Tiger On Tour: It Goes On

Phil Brown said that the first goal was crucial and Everton scored it from an offside position. I can see why he's annoyed at that, but the first goal was never going to come from Hull City. Playing 4-5-1 doesn't make us a better side defensively, while it does nulify our attacking threat.

The best I've seen our strikers this season was against Everton at home when Cousin and King pressed high up the pitch and caused the defenders lots of problems. King on his own at Goodison Park had no hope of doing the same again.

When we got the win at Arsenal it wasn't by playing 10 men behind the ball. The opposition did have a lot of possession but it was by defending well all over the pitch that we restricted them to one goal, not by packing our own area. We also went into the game with enough goalscorers on the pitch to make the most of our chances. Who ever looked like scoring against Everton this week?

The only way to go into the game against Arsenal is with the mentality we had at the Emirates Stadium. We must not be sloppy when passing the ball (as we were against Everton), we must defend our net like lives depend on it, and we must be positive when going forward. It will be hard for Phil Brown to come up with a new formula to fit our attacking players into a defensively solid side, but it's the only way we know how to play, even if it does mean we ship goals in the odd game.

Tomorrow I leave Cambodia to go to Thailand. I haven't seen City pick up a point since I was in Hanoi at the start of my journey down Vietnam, and have to think back to the very first few days of my whole trip in Hong Kong for the last City win. As soon as one comes it will take the pressure off as the winless run gets longer, which I why I was so disappointed with Phil Brown's team selection for the Cup game. It will be harder in the replay (if the club manage to find a kit to wear).

I have been in three main areas of this country: Sihanoukville, a great holiday resort, though its beach was nothing like the paradise of the nearby Bamboo Island; Phnom Penh, which I found to have less charm but was well worth visiting for the eye-opening Genocide Musem and Killing Fields; Lastly Siem Reap, smaller with one central area of ameneties and markets and more local life for tourists to interact with.

As always, give City a shout for me to help us through to the next round of the cup, and let's prove we weren't one-hit-wonders against Arsenal.

Andy (Tiger on Tour)