33 players used for Town – some good but others less so & 6 missing without explanation – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 5-0 friendly win over Emley

If, for some bizarre reason, you measured value in a football match by the number of players you saw on the pitch then the game between Emley and Huddersfield Town would have felt like a feast. The home team swapped their entire team at half time, fielding 22 players but Town went one better, switching their full lineup every half hour and getting through 33 players. So 55 players were involved in this match in total. So for those that attended in person and paid the £15 entrance fee, you only paid just over 27p per player watched – very good value if that’s what you’re interested in. Or 0p ppw if you watched it on the live stream on YouTube. 

Obviously, the huge number of players involved, the very early stage of preseason and the difference in ability between the two teams didn’t contribute to a classic but given these impediments it was actually a pretty decent friendly and the 5-0 scoreline makes it sound worse than it really was. While Emley weren’t exactly equals to Town, the gap in quality between us and them wasn’t as big as the gap between us and Leeds in the Elland Road game last season where it looked like men and boys (though the home fixture was a different story). 

In this article I’m going to try and put together a few of my thoughts about the game. Rather than try and scrape together thoughts about each of the 33 Town players involved, I’ll comment on the ones that stood out to me and any other talking points that occur. Just like the players, I’ll be trying to get my blogging back up to full match fitness, so some of my observations may be a bit rusty at this stage of preseason but I’m not too worried about that at this point. I’m more concerned about getting words in the tank and being ready to hit the ground running for Peterborough away in August. 

The First XI – 0 minutes to 30 minutes

The first thirty minutes saw Town dominate the game. Despite Emley defending their box well, they struggled to mount much in the way of convincing attacks to really properly test our defence. Unless Town can pull their finger out and schedule some quality opposition during the Austria tour, I worry we’ll not get a decent test of the defensive side of things in this preseason. (The club promised an update on the Austria fixtures this week but haven’t followed up on it yet. It sounds like the planning of that trip has been a bit of a disaster, which is unfortunate when they went in two-footed on Neil Warnock’s preseason. I feel sorry for the fans who have booked tickets to go out there but still don’t know when or where the games will be.)

The most eye-catching display of the first third came from Town’s only signing of the summer so far, Lasse Sorensen, who was a handful down the right flank. He looks very energetic and bombed up and down with and without the ball. His crossing wasn’t always perfect but he did well to get into decent positions and when the ball was on the other flank he made a run into the box which nearly resulted in a goal. I think we’ve got a good one in Sorensen and he will fit in very nicely.

Tom Iopenda was another stand-out for Town, with him forming a midfield pair with Josh Austerfield but being the more advanced of the two. He showed a good range of passing and was often the one that made the incisive pass to get the ball into the feet of the attacking players. We’ve been crying out for a creative midfielder who can dictate play for years, wouldn’t it be lovely if one emerged from the academy? I’m not sure if that’s Iopenda’s natural game or if he’s ready to make the step up to regularly start for Town but if he impresses in preseason it may mean we need to recruit one fewer midfielder (though we still need more in this department).

Austerfield didn’t look too bad as the deeper-lying midfielder either, stroking the ball around nicely and spreading the ball out wide and circulating possession against a resolute Emley defence. He’s now at a stage of his career where he needs to be involved in first team football, so if that’s not going to be at Huddersfield Town it may be kinder to move him on. While it’s tricky to draw conclusions from friendlies against weaker opponents, he looked pretty decent here, so may be a backup option, particularly given we’re likely to have a lot of cup games to cover this season.

I thought Headley had a very mixed season in the one just passed , with some excellent showings and some poor ones, so he goes into this preseason with something to prove. He took a good first step in this fixture, scoring a scuffed opening goal. Beyond his goal, he was a a livewire and I can see the left wingback in Duff’s system suiting Headley’s style as he’s probably not defensively solid enough to be a left back or skillful enough to be an out-and-out winger (despite failed experiments in both roles) so wingback might be the goldilocks zone for his skills.

Rhys Healey looked very neat and tidy in what he did, whenever he got the ball he seemed to wriggle free of his defender and do something with the ball even if it was to lay it off to a colleague. The opening goal was, in part, thanks to his clever footwork. While we’ve been getting excited about the prospect of signing May from Charlton, it’s easy to forget we’ve already got a player with the potential to score a lot of goals at League One level. 

The other striker on the pitch, Bojan Radulovic, didn’t fare so well. I genuinely don’t know if he took a touch. If he did, it wasn’t so effective that I could remember it. He had a bumpy start to life in Huddersfield and I hoped a good preseason could get him into good shape. This outing suggests he may still have a bit of a way to go as he looked a bit lost. Against Emley. But it’s only the first game of preseason, so it’s not time to hit the panic button just yet.

The only slight wrinkle for Town in this first third was the moment when Balker quite badly underhit a backpass to Maxwell which very nearly led to an Emley equaliser. This was bad enough given that Balker is our “cultured” defender but forgivable considering he’d had very little to do and it’s preseason after all. But then Maxwell looked even more rusty when his pass from this dodgy moment was even dodgier as he kicked it straight to an Emley attacker and we really should have gone to one all but were saved by poor finishing. Still, this was basically a training exercise, so nothing to worry too much about. But, if we plan to play out from the back a lot next season and Nicholls is to be sold, we may need quality competition for Maxwell as Chapman is unproven.

The Second XI – 30 – 60 minutes

I feel like I spend a lot of time talking about the drama that Sorba Thomas often has circulating around him, so it’s worth putting that aside and pointing out that he was our best player on the pitch during this stage of the game. He creates chances and causes problems whenever he gets on the ball. I think he was technically playing as a second striker in this game but he was in a sort of free role, where he drifted around and got into attacking spaces and found areas he could cause problems. It didn’t always work for him and his set pieces weren’t great but I can see a way that he could still play a role for Town if a decent bid doesn’t come in for him this summer which is good because Mark Cartwright made it clear that no player will leave unless their valuation is met. 

Danny Ward should probably have had two goals, which begs the question I feel like I’ve asked about Ward many times in the past: did he do well to get into those positions or poorly for not finishing the chances that came to him? Strikers are measured in raw numbers, so he needs to be converting the chances that come his way. It’s only a…. you know the rest. But still…. put it on the net. 

Someone who had no issue putting it in the net, was young Pat Jones, who smashed an absolute beauty into the top corner. If his hamstrings weren’t made of soggy cardboard, I’d be incredibly excited about this guy, as he looks like he can do lots of exciting things. He loves to have a run to the byline and try to get past his man, which is something which is always a joy to watch a winger doing. It’s probably not ideal for him on a personal level that Duff prefers to play without wingers, but I think we’ve seen in this game that Duff’s flexible enough to find ways to accommodate the players he has available. If Jones stays fit and keeps slotting the ball in the top corner from the edge of the box then I think Duff will be able to find a way to fit him in his tactical system.

Another young wideman, Neo Eccleston, looked pretty good, he was energetic and didn’t look out of place alongside far more experienced players. We’re a bit thin on proper wingback cover for Sorensen, so I’d be curious to see more of him in preseason as he looked decent here. Though we were so dominant during this spell of the game I think he was more like a right winger than a wingback.

David Kasumu worked hard in the middle of the park, so it was appropriate that he got a goal from pressing high up the pitch and forcing a mistake. I suspect we’ll score a lot of goals this way over the course of the coming season. He forced the error and then showed good composure to stroke the ball home into the far corner.

Then Ben Wiles scored an absolute gift from the resulting kickoff after Kasumu’s goal. Which was sort of from pressing but more from just being stood there and willing to accept the generosity of a slightly frazzled defence.

The Third XI 60 – 90 minutes

The third change for Town saw the B Team lads given a go. I expected this phase of the game to be where Emley got their revenge, and tried to make the scoreline more respectable. However, the young pups equipped themselves very well against tough opposition. If anything, I think this section produced some of the nicest passing football of the game from Town, with the youngsters clearly indoctrinated into passing out from the back at all costs and willing to take risks on the ball that grisled professionals are probably too experienced to chance. It worked though and we played some nice fluent stuff, even if the overall ability of the team wasn’t the same level as the two earlier Town teams, the ambition and bravery was admirable. 

Michael Stone was my personal pick of the youngsters on show. He was dominant in midfield and looked very comfortable on the ball. The few pot shots he had from the edge of the box didn’t find the net but his technique suggested that a few more similar opportunities would have been all he needed to get his eye in and find the target. If he isn’t earmarked for minutes in the first team this season then he certainly looks ready for a loan out, and hopefully at a decent level.

It feels harsh to single too many of these youngsters out because they all did well. Tyreece Simpson stood out, because they were all skinny kids and he’s built like he’s just eaten a couple of them for breakfast to keep his protein levels up. He did take his goal well though, controlling a low cross and smashing it into the far bottom corner on the turn. However, he’ll be acutely aware that in a game where there were two full Town teams playing, he was still relegated to the kids team. A bit like having to eat Christmas dinner at the kids table when you’re in your twenties. He’s got some work to do to show he’s got a future at Huddersfield Town. 

Michael Duff’s Terriers

The players have only had three days of proper training this week, of which most will have focussed on fitness rather than tactical input, so there probably weren’t huge conclusions to be drawn from this match in terms of the Duff-era Terriers. Having said that, I think it was possible to see some green shoots of what we can expect under Michael Duff. 

For a start, despite there being a number of different formations, they tended towards a three-man central defence with very advanced wingbacks. There was also an emphasis on pressing hard and high up the pitch when we lost possession. This was made possible by the defensive line being high up the pitch and therefore the space was more congested and the opposition didn’t have much room to work with. This sort of thing works well when you’ve got defenders with pace, who can cope with the ball over the top but is risky when you’re up against teams that can play well on the counter. 

I thought we did fairly well in terms of creating chances against a team that was sitting deep and defending resolutely. While we scored five, we could have had double that with better finishing. A lot of our chances came from good work out wide, which went down to the byline and then cutting the ball back into the box and trying to find a blue and white shirt. Not rocket science but I feel like we haven’t been good at creating chances in open play for a very long time, so hopefully we’re going to move towards being a team that has a way of playing that regularly brings chances in and around the box.

Why do three lots of 30 minutes rather than two 45 minute halves?

I can imagine some fans may grumble that these pampered pooches only have to do half an hour of graft when they’re working 28 hours a day down the pit then having to crawl home through broken glass to sleep in a cellar crawling with rats.  But I’m guessing the decision will have been that so early in preseason, 30 minutes at full tilt is all they can manage without risking injury and they’d prefer to  have everyone giving it their maximum rather than going for a steady 45 minutes. 

There’s also the added bonus of giving the B Team lads a taste of first team football and getting them to play alongside their first team counterparts. Some will most likely be needed in the coming season to make up the numbers in the Bristol Street Motors Cup or to cover injuries, so it’s good to see how they look against a decent men’s team.

Who was missing?

Despite there being lots of players on display yesterday afternoon, I was somewhat struck by the number of players we didn’t see. There was no pre or post-match interview to explain the selections or availability – it was a glorified training session after all – so there’s no recent update on the fitness of the squad but the following players didn’t feature: 

• Tom Lees
• Josh Ruffles
• Jonathan Hogg
• Kian  Harratt
• Scott High
• Kyle Hudlin

Given the kids were played in the final half hour and Tyreece Simpson bumped Zac Abbott out of that team, surely any of those players could have been in that third eleven if they were fit and available. Lees, Ruffles, Hogg and Harratt were all injured towards the end of last season and may still be on their way back from injury. Harratt’s suspension for gambling coincided with a nasty-looking injury, so I’m not convinced he’d have been available during that period anyway but whether he’s available now is also unknown – though I think he was in this week’s training video, so who knows?

Hudlin and High are a bit more of a mystery because I nearly forgot about them entirely because they’ve not made it on to the club’s new-look website in the player profile area. This could be a simple mistake or it could be a low-key way of letting them know they’re not wanted anymore. Though not picking them in a game where 33 players were involved is a much clearer message. If these two are fit then I’d expect loans or permanent moves for them to be announced in the near future. 

UPDATE: Because I’ve clearly got nothing better to do with my time, after I published this article I went back and watched the Inside Training video from earlier this week. Hogg, Lees, Ruffels and Harratt all appear at some point in the video so if they have injuries they’re either niggles or have been picked up recently. High and Hudlin are not present in the video (that I could see), so my suspicion is they’re either more suriously injured or close to moving away. Hopefully there will be an interview with Michael Duff in the next week to get an update on the squad and the first week back in training.  

Watch the highlights of the game here