Blog – Page 54 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

Aug102018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

Have David Wagner’s signings solved Town’s biggest problem?

Matches

Huddersfield Town have invested heavily in three new wingers this close season. This has been a wise move from David Wagner, as our lack of goals last season seemed to stem from a lack of creativity in the final third, rather than a lack of goal-scoring talent. The hope is that these new boys (and VLP) are able cause problems to opposition defences in a way we didn’t often manage last season. While there was no lack of effort from our wingers in our first year in the Premier League, they didn’t contribute enough in terms of goals or assists, so it’s understandable that we’ll be seeing three new faces in this area. This article will look at whether Town's wingers will be able to add some creativity and attacking dynamism to the final third... Adama Diakhaby I’m very excited about th...

Aug72018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Widespread reports that Huddersfield Town are on the verge of signing Mbenza

Transfers

I don't like to report about speculation, as it can often just be rubbish, but several sources are reporting that Town have submitted a €15m offer to Montpellier for Isaac Mbenza, a 22-year-old winger. French paper, L'Équipe, broke the story late on Monday night and several other websites and Twitter users have reported the same story. I've never heard of him before this rumour emerged, but having watched the highlights clip of his goals on YouTube, I now feel convinced he's the answer to all our problems! Who is Issac Mbenza? He's a right-footed young winger that has scored 11 goals in 54 appearances in Ligue 1 for Montpellier. As well as playing regularly in the French top flight, he's had a handful of under-21 caps for Belgium. Like many of Town's signings, he's still young, so pro...

Aug62018 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

Who’s going to get a chance in Huddersfield Town’s midfield this season?

Opinion, Player profiles

This is the third in a series of articles that takes a look at Town’s squad ahead of their Premier League season opener against Chelsea on Saturday. This one will focus on the midfield, follow the links to see the ones about our goalkeepers and defenders. Aaron Mooy I’ve said in the article about our defenders that Christopher Schindler was our best player last season, but Aaron Mooy has been the most influential player for Town over the last two years and has been a huge part of the success story we’ve experienced in getting into, and then staying in the Premier League. I find Aaron Mooy an absolute joy to watch, and when he plays well it elevates the whole team and tends to lead to good results. His passing is superb, his movement off the ball is also great, and over the past two ye...

Aug52018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

SQUAD REPORT 18/19: Defence – Can Wagner keep everyone happy?

Matches

Following Friday’s squad report about our goalkeeping talent, here’s a summary of how Town’s defence is looking ahead of the upcoming Premier League season. Terence Kongolo and Erik Durm are notable additions to a back line that was already pretty decent. Here’s the case for the defence… Right back - Flo set to keep Tommy Smith out of the starting XI Florent Hadergjonaj I’ve been really impressed with the 23-year-old Swiss right back since his arrival at Town last season. He had to be patient while he waited for his chance in the team, but when he’s been called upon he’s always done a good job. Flo’s most obvious asset is his speed, as he can motor up and down the touchline all game. This means he’s able to take up good positions and support attacks but will still bust a gut to get back ...

Aug42018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Five thoughts about Town’s 3-0 victory over RB Leipzig

Matches

Town turned in an impressive performance in their final friendly of preseason, beating RB Leipzig 3-0. Admittedly, our opposition had played a Europa League qualifier the night before and fielded a somewhat weakened team.But they still had Germany and Denmark’s first choice strikers from the World Cup up front, and a few multimillion Euro signings in their starting line up. Here are a few of my thoughts about the game… The 3-5-2 system worked well in its first outing of preseason This was the first time I’ve seen Town play with three central defenders for any length of time this preseason. It was a similar shape to the way we lined up towards the end of last season, and the system worked well. Everyone stuck to their task and there was no space for RB Leipzig to exploit. Zanka, Sch...

Aug32018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

2018/19 SQUAD REPORT – Goalkeepers at Huddersfield Town

Matches

In advance of the Premier League season starting next week, I thought I'd do a series of blogposts taking a look at Huddersfield Town's squad. This first post will look at the goalkeeping options in the club. Then it'll be defenders, midfielders, and finally attackers. Jonas Lössl When you consider Danny Ward went to Leicester for £12m it's stunning that we managed to buy Lössl for around £2.5m, given most Town fans wouldn't be willing to swap Lössl for Ward. The big Dane arrived at Huddersfield Town last summer with a reputation of being a liability, with the Examiner podcast saying he'd been descibed as "the worst goalkeeper in the Bundesliga", yet he had a fine first year at Town. There were a few occasions were errors led to conceding goals, but these moments were far outweighed b...

Aug12018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Five things I noticed in Town’s 2-1 win over Bologna

Matches, Opinion

Huddersfield Town scored in the last second of their friendly with Bologna to win the game 2-1. It was a fairly tepid encounter but there were some glimpses of decent football and I think the team look close to being ready for the start of the season. Here are a few things I noticed from the game... Sobhi showed his strength Ramadan Sobhi is incredibly strong on the ball for a winger. There were a few occasions where a Bologna defender tried to musle him off the ball and he just swatted them away. His close control looked very good, and he looked surprisingly speedy when chasing down balls. I wasn’t all that impressed with Ramadan in the Lyon friendly, but saw plenty to like about him in this game. The real test will obviously come in the Premier League, but the signs are there tha...

Jul312018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

5 reasons to believe Huddersfield Town will stay up this season

Opinion

A ball hasn’t yet been kicked in the 2018/19 Premier League season and Huddersfield Town have already been written off by many, including the bookies. You can’t blame them really given Town's lowly status, but I still think they’re wrong. Here are five good reasons Town could do better than expected this season. We’ve got David Wagner I genuinely wouldn’t swap Wagner for any other manager in the world right now. There might be better managers out there, but there aren't any better managers for Huddersfield Town. The way he’s turned the club’s fortunes around is incredible and I feel like he’s not yet finished the job yet with Town. He’s consistently managed to overcome expectations and he may just do the same again this coming season. I think David Wagner will perform even better i...

Jul302018 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

What’s going to happen to the four players that didn’t go on the Austria training camp?

Opinion, Transfers

The bulk of Town’s first-team squad are currently in Austria on a preseason training camp, but four members of the squad seem to have been left behind. I’ve not been able to find any official confirmation about why they didn’t make it onto the plane, so it’s possible they’ve stayed behind to arrange transfers away from Town. Here’s a quick look at some players that aren’t in any of the clubs’ videos and pictures from Austria and some thoughts on what lies in their future... Scott Malone Malone played in last week’s friendly win against Lyon and did a relatively decent job at left-back. There’s been no mention of injury, so his omission from the team suggests he may be looking to arrange a move. He had a patchy first season at Town, looking quick and dangerous as an attacking wingba...

Jul292018 by Terrier Spirit5 Comments

Would you want any of this ex-Huddersfield Town XI back at Town?

Opinion

It feels like forever since Town’s first Premier League season ended in survival and there are still two weeks to go until the season starts. To try and reduce the boredom, I've picked a team of ex-Huddersfield Town players that are still playing, to see if the players we’ve let go could form a decent team. While I think Town’s current squad would wipe the floor with this ex-players XI, there are a few players in here that I’d happily see back at Town. Particularly Chilwell, Pilkington, and Drinkwater. GK: Alex Smithies I was delighted to see Cardiff snap up Smithies from QPR this summer. I’ll give him a warm welcome back to the John Smith’s Stadium when they play us in August. He was a great servant to the club and was perhaps a bit unlucky to be sold before the David Wagner era....