Matches – Page 30 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

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...

Oct212020 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

“A mixed bag” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 win against Derby

Matches

Last night, Huddersfield Town beat Derby one-nil in a game that didn’t see Town reach their fluent best but was enough to overcome an opponent that looked badly out of form. In a way, I was quite pleased to see us get a scrappy win over the line as we’re not going to play beautiful football every game this season. It’s quite hard to give scores for this kind of a game because we didn’t look great for long periods but did do enough to win the game. Some players had excellent games and others were nearly anonymous, so it was a mixed bag in terms of performances. Here’s what I made of each player last night. Ben Hamer - 7 out of 10 I felt sorry for Hamer when I saw the way Derby had chosen to target him at set pieces and when he was in possession. It was clear his former teammates from las...

Oct202020 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Derby

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Derby tonight in a game that looked intimidating at the start of the season but seems less threatening given Derby have lost four of their opening five games and are without their potato shaped talisman, Wayne Rooney. They’re still a good team and will give Town a stern test but our unbeaten run of three games will give our players confidence and Derby won’t be relishing the prospect of playing us after our victory over Swansea at the weekend. Carlos Corberán will have to decide whether he wants to stick with the players that won the game on Saturday or freshen up the lineup after only two recovery days since Saturday’s game. I think he will mostly stick with a similar team but will tweak things in midfield a bit to suit playing with three central defenders. Go...

Oct192020 by Terrier Spirit11 Comments

Carlos’ lucky chinos, imaginative strategies, yapping dogs, a niggly ref & maximum effort – notes on the Swansea win

Matches, Tactics

Huddersfield Town beat Swansea 2-1 in a hard fought encounter in South Wales yesterday. It wasn't the purest form of Carlosball we’ve seen so far but it was the most impressive win under Corberán in my view. Swansea are a good team that have started the season well but we came with a gameplan which, with a bit of luck, paid off. Here are a few of my unassociated ramblings about the game... Getting the tactics right We didn’t start this game particularly well and seemed to invite a lot of pressure onto ourselves which led to several good chances for Swansea in the opening exchanges. Thankfully Jamal Lowe spurned the best of these and injured himself in the process, which diminished his influence for the rest of the game. Town didn’t sparkle in the first half but there was a steady impro...

Oct182020 by Terrier Spirit12 Comments

“A joy to watch” Players ratings for Town’s 2-1 victory over Swansea

Matches

Expectations were low going into this game against an inform Swansea team that had not yet lost a match. Town defied the odds and emerged from south Wales with all three points following a great team effort in the pitch. It was a disciplined performance that also required a fair share of luck to see us over the line. On balance, the win felt deserved and there were some excellent individual displays from Town's players. Here are my ratings. Ben Hamer - 7 out of 10 A busy game for Hamer, with him making all the saves you'd expect him to make and notching up another game without a goal-conceding error. I thought he was regularly given the ball in tight areas and pressured by the Swansea attack but kept his cool and got the ball out of danger. Some of his passing was a bit wayward at times...

Oct172020 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Swansea

Matches

After a disappointing end to the transfer window which saw Town fail to add any new players to the squad, Carlos Corberán has the same old faces to choose from for the game against Swansea. On the plus side, a few of the injuries from before the international break have healed and the likes of O'Brien and Schindler should be fit to play. So here's my predicted starting eleven. Goalkeeper: Hamer Now a fairly obvious selection after being given a chance and so far not letting himself down. The news that Ryan Schofield is back in training and able to use his injured thumb again suggests competition for this position could hot up soon. Defence: Pipa, Schindler, Sarr, Toffolo I'm predicting Carlos will play his first choice back four for the first time today. I believe Pipa came back from...

Oct42020 by Terrier Spirit17 Comments

Giants, a weak bench, Naby’s magic wand, fluffed lines, moaners and happy clappers – Rotherham reactions

Matches, Opinion

Town earned a draw in the dying moments of yesterday’s game against a resolute Rotherham side. It was a game that Town could, and perhaps should, have won but there were still plenty of positives to take from the game. Problems in front of goal persist but Carlos Corberán’s tactics are producing some eye-catching football at times. Here are a few of my thoughts from this game, in no particular order or logical structure... Land of the giants! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a tall and strong team before. At set pieces it looked like David and Golliath when Hoggy was battling in the air with a towering Rotherham player. My initial thought was to bemoan how our taller players hadn’t picked up the big guy, then I looked at the other players in the box and every Rotherham player seemed to...

Oct42020 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

“Weak and ineffective” – Player ratings from Huddersfield Town’s draw with Rotherham

Matches

Huddersfield Town drew with Rotherham yesterday thanks to a last gasp equaliser that was deflected into the goal from a shot that was going harmlessly wide. It was a piece of good fortune that was earned by a second half of sustained pressure on Rotherham’s back line despite the final cutting edge still proving elusive for Huddersfield Town. This was a decent point and an even better performance from Town against a Rotherham side that were limited but effective. Here are my ratings for each Town player yesterday. Ben Hamer - 7 out of 10 It’s hard to rate him any better than a seven when he had so little work to do. Rotherham’s goal came from a good strike from distance which very few keepers would have been able to keep out. The only other threat was a regulation save at a comfortable h...

Oct32020 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Rotherham

Matches

Carlos Corberán will be hoping to build on last weekend's first win of his tenure with another good performance at Rotherham later today. The Yorkshire derby will be Town's final game before the international break so we'll have a fortnight to wait after this game before we see Town on action again. There are a few selection headaches facing Corberán as more of his squad become available to him. Here's how I think Town will line up. Goalkeeper: Hamer After a brilliant performance last weekend there is no doubt that Hamer deserves to keep his place in goals. The two saves he made in the first half against Forest gave Town the platform to push on and win the game. Hamer was refreshingly honest after the game and admitted that his previous form at Town hadn't been good enough. Last week h...

Sep262020 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments

Huddersfield Town 1-0 Forest – Player ratings – An unexpected man of the match

Matches, Opinion

Huddersfield Town won their first game of the season last night in a one nil victory over Nottingham Forest. It was a well-deserved win and the best performance we’ve seen under Town’s new Head Coach, Carlos Corberán. There were still plenty of areas to improve upon but there was a clearer sense of the new identity Town are striving for in this game. There were a number of individual performances that stood out, including some players that have received a fair amount of criticism. It’s so nice to be able to sing the praises of Huddersfield Town players for a change! With that in mind, here are my player ratings. Ben Hamer - 9 out of 10 (Man of the match) Made a couple of stunning saves that kept Huddersfield Town in the game in the first half. Knowing how much conceding goals aff...