4 theories about why Town were so poor against Luton

Last night Huddersfield Town were beaten 2-0 by Luton Town after putting in one of their worst performances of the season. The game was billed as a decisive one for our season yet the players failed to find any fluency or spirit and were deservedly beaten.

Fingers were being pointed all over the place on social media, clambering for an answer to why Town have been so poor in big games. I honestly don’t know the reason but I have a few ideas. I suspect we will never truly know what is the biggest factor in Town’s awful performance against Luton but here are a few thoughts of mine…

Too many players that won’t be here next year

Town’s starting eleven against Luton featured four loan players (Lossl, Chalobah, Smith Rowe, Willock), one player that’s already signed for another club next season (Stankovic) and at least one that’s likely to be sold in the post-season (Grant). Six players that won’t be affected by relegation if it happens to Town.

Relegation is awful for the players that hang around. You usually face a massive wage cut, your better teammates leave and are replaced by inferior equivalents, the teams you play aren’t as good, you’re less interesting to the media and your personal value drops. That’s before you even think about relegation clauses in contracts reducing wages. It’s deeply unpleasant and that’s what drives players to fight against relegation.

If all 11 of Town’s players faced this threat to their professional lives then I think they may be more willing to track back, less likely to pass sideways and strong enough to commit fully to tackles. As it is, many of Town’s players are playing like it’s a Sunday afternoon kick about.

The fact that Chalobah was one of the few players to emerge from last night’s game with any credit suggests that some loan players are willing to put a shift in but I still believe that the lack of continuity in our team is an ongoing problem and stops us building an identity.

Psychological weakness

Danny Cowley, Jan Siewert and David Wagner have all made reference to how well their teams have played in training following defeats. The ability to perform when the pressure is off and freeze when it counts suggests there may be a mental block with some players.

I find it really strange that this is a problem that Town have struggled with for three seasons now, despite the squad being almost completely different from the first year in the Premier League. The habit of losing important games seems to be deeply ingrained into the group despite the players, staff and ownership of the club changing. It’s like Trigger’s broom, the component parts are all different but the outcome is still the same.

The relegation hangover and the habit of losing are often quoted as part of Town’s problem and it’s hard to argue against. Phil Hodgkinson said recently that he believes that the squad is good enough to be top six in the Championship despite the fact we’re now hovering perilously close to the drop zone. While he’s overestimating the abilities within the squad, I think it’s true that the team are performing well below their potential and have done for most of the season. That points to a problem in the mentality of this group.

Lack of fitness

Mark Hudson pointed out that the squad’s fitness wasn’t what it should be when he took over as caretaker following Jan Siewert’s sacking. It’s very hard to make significant changes to fitness levels during the gruelling Championship schedule so Danny Cowley has been stuck with what he has to some extent.

The poor condition of the players has improved somewhat over the course of the season but I think our wasted preseason has limited our fitness levels. I can’t think of many games where we’ve pressed the opposition aggressively for long periods of time. We tend to only do this for short bursts and then ease off.

Much has been made of the tight schedule of games following the restart but the other Championship teams Town are competing with have broadly the same calendar and many have smaller squads to work with. Yet the Wigan, Preston and Luton games have all seen Town look weary and fizzle out well before the final whistle.

The tactics

There have been a few Town fans calling for Danny Cowley’s head after the defeat to Luton. I think this kind of talk is premature but we have been exposed tactically in several games since the season started up again.

Luton’s opener last night was a terrible goal to concede, they just packed the six yard box with their biggest players and outmuscled us. Obvious but effective. Luton then did a perfect job of soaking up pressure and picking Town off on the break.

The Wigan game was another where Town were outthought by their opposition. Wigan knew that they could allow Town to have lots of possession and broke quickly and exploited our weakness at defending crosses.

I enjoy listening to Danny Cowley talk about tactical approaches and how he wants to set his team up to play but the talk doesn’t end up being replicated on the pitch. I wonder if sometimes the players either don’t understand or don’t buy into the tactical instruction they receive.

If Danny Cowley is given the ability to clear out the squad of all the deadwood before next season and build his own team then we can properly assess him. Until then, I think it would be harsh to judge him too much on the achievements of this squad.

Can Town bounce back from this defeat?

Whatever the issue with Town last night, they need to shake it off and perform on Tuesday night against Sheffield Wednesday. Despite how gloomy most Town fans feel right now, we only need a few more points to be safe. One win from the next three games could be enough.

The fact our destiny is in our own hands right now should be enough to motivate these players. If we can’t find a response and lose these next three games then I think we deserve to go down anyway. It could be that points deductions provide Town a Get Out Of Jail Free card but it wouldn’t be deserved.

I suspect we should be able to get the points needed to limp over the line but there will still be a major rebuilding job to do on this team, regardless of what division we are playing in next season.