is not up to speed after injury. Chucking him in from the start against Ipswich would be a risk, but United cannot play without a proper centre-forward. And yet, on Saturday's showing, Sesko is the only one who can offer that.
