I absolutely love working with Ozan Tufan
ROSENIOR HAILS TURKISH STAR’S CONTRIBUTION
Ozan Tufan’s fitness has been a big part of the Turkish star’s impressive form at times this season, according to Hull City head coach Liam Rosenior. Tufan’s terrific strike on Saturday in the 3-0 win over QPR capped a fine individual performance which saw him claim an assist for Fabio Carvalho in what was a Man of the Match display at the MKM Stadium and saw him earn a place in the Team of the Week.
That fizzing effort after just eight minutes was Tufan’s ninth goal of the campaign having beaten his tally of eight last term having so far played nine games fewer, and boss Rosenior says being fully fit has helped him unlock the undoubted quality the 29-year-old has at his disposal and flourish in City’s high-press system.
“He’s been that way all season, he’s a leader in the dressing room,” Rosenior told the Mail. “I love him. As a lad, he’s top, and I think it took him – I’ll be really honest – it took him a while to adjust to my demands of what I (wanted). I think he felt that when I worked with him at the beginning, everything was about on the ball. It’s not, it’s both sides of the game.
“I need strikers or number tens who can run, who can press, who can be in the right position all the time. His understanding of the press now and his ability to repeatedly press at high intensity are magnificent.
“His goal – the fitter you are, the more quality you have and that’s something he’s been working really, really hard on and he’s seen the benefits of that and we’ve got an outstanding player. I’m sure he’s going to keep that level now for as long as he’s here and he’s an outstanding footballer who I absolutely love working with.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Tufan notched just his first assist for the club at Cardiff earlier this month and claimed another on Saturday when he fed Fabio Carvalho to run on and score his eighth Tigers goal. The relationship which is blossoming between Tufan and compatriot Omur is blossoming, along with Carvalho and Philogene in that exciting front four, which now has Liam Delap back to force his way in, and Rosenior is keen for it to continue.
City have four games left and although face an uphill battle to overpower Norwich in the final play-off spot, know they’ll give themselves the best possible chance if they can win all four, starting with Saturday’s trip to Tufan’s former club, Watford.
“It was a great ball through (from Tufan), a great run from Fabio. It’s exactly the same move that we’ve been working on. Abdus went through against Middlesbrough in a one-v-one. It’s exactly the same move, and what’s happening is and it’s what I said in January when we signed a lot of players, it takes time to build the connections and the chemistry and understand each other’s game.
“Some of our interlinking play now is a joy to watch because the players are understanding each other. Abdus has been a major plus point, there have been some outstanding performances from him. Jaden’s Jaden, Fabio scored, what is it, eight in 15? Jaden’s got three in three, so now the players that I’ve got in the attacking positions are in really good form and that needs to continue.”