Blog – Page 39 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

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...

Oct252020 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

Phil Hodgkinson lays out Carlos Corberán’s targets for the season

News

Following on from his extensive interview in The Examiner recently, Phil Hodgkinson answered questions from the Radio Leeds team before yesterday's match. There were a few good points made, you can listen to the full interview by clicking this link, but the most interesting part was Oggy's final question about targets for Carlos Corberán's first season at Town. Phil gave a surprisingly open answer to the question and detailed what he would class as a successful season for Corberán. What are Carlos' targets for this season? Here is exactly what Phil said in the interview: "After the first 10 games, at no point during the rest of the season are we looking over our shoulder nervously. And instil your philosophy." You can listen to the full interview for more details but Phil's expectation fo...

Oct252020 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

“Someone needs to have a word with him” – Player ratings from Huddersfield Town’s defeat to PNE

Matches

Huddersfield Town's unbeaten run came to an end against Preston North End yesterday. A couple of second half goals for Preston overturned Town's lead and put them in charge of the game. After going behind, Town pushed for an equaliser that never came, a task made harder by Naby Sarr's red card in the 78th minute. It was a defeat that felt easier to take than most as Town played well at times and worked hard to try and get back into the game. Preston played well and probably deserved their victory on the balance of play. Here's what I thought of each individual Town player yesterday: Ben Hamer - 6 out of 10 He had a very good game on the whole and made some great saves in the second half to keep Town in the game. He will be disappointed with the second goal though, where a collision with...

Oct242020 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Preston North End

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Preston North End later today in a game they hope will extend their unbeaten run to five games. PNE are a hard-working, well-disciplined and physical side that will provide a difficult test for Carlos Corberán's men. Town's recent upturn in form means that confidence will be high going into the game but it is also the third game in a week, so there could be some tired legs. Here's how I think Town will line up. Goalkeeper: Hamer The difficulty for goalkeepers is that they can do everything perfectly right for 89 minutes but the only thing people will talk about is the other minute where you got it wrong. That's why I'm impressed with how Hamer has managed to go through these first six games without a major mistake after previously not being able to finish half ...

Oct232020 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Where are the gaps in Huddersfield Town’s squad?

Player profiles

It’s been said that Huddersfield Town’s ambition for their squad is to have a first choice, second choice and a youth player for each position on the pitch. This makes sense, as it means there’s proper competition for places and always a young player ready to step up if needed due to injuries or lack of form. Now the transfer window is shut, I thought it would be a good time to go through each position on the field and see if Town really have three players ready to go for each area of the pitch. The reality doesn’t quite match the plan but it’s not too far away. Goalkeeper - 1st: Hamer / 2nd: Pereira / B: Schofield & Chapman This position was a huge worry before the start of the season but now Hamer is playing himself back into form it's less of a concern. Pereira came to Town with ...

Oct212020 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

Misfiring Town, anti-Carlosball, stropping subs, xG, dark arts and lifting pessimism – Notes on the Derby win

Matches

Huddersfield Town managed to grind out a one-nil victory against a poor Derby side that have now lost five of their opening six games of the season. While it’s obvious that Derby are having a rough time, it’s still impressive that Town managed to get a win against a team packed full of players that are, on paper, better than ours. This win means that Town have earned 10 points out of the last 12 available and are sat comfortably in the top half of the table. It's too early to be getting carried away about Town's prospects but there is unquestionably a good feeling around the team now and Carlos' new approach is already bearing fruit. Winning despite misfiring This wasn't a great performance from Town in my opinion. We struggled to play through Derby's high press for long periods and our...