Blog – Page 44 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

Jan102021 by Terrier Spirit22 Comments

Player write ups after HTAFC’s FA Cup defeat to Plymouth and why I’m not giving player ratings out of 10

Matches

Huddersfield Town made eleven changes to their starting lineup and a youthful Terriers team fell to a 3-2 defeat against an almost full-strength Plymouth. While there’s a debate to be had about the wisdom of fielding such a weakened team and another about the true value of the FA Cup to teams like Town, I enjoyed the match and was pleased to see our academy lads given a chance. I usually give player ratings after Town games but I’ve decided to step away from that tradition for this particular game. It doesn’t feel fair to pass judgement on yesterday’s Town team with it featuring so many players at the start of their careers. Instead I’m going to just write a few sentences to summarise each player’s performance and I’ll leave the numbers out even though I’ll try and give a balanced summary...

Jan92021 by Terrier Spirit16 Comments

Wholesale changes – Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Plymouth

Matches

Huddersfield Town will play Plymouth in the third round of the FA Cup this evening. While all the "magic of the cup" clichés are trotted out as usual, it's hard not to feel like this is just lip service when most clubs will be fielding dramatically weakened sides in a bid to rest their first team players. I strongly suspect Huddersfield Town will be no different to other clubs and will play a second string team of mostly youngsters. Anyone that remembers the friendlies against Bradford and Manchester United U23s friendlies will recall that it was actually quite entertaining to watch our academy lads being given a chance. So I'm hoping Carlos does shuffle the pack a bit for this fixture and gives us a chance to see some of our future stars. It's possible that players that do w...

Jan52021 by Terrier Spirit5 Comments

Why Huddersfield Town should be cautious this transfer window

Transfers

The January transfer window has opened and fans are ravenously consuming every scrap of a rumour they can lay their hands on. Instead of engaging in the usual tittle tattle, I’ve written a two-part post about whether it would be wise for Huddersfield Town to spend some money on new players this transfer window. The first part argued that now is the right time to invest in the playing squad, if you’ve not read it yet you can check it out by clicking anywhere on this sentence. In this second part we’ll look at the argument for Phil and the board keeping their hand on their collective tuppence when it comes to this transfer window. It’s never exciting to argue for restraint but there are some solid reasons for Huddersfield Town to show some caution in this transfer window. Here are my main r...

Jan52021 by Terrier Spirit5 Comments

Why Huddersfield Town should spend some money in this transfer window

Transfers

This article is the first of a two-parter where I'm going to look at both sides of the argument about whether Town should have a modest transfer window this January or whether they should spend, spend, spend. This one will make the case for why now is the time to get some money spent. Last transfer window, fans often fell into two distinct camps of those that defended the club's hierarchy for keeping their hand on their tuppence and those that wanted at least some of the money received in transfer fees and reduced wages to be reinvested into the playing squad. It's transpired that the business Town did in the last window was generally very good and we picked up some shrewd signings. Though I do often wonder if we would be even better placed if we'd have brought in two or three more attac...

Jan32021 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

“He didn’t do well enough in key moments” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 defeat to Reading

Matches

Despite taking an early lead, Huddersfield Town were defeated by Reading yesterday in a game that saw Town play OK but far from their best. Reading looked like the livelier attacking force and on the day were able to produce two moments of quality that won them the game. Overall, I’m not too disappointed by this result and as Town have already amassed a decent number of points we can chalk this game down as fair enough and move on. Next week’s game against Plymouth should see the novelty of some of the squad players getting a run out and many of today’s first eleven getting a long-overdue rest after being worked very hard over the last few months. Here are my ratings for each player: Ryan Schofield - 7 out of 10 Made an amazing, point-blank save just before half time that prese...

Jan22021 by Terrier Spirit14 Comments

Immediate thoughts about Town’s 2-1 defeat to Reading

Matches

Huddersfield Town were beaten 2-1 by Reading today in a game that saw Town struggle against a quality opponent. It wasn’t a bad performance by Town but it was more subdued than usual, mostly because we were up against a team with quality players, particularly up front, and we only properly went after them when we were 2-1 down in the second half. Here are a few of my immediate thoughts from straight after the game. I’ll post more in-depth thoughts on the blog tomorrow. Town played the same wonky 4-3-3 formation, with O’Brien a left winger that tends to drop back a bit with Mbenza playing more like a proper winger. The opening goal came from an excellent whipped cross from Mbenza and Campbell was in the perfect position to nod it home. Campbell is guily of not attacking the six-y...

Jan22021 by Terrier Spirit19 Comments

5 questions that will be answered when Huddersfield Town take on Reading

Matches

Happy New Year Town fans! Huddersfield Town will take on Reading later today in their first game of 2021 in a Championship clash which should be a good test for Town. Reading were this season's surprise package when they topped the table in the early stages but have since reverted to the inconsistent kind of form that is typical of so many Championship teams. As Carlos seems to have very few options and is sticking with the same core XI players, I'm going to carry on with a more general preview of the game rather than trying to stretch out "no changes" into a thousand word team prediction article. 1. Can Town break the good-game-bad-game cycle? Lately we have fallen into a pattern of playing well one game and being a bit flat in the next one. So while it's good that we...

Dec312020 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

Loose passes, a late winner, a weak bench and looking up the table – Notes on Town’s 2-1 victory over Blackburn

Matches

It's a bit late, but here are a few of my thoughts of Tuesday night's 2-1 win against Blackburn. Schofield makes another big contribution Ryan Schofield is giving fans a look at why he's been so highly rated within the club for years and it's a delight to see. For the second game in a row he pulled out a save that stopped what looked like a certain goal. These reflex saves that he seems to specialise in have kept us in games and almost certainly meant we've got more points that we would have done with either of our other two other keepers in nets. Matt Glennon, the former Town goalkeeper and current Radio Leeds summariser, was glowing in his praise for Schofield after the match but suggested he may need to work on being a more vocal presence on the pitch. I think he's got a poin...

Dec302020 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

“He was the difference between victory and defeat” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 win over Blackburn

Matches

Huddersfield Town scored an unexpected last-minute winner in last night's game against Blackburn. The game was entertaining to watch and featured two teams trying to play football the right way, even if it didn't always come off. The win extends Town's impressive run of home victories to five and propels them into the top half of the table. While it needed Pipa and Naby Sarr to combine with an exceptional piece of play for the winner, I think the victory was just about deserved. Town weren’t perfect but did manage to do enough to come out worthy winners. Ryan Schofield - 8 out of 10 The save from point blank range against Armstrong gets better with every replay. His positioning was excellent and his reflex save pulled the ball from behind him to stop it going in....

Dec292020 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

Predicted lineup, score and 5 questions about tonight’s Huddersfield Town game against Blackburn

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Blackburn Rovers tonight in a game that has potential to be an entertaining affair with two attacking teams. Town will be keen to put a lacklustre Boxing Day performance at Barnsley behind them and to continue their excellent home form. Rather than just predicting the team, I'm going to preview the match more broadly in this article mostly because our lack of depth in the squad is making the team almost pick itself. Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Barnsley Carlos has picked the same lineup for three consecutive games and I have a suspicion he may do the same again. If it was down to me I'd consider benching Eiting for this match because he's been off form for a while now but the lack of credible replacements might mean he's giv...