Hull City’s Geovanni is undoubtedly a quality player. At Barcelona he was earmarked as the natural successor to Rivaldo, and in terms of creativity, trickery and goalscoring ability, there are obvious similarities.
The Tiger’s spectacular start to the season was in no small part thanks to the Brazilian’s contribution. Hull boss, Phil Brown, sent his side out in a cavalier 4-3-1-2, with Geovanni given license to roam as the trequartista behind the front two.
The system worked well to start with and Hull found themselves in the top 4 after ten games, with their crowning glory coming in a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates.
In that game Geovanni was the man-of-the-match. Even apart from his spectacular goal, his contribution was magnificent. As well as providing an attacking threat, he dropped deep to offer Hull’s less technically adept players an outlet whenever they were in possession (see below, top).
However, there is a reason why Geovanni plays for Hull and not Barcelona. Although on his day he can be world-class, he can also be entirely anonymous.
Hull’s victory at Fulham in midweek was only their second in the league since October 25th. A precipitous decline has seen them go from looking at a top-half finish to being serious relegation contenders.
Their problems have be manifold, but Geovanni’s loss of form has been most telling. Amongst a workman-like squad his brilliance set Hull apart from the other promoted sides. Without which they have plummeted.
Compare Geovanni’s performance at the Emirates to the corresponding fixture at KC Stadium in January (see below). He made far fewer passes and those that he did make were further up the pitch - demonstrating less of a desire to drop deep to help the team.
The final straw came against Blackburn last weekend when Phil Brown hauled off the Brazilian after 60 minutes. Another ineffectual performance saw Blackburn two goals up at half-time, with little threat of a reply. The withdrawal was met with petulant disproval from the player himself.
After the match Brown's comments harked back to a bygone era, "Geovanni is not bigger than this football club,” said the belligerent Hull boss, "He will never do that to me again”. Before going on to bizarrely chipped in with, “He's getting drugs-tested so hopefully they will find that positive.”
The test was negative but perhaps it is Phil Brown who should be handing over a sample.
The signing of Geovanni was one of the biggest coups of the summer and in him they have a hugely talented player.
If Hull have serious pretensions of long-term Premiership survival they need to get the best out of their only/most talented player. In jest or not, suggesting that he will test positive for drugs is unlikely to do that.
