Huddersfield Town coasted to victory against Morecambe on Tuesday night in one of the most one-sided games of football that you could ever wish to see. Despite making eight changes to the starting lineup from Saturday’s victory over Peterborough, the team kept its fluency and played with the same high-pressing and direct attacking style. It reaped rewards within 30 seconds against Morecambe and the game was over as a contest from that point onwards. If it ever really was one. Not that I’m complaining though, after years of being rubbish, I’m not in a hurry to start whining that Town are winning games too easily!
Like with Peterborough at the weekend, the biggest issue with this game was that the scoreline didn’t tell the full story. While 3-0 is an emphatic victory in anyone’s book, the performance of both teams pointed towards more of a five or six goal drubbing at least. With the chances Town created, the fact we only finished three of them may be a mild cause for concern for Duff, as not every defence will be as generous and if it’s taking five decent chances for every goal then we may find ourselves struggling to get results against stiffer opponents. Still, that’s a minor quibble on a night where Town played some very attractive football and brushed aside a team that have proven sticky opposition in the League Cup for teams in higher divisions in previous seasons.
Game over after 30 seconds
I feel sorry for any fans that chose to grab a Bovril before taking their seat, thinking they wouldn’t miss anything, as Town’s start to this game was incredible. It took me by surprise just how aggressive and quick with the ball Town were and Morcambe’s players were clearly thinking the same, as they seemed absolutely struck dumb by our bright start to the game.
The goal came inside 30 seconds and it wasn’t even the first good chance of the game, as Sorensen flashed a ball across the face of the goal seconds before the ball that Headley bundled home from close range.
I don’t know if a quick start was a deliberate tactical choice or just the players eagerness to get into opposition that was ripe for the taking but it was an effective way to put the game to bed before it had even really begun. Obviously a single goal doesn’t finish a game off but the way Town then completely dominated Morcambe, carving them up with our passing game and then pressing them relentlessly off the ball, meant out visitors had a horrible night.
Sorensen and Marshall provide a cutting edge
Singling individual players out in this system seems a bit unfair, when the whole thing works on a collective effort both in and out of possession but Sorensen and Marshall deserve special mention for their contribution in the first half.
Starting with Sorensen, he was Town’s main outlet for long periods, making himself constantly available with his running up and down the flank. While he was technically playing as a wingback due to his starting position, he was pretty much a winger for most of the game, pushing back Morecambe and either putting early balls into the box or dribbling past his man to cut balls back from the byline.
Both the second and first goals were assisted by Sorensen and they were the kind of assists where the bulk of the credit should go to the person laying the chance on rather than the person who finished it off. Headley will never score an easier goal in his life than the gift that was presented to him to let bounce off his body and go in the goal after Sorensen did all the hard work of getting into the box and smashing the ball across the face of goal. And it was a similar story for Callum Marshall’s goal, though the finish required a bit more work from the debutant, but Sorensen did remarkably well to get into a good position and then play the defense splitting pass that set up Marshall.
Moving on to Marshall, he took his goal well but showed even more of his talent when he set up Danny Ward for Town’s third and final goal. Marshall’s goal showed his ability to arrive in the box at the right time and apply a cool finish with a keeper close by. The goal he laid on for Wardy involved a lot more, with him initially losing possession but then showing real tenacity to win it straight back, strength to hold off pressure from defenders, selflessness to pass rather than shoot and ability to slide the pass to play in Ward so he could apply a cheeky finish.
While he wasn’t up against top class defenders, so it’s hard to judge him accurately on this outing, there seemed to be a lot to like about Callum Marshall. He’s direct and aggressive in the way that he plays and seems relatively quick, at least when he’s alongside Danny Ward. Michael Duff was right to point out that he responded well to being on the wrong end of a crunching (but ultimately fair) challenge which sent him spinning in the air. It was the kind of challenge a frustrated defender does to get some aggression out and while Marshall had the wind knocked out of him, he picked himself up and got on with his work. Youth football doesn’t prepare you for moments like that, so it’s good that he’s got a bit of stick and brushed himself off and carried on. Radulovic has noticeably struggled with the physical aspects in the games I’ve seen him play, and has been targeted by opposition defenders as a result, I can’t see anyone doing the same to Marshall, as he seems like he’ll take it and carry on.
Town fail to press home advantage in second half
With Town already three goals up at half time, the greedy part of me was wondering how many we might score against a team that had been run ragged in the first 45 minutes if Town really pushed on in the second half. So it was a slight disappointment that we didn’t really press home our advantage, even if we still controlled the game in the second half and played decent football.
While Michael Duff has talked in his post-match comments after Peterborough about challenging his players to win both halves of each game, it’s hard for players to not have an awareness of the match situation and take their foot off the gas a little. It’s fair to say that Morcambe were a bit better organised during the second half too. They even managed to register a couple of shots, one blazed over and the other blocked but the rapturous applause the away fans greeted the corner at least gave them a memorable moment on an otherwise miserable night for them.
There was a bit of sloppiness that crept into Town’s play in this period of the game which I think is fairly natural when the game is a bit of a mismatch. We lacked the zip and fluency of the first period of the game and the purpose we had faded. I guess the energy levels most likely dipped with the players too, as the amount of running that is demanded from every player is pretty extreme in this system.
Still, it was a reasonable performance even during this part of the game and we could have scored quite a few if we’d have taken our chances…
An attempt to boost Koroma’s confidence backfires
Talk of taking our chances in the second half leads nicely into discussing Josh Koroma, who had quite a busy twenty minutes when he came on from the bench. I can imagine the idea behind throwing him on against a tired and demoralised Morecambe team who were already 3-0 down would have been to bolster the striker’s confidence and give a chance to get on the scoresheet against an already softened up defence. Sadly this strategy seemed to backfire.
Koroma was very involved in the game, making plenty of runs and getting on the ball regularly. Morecambe also found his dribbling a nightmare to defend against, which meant he regularly got into decent positions in the final third but that was where the problems started for Koroma. He made a decent run and was clear through on goal but was pulled down and brought about the second yellow card that resulted in Morcambe finishing the final stages of the game with ten men. He then had a shot curl against the inside of the far post and roll across the goalline but agonisingly failed to bounce in off the other post. Then he was gifted a one-on-one with the keeper thanks to an errant back pass which he smacked straight at the stopper instead of stroking past him.
Aside from the chances I’ve mentioned above, there were three or four shots Koroma had that were in his usual right-foot-curler range which never really looked close to going in. So, from the number of attempts on goal he had, there was potential for a hattrick in this 20-odd minutes spell Koroma had. In preseason he was scoring most of these sorts of chances but in the last two games his confidence seems to have dipped.
After one of Koroma’s wilder shots from range, Duff strode into his technical area and bellowed, “Josh! Look for the pass!” or words to that effect, which shows that there’s some frustration with Koroma’s decision making in these areas. While he’s not gone full Burgzorg just yet, he has been turning up opportunities to play in better placed colleagues so he can take on fairly low percentage shots himself lately. Nobody will complain if he scores from these shots but when they don’t go in, questions get asked.
Duff shuffles the pack and gives himself a few headaches
Michael Duff made wholesale changes to his lineup for this game, only keeping Helik, Spencer and Sorensen in the team from Saturday’s starting eleven. He will have been pleased that making such a lot of changes didn’t destablise the team and, if anything, the football on display was more fluent and creative than it was at the weekend, albeit against more limited opposition.
One of the nice things about having a very clearly defined system is that it should, in theory, be easy enough to drop players in and out because everyone has been drilled on what’s expected. That was how David Wagner’s 4-2-3-1 shape worked at Town (and it was virtually the same when he brought Norwich to play us too) and I get the feeling Michael Duff has been working hard to get the players clear on the roles and responsibilities of each position. Because even though we’ve seen two quite different lineups in these opening two games, both have looked organised and every player has carried out their specific job well.
The difficulty Duff now has is that he’s got a host of players that are pushing for spots in the starting eleven in the league but he can’t possibly keep everyone happy. Here are the biggest dilemmas he currently has:
- Jaheim Headley was one of the standout players on the night, causing havoc down the left flank with his running and direct dribbling. Mickel Miller played well against Peterborough, so the left wingback role could go to either and I’d be happy. Headley has had his ups and downs at Town but reading between the lines of some of the comments after this game, it sounds like his attitude in training has been excellent lately and he’s reaping the rewards of that. I also noticed how much encouragement he was getting from the bench to be positive and to take on his man, which looked to boost his confidence. Miller now had serious competition for the left wingback berth.
- The midfield three could be any of the six players that have been used so far. Kane, Kasumu and Iorpenda all impressed in their own way and could step straight in against Stevenage if needed. But as Evans and Wiles both scored in their last game and Hogg has that organising force on everyone around him, he’s hard to drop. So some players that most likely deserve to start will have to settle for a place on the bench. Or in Iorpenda’s case, maybe not even that, despite looking very classy against Morecambe (if you were curious, Oggy’s interview confirmed his name is pronounced YOR-penda not AI-OR-penda – despite the way the club’s own commentary team mangled it in the preseason friendlies).
- Up front Marshall now seems like the most potent goal threat we have, after his impressive debut in this game. Ward scored too. Koroma had a lot of chances off the bench in this game but left the field looking dejected after failing to score. Healey is probably our best striker on paper, so I’d look to partner him with one of the other three. I thought Marshall tired quite a lot in the second half, so it may be that he’s only got a good 45 minutes in him currently, which may mean we need a combination of strikers anyway.
Morecambe were poor but Town made them that bad
I said something similar about Peterborough, but while Morecambe did look pretty dire on the night, I wonder how much was that a result of Town making them look bad? While last season’s Huddersfield Town would probably have won against Morecambe, I doubt any of the various iterations of the 23/24 Terriers would have dominated the way we did in this game and therefore Morecambe would have had an easier night.
So if Town have as good a season as I hope we will, I think we’ll talk a lot about other teams not being a proper test or having bad days against us. But it’s amazing how often teams have bad days when they come against a high pressing, aggressive team. Very few teams at this level can cope with opposition teams getting in their faces for long periods and rewards will usually follow.
The challenge for Town will be to maintain this approach across a season that could contain 60+ games if we go deep into the various cup competitions we’re involved in. The League Cup, FA Cup and EFL Trophy may all be distractions from our prime objective of getting promoted but I personally hope that we do well in all these competitions to keep a winning mentality and give our full squad plenty of minutes. And it also gives us fans more opportunities to see Town play, which at the moment is an absolute pleasure to watch (and it’s not often we’ve been able to say that in recent years).
Last 2 Town games , they have not pressed home in terms of goals . 2 good wins though .
See Ben Jackson scored Barrows winner during the mid week. U T T
Good to see Jackson getting a goal. I hope he has a good career now he’s left Town as he seemed like a decent honest pro. On the other hand, Delano Bergzorg was a talented but awkward so and so but he also scored last night, but at least it was against Leeds!
I think it’s a nice problem to have that we’ve played so well that were complaining in our opening two games that we’ve only won 2-0 and 3-0. It makes me wondering if we might give someone a hammering soon. That would be fun. I think I’m getting greedy now though!
You quite rightly said “The difficulty Duff now has is that he’s got a host of players that are pushing for spots in the starting eleven in the league but he can’t possibly keep everyone happy.” However, the in modern game with so many subs allowed, it’s possible for us to play both sets of players, for around an hour. Run the opposition ragged, bring on the subs and repeat. Happy days!
That’s true. And with the amount of running most players do in this system, using the subs wisely means the energy levels can be maintained. Miller has long-standing injury problem, so it may be that Headley comes off the bench at 60-70 minutes in most games to make sure we don’t risk bringing him out. I also don’t think Marshalls preseason will have been anything like as intense as the one the rest of our squad have just done, so he’s going to be playing catch-up in terms of fitness.
Well that was something I have never seen before. The words “Town” and “passing game” used in the same sentence!
Yep. For once we’ve got a manager that’s implemented an identity in the pitch rather than just talked about it in press conferences.
Iorpenda stood out for me. I really hope he gets some league game time.
Your analysis of Koroma’s ‘brief time at the wicket’ is spot on. I use that metaphor deliberately as he’s playing like a batsman who ‘plays & misses’ and those he manages to hit, he mistimes. They say with an out-of-form batsman that he just needs to survive and make a scratchy half-century to play himself back into nick. The only thing is, I’m not sure exactly sure how good he is when he IS in nick! Any defender watching a short video of him will see that just keep him on his left side and he’s impotent. And if perchance he does manage to get it on his right foot anywhere within 25yds, he’ll shoot and, as you say, it will always be the curler to the far post. Far too predictable. It’s a shame because he does have pace and he is a wholehearted player.
As you say, it was all very comfortable. But no complaints from me.
I agree about Iorpenda being very classy against Morecambe. He’s very nice to watch, always looks like he’s got time on the ball and is creative with how he uses it. And with us having quality players ahead of him in the pecking order, he’ll get chances when he’s earned it not because we’re desperate and throwing him in when he’s not ready. Though, based on Tuesday night, he looks comfortable at this level of football and should be able to do a job for the team. I’m very pleased we’ve not farmed him out on loan, as it looks like he’s one with enough natural ability to skip that stage of his development, particularly with us dropping down to League One.
As for Koroma, in the past he’s gone on fantastic scoring runs from this kind of situation (Corberan/Cowley era and for a few weeks under Warnock) and at other times dried up in front of goal and drifted into obscurity (many other times), so it could go either way. I think he’s at an age now where he needs to be able to put good form together for whole seasons rather than just little bursts otherwise he’ll not reach his full potential in the game.
Sorba who?
Anyone else think we might have improved the team with the two outs and new ins.
I thought Kane looked excellent too.
I liked what Sorba Thomas did on the field but there always seemed to be some drama following around (whether he was the victim or the instigator of this drama is open for debate) so it’s quite nice to have things more harmonious around the squad.
I’d agree with you, even with Rudoni and Thomas gone, the additions we’ve made give us a more balance and overrall better squad. Particularly as Duff has organised them around a specific system. Playing without wingers may have limitations that we feel as the season goes on but currently there seems to be plenty of width and creativity in the team, so no complaints from me.
Compeltely agree about Kane, some of the passes he has pulled off in the last two games have been unseen since the days Aaron Mooy was at the club. And that’s not a comparison I’d make lightly.