Huddersfield Town came away victorious from a thrilling 4-3 encounter with Reading yesterday afternoon. The quality of football was mixed but the amount of action more than made up for occasional defensive lapses. Town gave away some truly horrendous goals but equally they attacked with verve and deserved to win despite frequent sloppiness at the back.
I think this game was a bit of a one off, with the circumstances of the game lending themselves for Town taking an unusually bold, swashbuckling approach to the game. This season has been typified by a more cautious and defensive mindset but our recent inability to hold on to a lead and Reading’s obvious vulnerability meant it was sensible to have a really good go at them even though gifting them a way back into the game so frequently clearly wouldn’t have been in the game plan.
Here are my player ratings for the match:
Lee Nicholls – 6 out of 10
He made some important interventions and organised the back line well. I wouldn’t blame him for any of the three goals, his defence in front of him let him down badly, but he may have done better with Puscas’ effort, given the angle was pretty tight. Lived up to the nickname I’ve given him of The Sloth when he received yet another booking for taking too long on a goal kick. But provided he stays under 10 for the season, those cards are largely meaningless and the way he breaks up play and frustrates the opposition and their fans genuinely helps the team to get results over the line.
Pipa – 6 out of 10
I’ve been dubious about how a right flank would work with both Thomas and Pipa playing at the same time but this game showed it can be a good combination. Pipa was possibly too bold with his raids forwards at times but he did provide a lot of attacking support with his runs in field. The underlapping style left space for Thomas to stay wide and meant both could indulge their attacking instincts. Pipa’s final ball let him down at times and he ran into trouble too often but I’m giving him a six because his commitment to get forward was a large part of the spells where we attacked well and created chances.
Matty Pearson – 5 out of 10
Not given the usual amount of protection he would get from his fullback but still didn’t do particularly well at key moments when Reading scored. Too easily drawn out of position and ponderous. I don’t think he’s mobile enough or good enough on the ball to play in an attacking system like the one we played in the first half of yesterday’s game. He looked a lot more comfortable when we resorted to a more disciplined approach in the second half after we scored our fourth.
Tom Lees – 4 out of 10
Got caught in no man’s land for the first Reading goal, was too slow for their second and was tangled up with his own player when trying to defend the corner that led to the third. Plenty of others were at fault too for the goals but he has to take his share of responsibility. Like Pearson, this game was too open for his liking and it left him without enough support around, particularly from Toffolo
Harry Toffolo – 3 out of 10
One of my favourite players of the current crop but that doesn’t mean he’s immune from criticism. While he was clearly instructed to get forward, two of the three goals came down his flank and he was nowhere near the action when we needed him. He contributed going forward but that’s not enough of an excuse for allowing Reading to exploit the space he regularly vacated.
Sorba Thomas – 7 out of 10
He wasn’t consistently good throughout the 90 minutes but he had a few good patches where he looked very dangerous. He’s so often the player that looks most like breaking down the opposition and it was nice to see how aggravated the Reading fans were by him. He seemed to feed off the negative attention and it spurred him. His set pieces were a mixed bag, too often failing to beat the first man, mostly because he was aiming to hit the near post runner with most of his deliveries.
Jonathan Hogg – 5 out of 10
Was surprisingly far up the pitch when we were in possession, often providing the base of the attacks. I’m not sure he’s 100% fit following his injury as he wasn’t quite as snappy or energetic in the middle of the park. Not awful but far from his aggressive and hostile best.
Lewis O’Brien – 7 out of 10
Another Duracell Bunny performance from him, where he ran relentlessly and drove Town forward when receiving the ball in tight spaces. He made more tackles than any other player on the pitch and was involved in a lot of neat triangle passes in the final third. I’m still waiting for him to add goals to his game as he seems to have all the qualities of a 10-goal-a-season midfielder but hasn’t actually got the goals. It wouldn’t surprise me if he went on a scoring run fairly soon (providing nobody swoops in for him before the transfer deadline).
Josh Koroma – 5 out of 10
Had some nice touches but too often sloppy in possession and looks to be overthinking things. He had a glorious opportunity to score when Ward played him in but he dithered and saw his shot blocked. Maybe his head has been turned by these transfer rumours, perhaps he’s having a sticky patch of form or maybe he’s not all that good after all. While he’s looked quality in the past, those were only for limited runs of games, he now needs to show he can be consistently good. Unless Town’s finances are truly dire, it would surely make sense to reject the offers for him now, develop him into the best player he can be and sell him when he’s worth closer to £10m. That might require giving him a new deal on higher pay but that would be a smart move in my opinion as we’ll benefit from having him playing for us for longer and get a better transfer fee if he really is too good for Town.
Danel Sinani – 8 out of 10
This score is a bit on the generous side but I’m giving it to him because, while his goal involved a lucky deflection, there aren’t many other players in the team willing to take on chances like that; he deserved a bit of fortune. Frank Lampard seemed to always get lucky deflections but that was because he took more shots from the edge of the area than most other players. Sinani also ran the game for Town during their dominant spell in the first half, linking up play, spreading the ball to the flanks and dropping into spaces to receive the ball. He’s frustrating in many ways because we only see his true potential in flashes but if he can put it together for 90 minutes he could be the missing piece of the puzzle for this team.
Danny Ward – 10 out of 10
Another generous score, as I try to be sparing with 10s but what more could you ask for him? He made certain of two relatively straight forward chances that were gifted to him and then struck the third beautifully to win Town the game. His work off the ball was superb once more and he was a lively presence in the final third. I’m not sure I can remember a better striker’s performance since Mounie’s brace against Crystal Palace on the opening day of our first Premier League season.
Substitutes
Jon Russelll – 5 out of 10
Helped shore things up for Town. Didn’t win all of his battles but got himself in the way of Reading and made it harder for them to open us up.
Josh Ruffels – N/A
Not really a lot to go on from his ten minute cameo but looked fine and helped us see out the game.
Jordan Rhodes – N/A
A good option to come off the bench after Ward had run himself ragged. Still has a classy touch and good awareness even if he’s not the player he was during his first spell at Town.
The Sloth? Frank Lampard? £10m Korome? Excellent
TS your comments are interesting, as are your ratings, it is strange but correct to see such lopsided numbers in favour of the forward players!
There can be little doubt about the identity of the man of the match but it wasn’t just his goals, the awareness, touch, control and competitiveness were streets ahead of his colleagues. I was fortunate enough to be directly behind the line of flight of his hat-trick goal as it flew from his right boot straight as an arrow into the corner of the net (I think he’s left-footed?). This caused me to remember a video the club issued on his return to Town of some, perhaps all, of his previous goals in a Town shirt, it was surprising the number that were eye-catching, even spectacular, falling into that category. This one certainly did!
It was an both an exciting and frustrating game with Koroma’s and Thomas’ confidence and effectiveness contrasting sharply with Ward, Thomas was particularly erratic, contributions oscillating between sublime and ridiculous. It was great to see Pipa back, his drive, willingness and speed at odds with most others. The laboured possession at times was occasionally offset by Pipa’s contributions. The passing as ever occasionally but too frequently clumsy: Thomas; Koroma and Lees caught the eye together with the usual culprit, Hogg.
As soon as we start scoring we start conceding, possibly as a result of a back four rather than a three or perhaps the lack of a Cowill? The left hand side at Reading was particularly weak, I personally would prefer to see Sarr in the middle of a back three where he seems most comfortable and his passing simultaneously the best and the worst of all the defenders. When he first arrived Town’s defending was inept at corners and free kicks, he was charged with attacking the ball at all times – the result? Some order. I would like to see a return to this.
I searched for the video mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1MFTjlq4sg&ab_channel=HTAFC
I can only watch the game on ifollow as I live in Spain, but it’s great to see Ward finally doing well, and a player who can score with either foot ( unlike Koroma). On the subject of Koroma, I think someone else ought to be given a chance, too many moves break down because of him, which at times causes considerable danger to our back line. I don’t agree to giving him a better contract, he doesn’t deserve it in my opinion. Paterson would be a good replacement, If he wants to go, let him. Our midfield really miss Holmes and without him at times the opposition get on top too easily. Hoggy is/has been great, but we seriously need to get another player to fill his boots, it’s a pity Valejo gets so many injuries, Isco is not really wanted at Real is he ?
Totally trivial, but I had to smile when I saw the subs bench against Reading – it sounded almost like the fire brigade in Trumpton. Russell, Ruffells, Rowe, Rhodes, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub!!!!
It is interesting to see “free transfer” Danny Ward on the same goal tally as “big money” Karlan Grant and “undisclosed fee” Elijah Adebayo at Luton. I wonder how much Jordan Rhodes providing competition for his place has spurred him on? Maybe Phil Hodgkinson, Carlos Corberan and all the backroom staff deserve more credit than we gave them at the time.
I didn’ t go as I had to work. But what I heard on the radio and saw in highlights reminded me of Newcastle under Keegan: you score 3, we’ll score more.
Loved the attacking intent and delighted to have Pipa giving to opposition even more to thing about. Will be interesting to see how Carlos sets us up vs Stoke – given up trying to predict team and formation…