Huddersfield Town stay stuck at the bottom of the table after defeat to Sunderland last night. Injuries and suspension forced them to field a weakened team and despite battling valiantly in horrendous conditions, they were second best against a Sunderland side that weren’t a great deal better than Town but possessed just enough quality to finish us off.
More worrying still, after losing Ollie Turton to long-term injury and Tom Lees to injury before this game, we also saw Yuta Nakayama and Ben Jackson both stretchered off, both looking distraught. Hopefully the prognosis will be positive once they get properly checked over but neither injury looks good, which is particularly heartbreaking for Nakayama with the World Cup just around the corner.
Here are a few more of my thoughts on last night’s game.
This game was our whole season condensed into 90 minutes
There were positive signs, where we strung some passes together and looked OK. There were dodgy moments, where we switched off and allowed our opponent in. Young players showed signs of class but also made basic errors. There was an ex-player returning to haunt us. There was a lack of cutting edge up front. Injuries cost us. The tactics lack imagination. Our build up play was too slow. Our crosses weren’t accurate enough. We weren’t far off the standard of our opponent but ultimately deserved to lose.
Those short sentences I’ve written above could have been cut and pasted out of any number of our games this season, both from Fotheringham and Schofield’s time in charge. Like my parents would say when I was in trouble as a child, I’m not angry, I’m concerned. Why are we making the same mistakes in November that we were making in August?
Things looked pretty promising after a decent showing against Millwall but the number of forced changes to the team last night seems to have weakened the team to a point where it wasn’t possible to keep the momentum.
Sunderland managed to produce a few moments of quality that we couldn’t
I’ve come away from most games this season feeling like I’ve watched two poor teams and last night was another one like that. Maybe I’ve got ridiculously high standards but my impression was that Sunderland weren’t very good for long spells. When they managed to get the ball into the final third and were allowed to get their passing game going they looked like a very good footballing side.
But when we stopped them from getting the ball forward and frustrated them, they really struggled and made some very sloppy mistakes at the back which we repeatedly failed to punish. They reminded me of Town at the very worst period of Carlos Corberan’s possession football period, where the ball would get stuck in central defence and our mindless pursuit of passing out from the back allowed opponents to keep nicking the ball off our defenders. Only whenever we caught them in possession we’d squander those opportunities.
The thing I found frustrating last night was how we seemed to have worked out how to play against Sunderland, we got in their faces and frustrated them really well for the first 15 minutes. Then we either changed our approach or, more likely, got a bit tired, and allowed them to get a foothold and they started passing us to death. That’s when they started to hurt us and to work the ball forward and created some good opportunities.
Being completely honest, I thought Sunderland deserved to win last night. It was two fairly evenly matched teams but they had more quality in the final third, they linked up with each other better and seemed to have a clear idea about the kind of football they wanted to play. It was also considerably nicer to watch than the football Town were trying to play.
Injuries situation upgraded to crisis: change the lightbulb!
I felt genuinely gutted when our two defenders were stretchered off in last night’s game. Both Nakayma and Jackson both seem like actually decent people, which I honestly don’t feel like that about many footballers but those two seem like a couple of the good ones – so it’s cruel that they both had to be carried off the pitch. For Nakayama it’s even more so because he’s surely now a major doubt for the World Cup, which would have been the pinacle of his career. Will he get another opportunity? You just don’t know, so it’s understandable that he would be distraught. There’s still a chance that it could be minor and he could make it to Qatar but I wouldn’t put money on it.
Ben Jackson’s injury was also a sad one as he only got hurt because of the way he plays the game. Every time the ball is there to be won he flies into the tackle with 100% commitment, regardless of risk to himself and that’s why he ended up getting hurt. The noise he made as the Sunderland player made contact was horrendous and it sounded like a really sore one. Whether it will be a long-term injury is less clear as it could just be a cut or a bruise on his shin.
We had a few injury issues before this game but now it seems like Jackson and Nakayama face time on the sidelines, I think we can upgrade it to an injury crisis. In just four days we’ve seen four starting defenders go out injured in Turton, Lees, Jackson and Nakayama. In fairness, Lees is out ill so will hopefully return soon but even so, we’re now badly short at the back.
If you add these recent injuries to the existing injuries to Anorin, Hogg, Simpson (who is yet to kick a ball), Jones (who isn’t established yet but I’ve pinned the majority of my hopes for the future on), Pearson and possibly Kesler-Heyden, though that last one may just be out of favour. His injury status doesn’t sound all that clear when Fotheringham gives updates on him.
To quote John F. Kennedy, “The Chinese use two brush strokes to write
the word ‘crisis’. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger but recognise the opportunity.” So while we do have a lot of players out, it is also an opportunity for some of those players that have been on the sidelines to step in and prove they can do a job for the team. Particularly the youngsters, who deserve their own subheading…
Towns youngsters did well
Despite the game ending in a soggy defeat, I didn’t come away from yesterday’s game completely despondent and I think a large part of that was that we saw a lot of Town’s next generation on the pitch last night. I’ve said similar things before, but I feel a lot more attached to the club when we’re bringing younger players through and I’m a lot more forgiving of the odd misstep if it’s helping bring through players that will learn and get better.
I think Diarra deserves special mention as it feels like he’s had to be very patient to wait for his chance to play in the league for Town. He was far from perfect but what he did bring to the team was a direct attacking threat that we often miss. He runs directly at defenders and tries to make things happen. He almost scored with his first touch of the game when Rudoni provided him with an excllent cross in the box but unfortunately he couldn’t make a good connection with it but otherwise he was good. Like Pat Jones, I think he’s probably one that needs nurturing and easing in to the team gently and in short bursts but there were signs that he can make an impact at this level.
We saw Camara, Jackson, Diarra, Rudoni, Kasumu all make big contributions in this game despite being younger players. I suppose Rudoni and Kasumu aren’t academy players but they’re still young and stepping up to this level this season and are on a learning curve. As the season progresses, I think the groundwork we’re putting in with these players will pay off as they become more experienced and comfortable with the pace of the Championship.
I’m planning on writing an article on Town’s loan players that Fotheringham might fancy recalling in January in the next week or two as that may be another source of fresh blood. With the club up for sale, it seems unlikely that there will be huge sums available for transfer fees but I’d be stunned if we didn’t have recall clauses on all of the youngsters who are currently out on loan and it seems that Fotheringham is keen to blood youngsters that show they can buy into his methods.
Moving the ball quicker during transitions
One of the things I found continuously frustrating in last night’s games was how slow Town were in the moments when they needed to be fast. This was probably an area where Sorba Thomas was sorely missed, as he’s our chief counter-attacking threat, but when we won the ball back high up the field we repeatedly failed to punish Sunderland despite them being there for the taking.
Given we struggle to create chances in open play through our own skill it seems absolutely bonkers that we didn’t go hell for leather at Sunderland’s back line every time we intercepted a pass but we repeatedly dithered on the ball or didn’t have enough runners bursting forward to create decent counter attacks.
I think there needs to be some fairly serious work on the training pitch done to fix the issue of creating chances from open play but there is a relatively simple fix to getting chances from interceptions and tackles in the opposition half. When it happens the whole team needs to be ready to fly forward and flood the box, then whoever is on the ball needs to move the ball forward quickly to keep the move alive. It’s not complicated but for some reason we prefer to stand on the ball and pass it backwards while the opposition get back and reorganise.
Things look bleak for the next three games
When the fixtures came out the World Cup break looked like a horrendous insult to fans of club football that was going to ruin my enjoyment of Town’s season. Now it’s looking like it will provide respite from a bruising season and an opportunity for players and fans alike to recuperate, lick their wounds and hopefully restart with a fresh sense of purpose.
So the World Cup break may be the best thing that could happen for Town this season, it might not be a magic wand for their woes but at least it provides time to nurse some players back to fitness and gives Fozzy Bear a bit of time on the training pitch with his players.
But until the break we’ve got a tricky run. Our next three games are Blackburn away, QPR away and Swansea at home. So that’s second, fourth and seventh in the table that we face (as things stand) in our next three games, with two of those three being away from home.
I’d harboured vague ambitions that we might wrestle our way out of the relegation zone before the World Cup break too but that has now gone from optimistic thinking to simply deranged as we are five points from that particular target after results went against us in midweek.
With injuries biting and tough opponents ahead, it will be an interesting test of Mark Fotheringham’s preference for attacking football in the next few games. I think a seasoned (and cynical) manager would probably look to park the bus and play a bit of anti-football in the upcoming games, to try and grab a point or at least keep the scoreline respectable. Having said that, the Championship is a league where any team can beat anyone else on any given day, so maybe we should go for the jugular in these games – even if we don’t win it will at least be more enjoyable to watch.
I usually agree with most of what you say, but I think you’re a little off the mark by saying Sunderland deserved to win. I thought Town played really well at times and controlled the game for large parts. As usual they couldn’t put the ball in the net so if that’s means you don’t deserve to win then fine – but Sunderland – as many other teams we have played so far, were really poor.
Special call out about Rudoni – that player is so good, he stands out a mile on the pitch. He won’t be with us long if he carries on playing as he has been.
I’m totally with you on that. Some excellent football played by Town, unfortunately not enough, and no end result. I was concerned with the latest managerial appointment, but in fairness there has been definate improvements recently. I also think Rudoni has the makings of a very good player.
Almost double the shots of the Mackems and I know these may not (weren’t) all great but at pains of being terribly obvious- why can’t anyone in the team score a goal.
This has been an issue for years. Even in the good times (past seasons) we nicked games by few goals. Why have we never had a core of forwards/midfielders and defenders up for set plays who can seemingly never actually put the ball in the goal.
The past had seen supporters crying out for a “striker” and although I agree we also need other footballers on the pitch who can actually hit a ball at pace and on target. Seems like (and yes I know we don’t) we only recruit players who couldn’t score from 2 yards into an empty net.
Do they ever actually practice shooting ? If they do and are still this bad is there no one in any of the youth players who could perform this feat even if their only contribution was one shot. For goodness sake some pre teens could at least do this (although maybe none at Town) ! When we are this poor and only get one or two good opportunities to score we must score.
Despite this I still believe we have a squad that is mid table if they all spend at least 25 hrs a day on shooting practice. With the next few games they need to unless any are willing to put In even more overtime.
I agree with peter about shooting practice I coached at amateur level for several years nearly every session I did shooting at goal practice and it does have huge benefits Town had shots at goal last night only hit the target once not good enough . However there were some encouraging moments of play in the game by town that should not go unrecognised
Well when it rains it pours as has happened is a pretty suitable metaphor for Town at the moment and the weather joined in on the parade of misfortune, including a defeat aligned to two serious looking injuries.
As you say the younger players made a genuine attempt at playing a constructive game, but when chances are missed and the opposition promptly score, then hope promptly disappears as it did as per usual.
I have never understood the re-signing of Holmes and Rhodes, to a lesser extent Ward who admittedly was a bright star last season, but as of now I see little point in any of them; add to that the recent two year contract extensions of Hogg and Lees, although he has improved of late, then I do curse what my season ticket money is being wasted on. Presumably they were all signed on the cheap, or I hope they were because it shows.
The young lads who have been brought in deserve a better footballing example than that lot, the weak links in the team are the brainless re-signings.
We played well at times Rudoni, Kasumu, Camara, BF and Jackson, all wet behind the ears in this league deserve far better support from those around and above them.
Obviously previously injured players have impacted on performances but why haven’t those in charge learned from CC’s first season when a similar set of injuries almost lead to relegation.
Also I trust the empty heads who booed Pritchard, inspiring him to deadly deeds; understand there inspiring nonsense. I know he was a waste of space for 10 million quid, among many others but he could be a club legend or a quiz question – who scored Town’s probably last ever goal in the Premiership and where? I was there.
Back to the empty heads, when I was a teacher may moons ago, a favourite line, used appropriately of course, but last used more than twenty five years ago and definitely not allowed these days; “if you had one more brain cell – just one more, it would die of loneliness!”
I also cannot agree with much of this blog. Town played really well in atrocious conditions. Watching the game on sky, the commentator said he couldn’t believe that Town were at the bottom of the table with the good football that they were playing. He highlighted Rudoni as being particularly impressive. You can forget the 2nd goal, as the team were just attacking with even Nicholls up there once. You might as well lose by 2, not 1, when you are trying to get a point. Given the injury problems that Town have at present and the young players brought in, the team performed really well and were unlucky not to win as they were easily the better team.
TS (and nobody on the comments) has mentioned the young Spencer. I didn’t see the game and am very curious to know how he looked, esp since it seems as if we’re really going to need him with all the injuries. Anyone?
I thought he was pretty good. Massively improved from the league cup earlier in the season where he just didn’t look ready for men’s football and Preston’s goals all came down his side.
In this game, he looked fairly solid defensively and was very positive getting forward. I thought his crossing lacked accuracy (like the rest of team) so we didn’t make the most of the chances he created. There was also a lack of fluency on the right flank, because the players often weren’t sure who was going where, but that will improve with time in the pitch.
He wasn’t a standout performer on the night but he was pretty decent, particularly when you consider his age and the fact it was his league debut.
Thanks! I was thinking that the fact Sutherland scored only once must be a reasonably good sign! (But then I read the Sutherland manager’s comments…). In any case, I’m hoping Brydon Spencer continues to improve and can make a positive impact, in part because his name is an inversion of that of the main character in a great Henry James story:)
From this distance, with such contrasting impressions of the performance betgween TS and the commentators, with the injuries, the ‘for sale’ sign , and the frightening level of the next three opponents, it is very difficult to find anything hopeful. I was hoping MF would finally recognise he needed a defensive platform to build on, and he does seem to have done that, but apparently almost nothing is really working.