6 grumbles about Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 defeat to Derby

Huddersfield Town were beaten 2-1 by Derby in their opening Championship fixture on Monday night. The defeat came about, in part, because of silly individual errors and poor defensive organisation. The confidence that had been painstakingly built over the course of preseason quickly evaporated. A change of approach at half-time spurred Town onto the front foot and made us more competitive, but it didn’t lead to the goals we were pushing for.

Midfield confusion in the first half

My impression of the first half was that our midfield was completely overrun by Derby and poor Jonathan Hogg was often left with the impossible job of tracking up to three players, while Mooy and Bacuna both seemed to be positioned far too high up the pitch.

Town’s midfield looked almost non-existent at times and Derby seemed to be able to get one on one with defenders by playing simple balls forward. Our odd positioning meant that we struggled to hold any kind of meaningful possession early on and we squandered possession too easily by playing hopeful balls up field that fell straight into the laps of Derby players.

Elphick’s nightmare debut

The first goal of the night was the result of a ridiculous decision from Tommy Elphick, where he tried a long-range chest pass to the keeper. Grabara tried his best to head the loose ball clear but was unlucky to find Tom Lawrence, who did an excellent job of capitalising on our mistake.

Elphick is a big character and I’m pretty sure he’ll recover from this game, but it wasn’t just the error for the goal that let him down. He looked wobbly on several occasions in the first half and looked like he was struggling to keep up with the pace of the game. His distribution was also woeful at times.

In fairness, Elphick’s second half performance was far better but there wasn’t nearly as much pressure at that stage and the damage had already been done.

I’ve said it before, but one bad performance doesn’t make someone a bad player. Elphick may be knocking on a bit, but he’s still more than good enough to do a job for Town at this level. He strikes me as the kind of player that will put his hand up and acknowledge his error then look to make up for it in his next performance. For that reason, I hope Siewert keeps faith with him and picks him for the QPR game.

Familiar problems when Town attack

The first half was a bit of a disaster for Town and Derby deserved to go in with a lead. The second half was a different story and Town played better football, controlled the game better and looked a threat.

The problem was that Town, yet again, couldn’t convert a dominant passage of play into a goal. This has been a problem for Town for the past three season and could continue into this season if the Derby game is anything to go by.

It’s hard to pin point the exact problem but poor finishing is probably a big part of it. Kachunga had a golden opportunity to equalise late on and made a complete mess of it. Diakhaby’s pace got him into a number of promising situations but his technique and awareness let him down every time. Pritchard looked to have the most creative spark of anyone on the pitch but couldn’t turn these moments into clear cut chances.

It’s too early to get worried about our attacking problems. Even though Derby are one of the better Championship teams, they looked vulnerable at times and Town could have won the game with a bit more attacking intent.

Aaron Mooy was a bit crap but was still our best player

This game didn’t provide a vintage Aaron Mooy performance but he still won the Man of the Match award. At the time, I thought he was an odd choice, but I can’t think of anyone else that deserved the award more. Maybe Pritchard but he didn’t produce enough end product despite having some good moments.

Mooy got caught in possession far more than I can remember in any other game and he looked like he wasn’t sure of his role at times. Regardless of these weak points, he still managed to play a few passes that put attacking players in great positions. His ability to pick out and then execute a killer pass is great to watch. He can do this even if he’s not having the best game.

Looking at the stats from the game it’s easy to see how much we depend on Mooy in midfield. No player on either team made more tackles, had more possession, or had more successful passes than him.

The Malvin Kamara factor

Adama Diakhaby continued to frustrate on the wing. His speed was exceptional, his ability on the ball was exceptionally awful.

In 2007 Town signed Malving Kamara because we badly lacked pace. He was lightning quick but he was a very limited footballer. Town seem to have made the exact same mistake with Diakhaby as he uses his pace to get him into very promising situations and then goes to pieces. He either takes a terrible touch, makes a poor decision or lashes the ball nowhere near the goal.

Diakhaby also looks a liability when we’re out of position. He’ll stand in the vague vicinity of an opposition player and then trot off somewhere else without realising his man is now in acres of space. Fixing this tendency should be fairly simple but he’s been with us over a year now and I’ve not seen any improvement in the defensive side of his game.

The frustrating thing about Diakhaby is the obvious potential that is bubbling under the surface. It wouldn’t take much for him to become an incredibly useful player, just a bit more control or making a better decision in the final third could see him become our most potent attacking threat. He’s just not there yet.

Jan Siewert receives a new nickname

A few people online have taken to calling Jan Siewert “The PE Teacher “which I think is a bit harsh, but I can understand what they’re aiming at. I sit fairly near the dugouts and glanced over to Town’s technical area in the middle of the second-half to see Jan clapping his hands and shouting instructions while the Town players completely ignored him, just like a PE teacher would give instructions to an unruly class that didn’t want to listen.

I’m keen for Siewert to succeed at Town but he didn’t have a great game against Derby. The first half tactics were a bit of a mess, the tactical change to 4-2-3-1 after Bacuna’s injury killed our momentum, and he wasn’t able to find a solution to Derby sitting deep to soak up pressure in the closing stages of the game.

I love Collin Quaner more than most Town fans but I’m slightly concerned that the best idea Siewert could think up in the closing stages was to chuck Big Col up front in place of Karlan Grant and see if he can make a nuisance of himself. While we all remember the impact Quaner made from the bench against Sheffield Wednesday in the playoffs, it’s a bit disappointing we weren’t able to come up with something a bit more creative.