Opinion – Page 11 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

Aug112018 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to face Chelsea

Matches, Opinion

The day we’ve all been waiting for is finally here! Town’s second Premier League campaign starts today at home to Chelsea. David Wagner has a host of new players to pick from alongside some old favourites. Here’s my guess at who he’ll pick to take on Chelsea. Formation: 3-5-2 I think we’ll see David Wagner use a 3-5-2 formation against Chelsea, allowing him to choose three central defenders. This is less adventurous than the typical 4-2-3-1 shape, but will make us harder to break down and clog up the middle of the pitch when we don’t have the ball. Goalkeeper: Jonas Lössl I’m not convinced I’m right about this prediction. Lössl only played two 45 minutes spells in preseason because of his extended post-World Cup break, and looked a bit shaky at times. Ben Hamer, who came in this sum...

Aug102018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

PL Predictions: Liverpool to win it; Town safe; Brighton, Southampton and Newcastle down

News, Opinion

Everyone else seems to be doing Premier League predictions, so with the new season just hours away, I thought I’d do mine. I’ve got absolutely no more insight into these things than the average fan, so don’t expect me to be even close to being accurate. In fact, you’re welcome to save this link and set a reminder on your phone to mock me for my stupidity in May next year. Here’s how I think the league is going to shape up. It’s a long image, and if you scroll past it my explanations for these predictions at the bottom. Where will Huddersfield Town finish in the Premier League? I’m thinking we can finish thirteenth this season. This would put us safely clear of the relegation scrap and proving we’re capable of staying in the Premier League for a little while longer. This may be a t...

Aug102018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Who’s going to score the goals for Huddersfield Town this season?

Opinion, Player profiles

This is the final part of a series of articles looking at Town’s squad ahead of the Premier League season opener against Chelsea tomorrow. I’ve already gone through the goalkeepers, defenders, central midfielders, and wingers. This article looks at the strikers and number tens within the squad... Numer tens Alex Pritchard Town looked an awful lot better when Pritchard arrived in January. Kasey Palmer and Tom Ince had played in the number ten role in the first half of the season, but neither was able to do the job properly. Pritchard's quality on the ball, ability to pick a pass, and energy make him perfect for the role. Pritchard has now had time to adjust to David Wagner’s system, and has a full preseason under his belt, so he could be even better this season. Town’s new wingers ...

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...

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....

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 ...

Jul32018 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

Which Town players might leave this summer?

Opinion, Transfers

Yesterday I wrote about the areas of the pitch that Town need to strengthen, so today I thought I’d write about who we might be losing this window. I’m not saying these players should leave, or criticising their efforts for Town, it’s just speculation about who might be on their way before the window closes. If I was in Wagner's position, I'd be reluctant to disrupt the squad with wholesale changes. The team we had last season was good enough to keep us up, so we don’t need to get rid of too many. Players that might leave Here are my thoughts about players that might leave… Rajiv van La Parra It wouldn't surprise me to see van La Parra leave in the summer if anyone comes in for him. The talk in the papers about him wanting to move to a bigger club was widely mocked when it came ...