Blog – Page 38 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

Nov82020 by Terrier Spirit16 Comments

“Not a happy chap right now” – Player ratings from Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw with Luton

Matches

Huddersfield Town shared the points with Luton in a scrappy game that Town might have won with a bit more cutting edge at the top end but equally could have lost had Eiting not managed to score a looping header that was very difficult to score from. So it’s one of those games you can either feel happy to have taken something from or angry about not collecting a win. I’m probably somewhere in between and think a point is about right for a game where we failed to find a rhythm and didn’t do enough to create good quality chances. Here’s how I’d rate each individual performance… Ben Hamer - 6 out of 10 Not at fault for the goal, which was smartly finished by the Luton player. His passing wasn’t always perfect but he was at least trying to be a bit more creative with how he tried to pick ou...

Nov72020 by Terrier Spirit16 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town starting XI to take on Luton

Matches

Town play Luton this afternoon in their final game before the international break. Town's defeat to Luton during lockdown was one of last season's worst performances, seeing Town dominate possession but looking toothless in attack against a resolute Luton side (sound familiar?). Town have struggled already this season against defensive teams so it's likely to be a tough afternoon and a real test of how much the team have progressed under Corberán. Here's who I think should start the game today. Goalkeeper: Hamer It's a game that could come down to fine margins, so it's important we have a safe pair of hands between the sticks. Hamer is doing far better than I expected this season and I have no issues with him continuing as our number one. Defence: Pipa, Stearman, Sarr, Toffolo We've ...

Nov32020 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Bristol City

Matches

Huddersfield Town entertain Bristol City at the John Smiths’ Stadium this evening in a match where the hosts are the bookies' favourites and the visitors haven’t won in five matches. The omens for this match seem to be in Town’s favour but we always seem to falter at the point we are hitting our stride so I wouldn't pay too much attention to the omens. Regardless of the outcome at least we can now expect to see this Town team work their socks off in every match and that’s been one of the real differences we’ve seen under Corberán. We might not always win games but 100% effort is put in by every player and that’s something that makes this team extremely likeable to watch. Here’s who I think will line up for Town tonight... Goalkeeper: Ben Hamer I thought Ben Hamer's Millwall performance...

Nov12020 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

How Huddersfield Town’s players reacted to the Millwall victory on social media

Matches, Social media

One of the best parts of Huddersfield Town's success under David Wagner was the "Wagner wave" when the players and coaches celebrated wins with the fans at the end of the game. Other teams' fans mocked us for doing it but it always felt like a special moment when everyone came together after a victory. Unfortunately the current circumstances mean that fans can't celebrate in person with the team, so it's nice to see them sharing their delight at the win on social media. Here are a few of yesterday's social media posts from the players. Harry Toffolo's big achievement https://twitter.com/Harry_Toffolo/status/1322585813151002626 It's incredible that Toffolo has managed to put together such a great run of games. With so much squad rotation and how easy it is to pick up injuries...

Nov12020 by Terrier Spirit14 Comments

“Delighted with his improvement” – Player ratings from Huddersfield Town’s victory over Millwall

Matches

Huddersfield Town made five changes to their starting lineup against Millwall and the reshuffle paid off with the Terriers winning the game 3-0. The scoreline doesn't reflect how hard Town had to battle for their three points against a talented and physical Millwall side. There wasn't a single Town player who had a bad game yesterday, which makes it a pleasure to write the player ratings. Ben Hamer - 8 out of 10 Before the game I said he needed a quiet game today after some recent shaky moments but he was busy for all the right reasons. He commanded his area very well and got on the end of everything he went for. Pair that with a few decent saves and it was a return to top form for Hamer. He even played some great passes out from the back, picking out the fullbacks and wingers with 30 y...

Oct312020 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

Predicted starting XI to take on Millwall

Matches

My heart always sinks when I see we’re playing Millwall. I’m not sure they could be officially counted as a bogey team statistically but it certainly feels like they’re a team we rarely do well against. They thumped us in the final (admittedly meaningless) game of last season and farther back but more memorably, broke our hearts by knocking us out of the League One playoff semi-final in 2010. The song goes that no one likes Millwall but I feel like we’ve got more reason to dislike them than most. Millwall are actually a pretty decent Championship team these days too, to make matters worse. So it’s going to be a tough task for Town to break their two-game losing streak and bounce back at The Den later today. Carlos Corberán will need to get his team selection spot on to have a chance. Here...

Oct302020 by Terrier Spirit13 Comments

Diakhaby’s critics, anti-football, Pipa as a winger & not time to panic – Notes on the defeat to Birmingham

Matches

Here are a few of my thoughts about the Birmingham game, not in any order and a bit too late to be relevant. I’ve written it now though, so I thought I might as well put it out there. Birmingham were awful to watch but did their job effectively Birmingham were incredibly negative in their approach on Wednesday night and it was dire to watch. Once they scored they rarely even bothered trying to break against us and instead just sat back and kept things tight at the back. Playing this way will most likely be enough to keep them up this season but you have to wonder if it’s worth it. Is surviving enough to justify playing dreadful football all the time? Birmingham had a better team than us on paper, so it's a bit depressing for their fans that they set up like we were Liverpool or Man City...

Oct292020 by Terrier Spirit27 Comments

“His body language was terrible” – Player ratings from Town’s 2-1 defeat to Birmingham

Matches

Huddersfield Town were beaten by Birningham last night in a game here Town dominated possession but didn’t have the wit or the guile to do anything much with it. Isaac Mbenza’s superb free kick nearly grabbed the Terriers an undeserved point but Lukas Jutkiewicz guided home a late winner after Leko’s shot crashed off the crossbar and fell kindly to the ex-Town man. There was a very familiar feeling to this game, with Town once again failing to unlock a stubborn defence but leaving plenty of gaps at the back for the opposition to exploit. After the buoyant atmosphere following back-to-back wins a week ago, consecutive defeats mean we’re now back to the usual doom and gloom among a section of the fans. That’s the roller coaster life of being a Town fan I suppose. Personally, I’m not sure we...

Oct282020 by Terrier Spirit11 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Birmingham

Matches

Tonight Huddersfield Town take on Birmingham City in the fourth game of this intense period of seven games in between international breaks. Carlos Corberán will have to balance picking his best players against their flagging levels of fitness. The selection is further complicated by Naby Sarr's suspension following his red cards against Preston. Birmingham are yet to score from open play so far this season but they are also solid in defence so it could be a low scoring game. Town’s challenge will be to open up their stubborn back line without leaving too many gaps at the back for them to exploit. Here's how I think Town will line up. Goalkeeper: Hamer The mixup for the second goal against Preston didn't cover Hamer in glory but if he called for it then you could argue it was Sarr's fau...

Oct262020 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

Fascinating graphics reveal what happened in Huddersfield Town’s PNE defeat

Matches, Tactics

There's a Twitter user called @DymondFormation who makes amazing graphs for every Football League team after each fixture and publishes them for free on his Twitter feed. They're graphic representations of each player's passes over the course of 90 minutes, with each yellow arrow representing a successful pass and the red ones one that failed. The direction and the length of the arrows show where the pass started and finished. They provide a quick and easy way to analyse the passing game of any particular player. The graphics for Town's 2-1 defeat to Preston last Saturday illustrate some interesting points, which I'm going to dig into below... Kicking long doesn't relieve pressure on the defence Hamer having a 65% pass completion rate isn't a particularly enlightening st...