Hull City vs Liverpool - Hull boss Marco Silva excited by new signing Kamil Grosicki - 7M sport

Hull City vs Liverpool - Hull boss Marco Silva excited by new signing Kamil Grosicki



Posted Saturday, February 04, 2017 by PA

Hull boss Marco Silva believes new boy Kamil Grosicki can add an extra dimension to his side's Premier League relegation battle starting against Liverpool at the KC Stadium on Saturday.

Silva sensibly shrugged off suggestions from the player's homeland that he may be the 'Polish Messi' - but believes the 28-year-old has the kind of skills to prove a big hit in east Yorkshire.

Silva said: "It (the comparison) is not important for me - all I want in my squad is Kamil Grosicki, nothing more.

"I want him to play like he knows. He is one type of player we don't have in our squad, a natural winger. He is a fast and technical player and can come in and give different things to our squad.

Both Grosicki, signed from French club Rennes on transfer deadline day, and Alfred N'Diaye are expected to figure in the squad for Liverpool, while Andrea Ranocchia could be handed his first start.

Silva's encouraging start since replacing Mike Phelan earlier this month was encapsulated in the battling midweek goalless draw at Old Trafford, which moved them off the bottom of the table.

He added: "When I came here I said I had this confidence because I know what is possible for our squad and the players we have got here.

"When you start to play better and get results it is important to have that confidence and I think we have showed we are better and stronger.

"It's important we keep our focus because we haven't won anything yet."

Liverpool's midweek draw against Chelsea stopped a dismal run which saw Jurgen Klopp's men crash out of both major Cup competitions within the space of a week.

And while Silva is relishing the chance to pit his wits against Klopp he also believes the heroic draw at Manchester United will stand his side in good stead to cause another upset.

Silva added: "We are playing against a great team and a great coach. When I see the Liverpool team play, I see first the character of the coach.

"They put a fantastic effort and attitude into all their games, and if we want to take any points from the game then we will have to do the same.

"We need to keep the same attitude and spirit that we showed in the last game against Manchester United."

Klopp insists his side do know how to handle the Premier League's "weaker" teams as he prepares for a trip to the struggling Tigers.

The Reds have lost three league matches this season against Burnley, Bournemouth and Swansea with the Clarets, currently in 10th, the highest-placed of the trio.

Conversely Klopp's record against the rest of the so-called 'big six' is the best of his contemporaries with one defeat in 15 matches since his arrival in England.

Liverpool often face a different type of game against the clubs who are not chasing Champions League qualification with many employing deep defensive tactics designed to frustrate.

However, Klopp insists his players have proved they can handle this approach and the losses they have suffered are merely blips and not symptomatic of a deeper-lying problem.

"We won a lot of games against these kind of teams. We lost three against those teams that you would call 'weaker'," he said.

"If you want to pick out these three games then I think Burnley was pretty special, very early (in the season), it's almost not allowed to put it in that bunch of games.

"Bournemouth was very special: we did really well and I don't know what happened there - we gave it away but we did everything nearly perfect until a specific point.

"Even Swansea was not good but it was that we had no chances .

"Even when you are a perfect side, which we are not, then obviously you will lose football games, that's why nobody wins 100 per cent of games in a season.

"But I think we've proved often enough that we know the way to do it, the problem is that it not always works.

"We are working with human beings and things like this happen but for me the most important thing is that we know how to play them - now we have to show it all the time."

Hull were swept aside 5-1 at Anfield in September but much has changed for both clubs since then with Liverpool still trying to rediscover their early-season form and the Tigers getting to grips with the methods of Silva.

Klopp has been impressed with the changes his Hull counterpart has effected and some of their recent performances.

"Anyone who saw Hull against Man United (in Wednesday's 0-0 draw) should be really impressed by the way they're playing," he added.

"Hull are still second from bottom but when you saw them playing I couldn't see it so that shows how difficult the job is to do."



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