Matches – Page 34 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

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 distribut...

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 6-0...

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 s...

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 pl...

Feb62021 by Terrier Spirit21 Comments

The return of selection headaches – Predicted Huddersfield Town lineup to take on Luton

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Luton later today in a key game for the Terrier's season. A win could steady the ship after our recent poor run, a defeat could spark even more fan outrage after a transfer deadline day which left many fans feeling like the sky was falling in. The good news for this game is that Carlos has some genuine selection headaches after weeks of the team more or less picking itself due to there being so few available senior players. January acquisitions Keogh, Aarons and Holmes are all potential starters and Hogg is due to return from injury too. Here's who I would pick for today's game… Goalkeeper: Schofield Despite Town signing Jayson Somebodyorother on deadline day, we're almost certain to keep Schofield in nets for now. The signing o...

Feb52021 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

5 questions that will be answered when Huddersfield Town take on Luton tomorrow

Matches

Huddersfield Town will play Luton tomorrow, hoping to register their first win on the calendar year and break the five game winless run we're on. There's even more pressure on this game as a wide section of the fanbase are feeling dejected after the transfer deadline passed without a new striker being added to the ranks. The official line may be that we're happy with our options up front but the undignified scramble on deadline day to sign any striker with a pulse suggests the club realised, too late, that we do definitely need more backup for Fraizer Campbell. Town's recent poor run has meant we've gone from comfortably midtable to skirting perilously close to the relegation battle (or potentially right in the scrap if games in hand go against us). Here are some of the questions w...

Jan312021 by Terrier Spirit22 Comments

“His dip in form has plumbed new depths” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s draw with Stoke

Matches

Huddersfield Town drew with Stoke yesterday despite playing against ten men for all of the second half. Familiar frustrations returned when Stoke sat deep and Town were unable to find a way through. Most fans would have been happy with a point before kickoff but the circumstances of the match make this feel like a defeat. After going ahead early then getting pinned back after a sloppy mistake led to a penalty, the red card incident should have given Town an advantage that made victory inevitable. Sadly we continue to struggle to break down unambitious but organised defences and that cost us once again. Here's what I thought of each player. Ryan Schofield - 6 out of 10 Hard to really give a rating as he had a very very quiet afternoon. Couldn't do anything to stop the penalt...

Jan302021 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

5 questions that will be answered when Huddersfield Town play Stoke later today

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Stoke this afternoon at the John Smith's Stadium and will be hoping to break their five-game losing streak and register their first points of 2021. Stoke present an intriguing challenge as their recent form isn't great but they've got some quality players in their squad. The previous meeting, earlier this season ended in a 4-3 defeat for Town in an entertaining but infuriating encounter at the Bet 365 Stadium. Here are five questions that will be answered this afternoon… Will Carlos play the same starting eleven? My opinion is that we'll see an unchanged lineup today. That's why I'm writing a more general match preview rather than a post dedicated exclusively to predicting the team. Duane Holmes is likely to make the bench bu...

Jan272021 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

“Amateur defending” – Player ratings for Town’s 2-1 defeat to Bristol City

Matches

Town were beaten by Bristol despite an excellent second half display due to a pair of soft goals in the first half that gave our opponents an insurmountable lead. It was a game that was equally frustrating and promising as Town showed many of the consistent themes of this season, such as conceding sloppy goals, failing to finish chances and, on a more positive note, attacking, exciting football. Here are my player ratings. Ryan Schofield - 5 out of 10 I might be being a bit harsh but I thought he committed too early for the opener and made it too easy for the Bristol player to ease past him and finish into an open net. The second wasn't one he could so much about as it was a nice finish. The goals were the only shots on target for Bristol so he didn't make any other saves but did come o...

Jan262021 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

Predicted Huddersfiedl Town XI to take on Bristol City – This time I might even be right!

Matches

I've made no secret in the past of how my predicted Town lineups are often wide of the mark. Despite my best efforts it's not easy to know what Carlos is thinking when it comes to team selection. However, for tonight's game I genuinely think I might be able to accurately predict the whole starting eleven. In fairness, this is more due to the fact we've only got around eleven experienced players in the squad at the moment and Carlos has shown a reluctance to play youngsters from the academy when there's a first team player available, regardless of their form. So here's who I think we'll see playing for Town tonight. Goalkeeper: Schofield Couldn’t be blamed for Scott Malone's curling finish last Wednesday. No Town fan expected Malone to be capable of such an assured finish after his largely ...