Matches – Page 25 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

Feb272021 by Terrier Spirit18 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on PNE

Matches

These team prediction articles have changed over time. Rather than trying to pick the cream of the available talent in the Town squad it's more of a case of cobbling together a starting eleven that is more or less fit and with players that are mostly able to buy a lottery ticket without needing ID. So the tricky away fixture at Preston is likely to see another Town team of players that are either inexperienced, out of form or over the hill. In case you haven't guessed it, my expectations are through the floor for this game after our dismal showing at Derby in midweek. But, knowing Town, the point where you're most disgusted with them is when they surprise you with an unlikely victory, like they did against Swansea last weekend. Here's who I think Carlos will pick tomorro...

Feb252021 by Terrier Spirit17 Comments

Carlos outfoxed, our vampire GK, low-block struggles & how to turn it around – Notes on HTAFC’s defeat to Derby

Matches

After the otherworldliness of the victory over Swansea, Town came back down to Earth with a bump against Derby. Just over 48 hours after a victory that had fans daring to dream this season could have a boring, midtable finish, Town were back to all the bad habits that had left them drifting down the table and towards the drop zone. If someone wanted to know what went wrong for Town this season they could watch this game to see just about every issue that's blighted Town’s play with predictable regularity. Throwing away a lead is the only square that went unmarked in Huddersfield Town 2021 Bingo. All the other favourites were there: silly mistakes at the back, tepid build up play, spurned chances, being out muscled at set pieces, persisting with failing tactics and injuries to key play...

Feb232021 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

Derby preview – Team news, predicted starting XI, tactics and score

Matches

Huddersfield Town head to Derby riding a wave of euphoria following their unexpected 4-1 dismantling of Swansea at the weekend. The game tonight has huge significance for Town’s season, a positive outcome will help fans to believe our awful recent run ended last Saturday but a defeat could leave us thinking Saturday was just a fever dream, a freak one-off and we’re still deep in trouble. The last time we played Derby they were in dreadful shape and we won the game despite not being all the great ourselves. Wayne Rooney’s managerial career started recently at Derby and he’s presided over an upturn in form that has pulled the Rams out of the relegation zone and returned them to winning ways (though I’ve got my reservations about Rooney as a manager, which you can read about at the end of...

Feb222021 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments

“Superb” Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 4-1 victory over Swansea (better late than never!)

Matches

Where did that come from?! Huddersfield Town managed their first victory of 2021 in their best performance of the season at a time when they seemed to be in terminal decline. While the three points are incredibly useful, the win could mean even more in the context of this season, as this result should help boost the Terrier's badly dented confidence and provide a template for them to follow in future games. While some of the ongoing problems at Town were evident in the first half, a breathtaking 10-minute spell at the start of the second half led to Town being comfortable winners even before an unlucky injury reduced the Swans to 10 men for the closing stages. Here are my ratings for Town's players. Ryan Schofield - 5 out of 10 He was lucky to be bailed out by Sar...

Feb202021 by Terrier Spirit14 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Swansea today

Matches

I didn't bother with a team prediction article for the last game because it seemed fairly obvious who would start against Middlesbrough. Against Swansea today there are a few more questions about who should play and Corberán will have to decide whether to persevere with senior players that are playing poorly or to experiment with youth against one of the league's best teams. Whatever the lineup, Town haven't won in 2021 and Swansea haven't lost, so it's likely to be a tough afternoon for the Terriers. Goalkeeper:Schofield The young keeper looks increasingly nervous between the sticks and is getting erratic with his decision making. He was lucky that Middlesbrough's free kick goal was chalked off for offside as otherwise his bizarre decision to come for a ball he...

Feb172021 by Terrier Spirit12 Comments

A good start, the capitulation, young guns & a death spiral – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 defeat to Middlesbrough

Matches

Huddersfield Town lost again last night to extend their 2021 winless run to nine games. Despite taking an early lead Town capitulated and Middlesbrough deserved to win despite a late fightback from Town, led by substitutes Rowe and Phillips. A good start Town flew out of the blocks and completely dominated Middlesbrough in the opening exchanges. We repeatedly carved them open with intense and fluent passing and moving in the final third. Pritchard, Holmes and Bacuna interchanged and popped up all over the places making it hard for them to track the threat. O'Brien bombed down the sides and found space to exploit. The end of this period of dominance came when Mbenza scored a lovely free kick. It seemed like going ahead destroyed our confidence and energy which ga...

Feb162021 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

The improvements each Huddersfield Town player needs to make against Middlesbrough tonight

Matches

Despite Town turning in arguably their worst performance of the season against Wycombe on Saturday, I don't think there will be many major changes to the lineup against Middlesbrough tonight. In fact, a completely unchanged team seems quite likely. So instead of predicting the team I'm going to look at what each player needs to improve in their game tonight to avoid another debacle like the Wycombe game. Ryan Schofield All goalkeepers are good shotstoppers, that's why they're goalkeepers but Schofield's ability with reaction saves is far better than the average keeper at this level. He's not so good at the aspects of the game which come with experience, like commanding his area, decision-making with passing and knowing when to leave his line or not. His distribu...

Feb132021 by Terrier Spirit16 Comments

A relegation battle beckons – Immediate thoughts after Town’s 3-2 defeat to Wycombe

Matches

What an awful result and performance from Town. It's a tough one to take and this game, for me, represents the point where it's almost impossible to ignore the fact we're now in a relegation battle. Town showed the same weaknesses they've been showing all season and allowed a 2-0 lead against the most toothless attacks in the division to slip away and end in defeat. Here are a few of my immediate thoughts on the game. Feel free to leave yours in the comment section below. A great opening half an hour It feels like a distant memory now but Town started this game playing beautiful, free-flowing football that saw us carving out chances with excellent movement and crisp passing in the final third. It was almost unthinkable that things would crumble from this stage and another 6-...

Feb122021 by Terrier Spirit20 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Wycombe – Injury forces an unlikely choice on the wings

Matches

Huddersfield Town go into the game against Wycombe with an injury ravaged squad that leaves them with around 13 senior players to pick for the eleven starting spots. We found out in the prematch press conference that Rolando Aarons has picked up an inevitable hamstring injury and faces a spell on the sidelines. Thank goodness we upgraded our treatment room as part of the Canalside renovations, we’re certainly getting our money’s worth out of it. Wycombe are tricky opponents in many ways for Town, as beating them would mean very little, given their poor form and lowly league position, but a victory is far from certain given we struggle creatively against defensive teams and tend to be too generous at the back when facing teams that play route-one football. Here’s who I think we’ll ...

Feb72021 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

“He’s doing something daft every week” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw with Luton

Matches

Huddersfield Town scraped a point from yesterday’s game against Luton but were far from convincing in a match that featured all the usual flaws we’ve got used to seeing in Town since Christmas. The game finished with Town on top and playing better but there were long spells in this game where Town looked very poor against a disciplined and hard-working Luton team that probably deserved to win more than we deserved a point. It’s hard to feel positive about Town at the moment and judging by the state of Town fans on Twitter at the moment, there is a rising sense of anger among many. This anger seems to be mainly targeted at the board and the chairman rather than the players or the coaches but if this winless run continues that could soon change. Anyway, let’s look at each individual p...