Blog – Page 55 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

Jul272018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

Have Huddersfield Town too many foreign players for the Premier League rules?

Most Town fans will have noticed that our current squad has a far more cosmopolitan feel to it these days. One of the reasons we’ve achieved so much in recent seasons has been our ability to pick up players from abroad at a fraction of the cost their English equivalent would be valued at. Has delving into foreign markets left Town in a position where they could fall foul of the Premier League’s rules about homegrown players? Could Town be forced into naming a smaller squad than they could because of the lack of homegrown players on our books? If you can’t be bothered reading the whole article, the quick answer is that our current squad is almost perfectly balanced between homegrown and non-homegrown players, but any transfers could muck this up and mean we have to move players on. W...

Jul262018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Huddersfield Town 3-1 Lyon – Second half player ratings

Matches

Huddersfield Town fielded two almost completely different lineups in their 3-1 victory against Lyon, so I’ve broken the player ratings up into two articles. Here’s my run down of the player ratings for the team that played in the second half. It's trickier to give an accurate assessment of the second half performances, as Lyon made a sequence of substitutions that completely unsettled the game. Town were actually fairly poor for the first fifteen to twenty minutes of the half, but after the substitutions we enjoyed our most dominant spell of the game. Was this because Town improved or Lyon got worse? It's hard to say. Ben Hamer - 8 out of 10 Deserved his man of the match award for his performance. In the second half he pulled off an incredible save, low down in the bottom corner. It l...

Jul262018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Huddersfield Town 3-1 Lyon – First half player ratings

Matches

Huddersfield Town beat Lyon 3-1 in an encouraging performance at the John Smith’s Stadium. Ben Hamer was the only player to play for all 90 minutes, so I’ve decided to break the player ratings articles into two. This one looks at the players that featured in the first half. Ben Hamer - 8 out of 10 Looked very good in the first half and kept Town in the game with a couple of excellent saves. Came off his line well when Lyon had broken through our defensive line. His distribution looked good to me too, trying to pick out players rather than just launch it down the field. Florent Hadergjonaj - 7 out of 10 Was busy up and down the right flank, and linked up well with Diakhaby a couple of times. His crossing was mixed, a couple of loose ones but at least two excellent crosses nearly lead to...

Jul252018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

5 things Town fans can find out in tonight’s game against Lyon

Matches

Huddersfield Town play their only home friendly of this preseason tonight, when they play Olympique Lyonnais at the John Smith’s Stadium. It’s a chance to watch Town take on Champions League quality opposition, which should be an interesting test, but means it may be tricky for Town to turn around the poor form we’ve experienced this preseason. Here are a few questions fans can hope to have answered after today’s game. Are we going to see our best XI start the game? The friendlies in the early stages of preseason are mostly aimed at raising fitness levels and the team selections are based around getting all the squad’s players to get a chance to play. It’s a bit like the way an under-8s football team is picked. Now the majority of the squad have played 90 minutes it may be the focu...

Jul212018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

All the reaction to Adama Diakhaby signing for Town

News, Player profiles, Transfers

I’m a bit late to respond to Huddersfield Town’s aquisition of Adama Diakhaby from Monaco, so I’ve decided to throw together all the various things that have already been said about the signing, rather than repeat what's already out there. The highlights video It’s always worth being careful before getting too excited about highlight videos from YouTube, most players can cobble together a few minutes of clips that show them looking half-decent. The most exciting thing from the clips was how ridiculously quick he is. On the other hand, from this very small glimpse of him playing, he appears to be very reliant on his left foot. All players have a dominant foot to some extent, but it looked like he was scared to use his right at times. It’ll be interesting to see if this is an issue or n...

Jul202018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

How Gareth Southgate’s 3-3-2-2 system could work at Huddersfield Town

Tactics

The dust has settled on England’s unexpected World Cup run to the semi-finals and now we’re all looking ahead to the forthcoming season. One thought that has stuck with me since England’s exit from the tournament is how England’s tactical system might also work for David Wagner and Huddersfield Town. Here’s a look at how Town’s players could slot into the system that England used to good effect in the World Cup. WARNING: This might be a bit boring if you’re not into dissecting football tactics. Feel free to skip it, I won’t be offended! The formation England played the majority of the tournament in an unorthodox 3-3-2-2 shape, which was notably different from the systems most other countries played. The most common formations were something similar to Town’s regular 4-2-3-1 or the ...

Jul192018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Transfer rumour roundup – Who’s coming and going from Huddersfield Town?

Transfers

Here’s a quick round up of the various rumours floating around about transfers both in and out of Town right now. I wouldn’t usually write about this stuff, because it’s pretty unreliable, but the sheer volume of chatter justifies to a quick roundup of what’s being said. I’d love to tell you that I have anonymous sources close to the club, but the truth is that I don’t. Like most Town fans, my insight into transfers in and out comes from the completely unreliable mishmash of blogs, forums, and friend’s uncle’s dogwalker’s mate kind of connections. With that in mind, here are a few of the most persistent rumours that have been doing the rounds this week… Limbombe to have a medical after agreeing personal terms Anthony Limbombe has been linked with a potential move to Town for most o...

Jul152018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Don’t panic! 5 reasons to not worry about defeat to Accrington Stanley

Matches

If you’d have told me 30 years ago that Town would lose 3-0 to Accrington Stanley one day, I’d assume you were either lying or Town had gone bust and were playing in an amateur league. Thankfully it was just a friendly game which lead to this defeat, and it’s not worth getting too upset about it. Reaction from Town fans after game was mixed. Many accept it’s just another opportunity for the players to get fit, others were behaving like the sky was falling in. While losing 3-0 to a side that are associated as being a punchline to a joke isn’t a great feeling, it really doesn’t matter much either. Here are five reasons to not be too concerned by this defeat... It’s only a friendly It’s our second game of preseason and the players have only been back a couple of weeks. These games a...

Jul142018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

Who is Erik Durm and how will he fit in at Huddersfield Town?

Player profiles, Transfers

Huddersfield Town have signed Erik Durm from Borussia Dortmund for an undisclosed fee. The German fullback was a part of the World Cup winning German squad in 2014 and was considered a hot prospect back then. Bad luck with injuries has meant he’s not yet fulfilled that promise, but he’s back to full health now and ready to get going for The Terriers. Here are a few bits and pieces that you might like to know about our latest signing. What kind of player is he? Durm is a fullback that can play on either flank. His playing style is a hard-pressing, physical, and energetic type of football that should naturally suit Town’s playing style. He likes to get forward and is known for his energy, that allows him to burst up and down the wings. Durm started as a striker, but converted to full...

Jul132018 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

4 times the Huddersfield Examiner crossed the line when reporting Town, according to the ATT Voices Panel

Opinion

In the last At The Town Voices Panel meeting there was a discussion between fans and club officials about the conduct of the Huddersfield Examiner. I wasn’t at the meeting, but the minutes released this week suggest fans highlighted perceived bad behaviour from the local paper and asked some pointed questions about whether the club would continue to work with them. Here’s the most relevant bit of the minutes: [The Voices Panel] Understand [The Examiner] are a business and need to sell papers but feel they are abusing their position at the Club and not upholding the code of conduct that the Club abide by and their behaviour doesn’t fit the Club ethos. The response from the club about these comments was fairly non-committal. They praised the support they’ve received over the years ...