Huddersfield Town play Watford later today at Vicarage Road. After resting the first team last weekend it was hoped they would all be fully fit and fresh but a glut of injuries means we’re going to be relying on our backup players to fill in the gaps. this afternoon
So despite beating Watford only a few weeks ago on home turf, it’s hard to be optimistic going into this game. We’re really relying on the new faces coming into today’s team doing as well or better than the players they replace, which seems like a big ask based on what we’ve seen from the fringe players when they’ve been given a chance.
Watford managers have roughly the same shelf life as fairground goldfish, so it’s not surprise they’ve a new manager for this game. I’m not going to bother learning anything about this one as it’s unlikely we’ll see him the next time we play Watford. I think he’s Spanish, he’s almost certainly more positive than his predecessor and likes to play 4-4-2, that’s all I know.
Here’s how I think we’ll lineup.
Goalkeeper – Ryan Schofield
Now Hamer has left us and gone to Swansea for an undisclosed fee (surely a token amount given his age and ability), which is either smart business to reduce the wage bill or an unnecessary risk, depending on how Schofield fares. If he stays injury free and continues his good start then we don’t need to pay the wages of an experienced pro as backup. If he has a wobbly patch or gets injured we’ll be left with Pereira, who looked a bit dodgy in his only Town appearance so far, and kids from the academy. Time will tell.
Defence – Pipa, Edmonds-Green, Vallejo, Crichlow, Toffolo
The fullback slots seem to take care of themselves, with Pipa and Toffolo being among the league’s best pairings and the backup options being a long way off their standard. The centre of the defence is less certain.
Elphick, Stearman, Schindler and Sarr are all injured so its going to look a bit makeshift at the back. I think it might help to makeup for the lack of Championship experience with the remaining options by playing three centre backs. Crichlow and Edmonds-Green both look to have promising futures but it would be a major risk to play them on their own. After a shaky start last weekend, Vallejo was a calming presence at the back and I think he could play a similar role in between Edmonds-Green and Crichlow.
Watford have recently played with a 4-4-2, so playing three centre backs fits with Carlos’ preference for man marking each striker and having one spare at the back. Hogg has played the role of the spare man in the back three but using Vallejo means Hogg can play where he’s more effective, in front of the back line.
Midfield – Hogg, Bacuna, O’Brien
With Eiting’s knee injury ruling him out for the season, we’re now a bit short of numbers in this area of the pitch. Hogg, Bacuna and O’Brien virtually pick themselves as I don’t think any of the youngsters looked ready to start a Championship game based on last weekend’s performance. Austerfield seemed closer to the required standard than Daly to me despite being younger but still looks like he needs more experience.
Hogg was in decent form before he was rested in the cup and has the additional motivation to play well because of his ongoing contract talks (known as “The Simon Baldry Effect”) not to mention coming up against his former club.
O’Brien has taken a bit of stick on social media lately because his form has dipped this season. I think he’s actually doing OK despite not reaching the heights he did last season. My impression is that he’s trying to do things a bit too quickly and by rushing things he’s messing up with basic passes. Burnley are reportedly still sniffing about, flush with cash following their recent takeover, so he’s another player with plenty of reasons to put in a performance.
Judging by the reaction in the comments, I’ve been a bit harsh on Bacuna lately. Even though I’m not his biggest fan, I will acknowledge that his work rate and attitude on the pitch have improved in the last month. Whether he can appropriately channel his flair while playing with more discipline remains to be seen but against Watford he’ll have to do the hard work before he starts with the tricks and flicks.
Forwards – Campbell, Aarons
I was a bit baffled by Carlos’ comments in the prematch press conference. He went into detail about how we’ll have to be patient with Rolando Aarons but then also said he’ll definitely feature in this game. That may be because of the lack of other viable options but suggests his fitness might be better than previously suggested.
Danny Ward returned to training this week and may be fit enough for the bench but I can’t see him starting after such a long layoff. Hamstrings and our murderball-based training regime don’t seem to get along, so I think Ward will most likely have to ease himself back in with a few substitute appearances to prove he’s fit enough and his delicate hamstrings are up to the job.
It’s striking how well Frazier Campbell is doing at avoiding injury this season as he’s probably been out most available forward despite being in the golden years of his career. This is even more remarkable when you consider how much he flings himself about when in the pitch. I suspect he’ll not get a lot of quality service against Watford and may be left to forage around on his own up front a lot, so we’ll see plenty more of him chucking himself at opposition defenders.
Pat Jones or Kieran Phillips could get the nod if Aarons isn’t deemed fit enough to start. I’d be interested to see how either gets on surrounded by more experienced players than they had alongside them last weekend. But I think both aren’t quite at the stage where they’re good enough to be starting in the Championship yet.
Not wanting to open an old wound – but I will as it was only last week’s wound – maybe someone could explain why we sacrificed our FA Cup run?
The old adage of a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush is usually true; Town should have beaten Plymouth whilst they had the chance and worry about this weekend when we got here.
Shame I’ve already paid my £10 to iFollow as I feel shades of Bournemouth coming on.
I think there’s a lot of fans very disappointed with the decision to field such an inexperienced team last weekend. I’m guessing the coaches won’t fancy a cup run as it’ll mean more fixture congestion for little reward.
I can’t say I’m all that bothered we’re out of the cup. It’s a shame the team we put out weren’t good enough to beat a League One side but better to experiment in the cup than in the league.
I can’t remember the last manager we had that actually respected the cups and played full strength teams. Maybe Powell or Robins. I think the difference last weekend was that we didn’t even put some experience on the bench to call upon if we needed. So instead we chucked on 17 year olds for their first minutes in men’s football to try and win the game.
Ah, Terrier Spirit has finally spoken on the topic that divided opinion last week. Not quite sure which mast you’ve nailed your colours to but let’s move on.
It seems gone are the days when we all got excited about seeing a new signing trot out in the blue & white stripes, drafted straight into the starting XI, give the team and supporters a lift. Anyone we sign these days either isn’t good enough to start, isn’t fit enough to start or is already injured!!
You can perhaps tell that I’m not in good humour this morning. Lockdown must be getting to me. Elite sport has been allowed to continue in order to keep us all at home watching the telly or laptop and cheer us all up!! I fear that this afternoon is barely going to qualify as ‘elite sport’ and I doubt very much that it’s going to cheer me up.
I have to concede that I want to see the team sheet at 2pm before deciding to spend another £10 on iFollow.
hogg out now but it wont stop simon etc for slating them at 5 if they lose. supporter?
Not expecting much from today with or without Hogg. Apologies for caring about my club.
It is the best team and shape we can put out under the circumstances but I think the back three will struggle against Troy Deeney and Andre Gray. I think Aaron’s should start and play until he tires and then replace him with Ward. Carlos intimated that Highe may start. The youngsters who started at Bournemouth and Millwall last season did either did not look ready or good enough.
Like you say the sale of Hamer is a big risk for the reasons you state and we certainly need reinforcements before the January window closes.
I’d like to see what Scott High can do with us. He struggled to get a game in the later part of his loan but I think he’ll be better suited to our style of play. With so many other forced changes I’d like to see him eased in gradually rather than thrust into the first team.
I think you’re right about needing reinforcements this window. Most likely whatever we can get from rummaging in the bargain bin but anyone ready for the first team would be a bonus.
1. The sale of Hamer leaves us with no credible back up goalkeeper: a ridiculous decision which shows how bad a club we are.
2. The team we put out last week was farcical. We were always going to have a week off afterwards, so I can’t accept any excuses for that, and the way the draw’s panned out, we actually had a realistic chance of making the 6th Round.
3. I’d put Sorba on the bench and when we’re 3-0 down, give him half an hour, what is there to lose?
If the rumoured wages of Hamer are true (I saw unsubstantiated talk of him being on between £12k and £17k a week) then it’s probably a good decision to clear him off the wage bill if he’s not likely to be number one. It’s only fair on the player to give him chance to leave if we’ve no intention of keeping him on past his contract end in the summer. We’re going to regret it if Schofield gets injured but we lack quality backup options across the whole squad.
I think last week’s selection looked particularly bad because our second string are so far off the standard of the first team. In our promotion season David Wagner fielded a second eleven against Man City in the cup and managed to force a replay despite resting most of his best players. Carlos doesn’t have the same depth available to him.
Sorba and Grant are in a similar boat in my eyes. They’ve been plugged by the club’s social media team as big signings but then all the talk is about bedding them in with the B Team or farming them out on loan. So it’s hard to know how long we’ll have to wait to see them in the team. Maybe weeks or maybe months and years. I agree about chucking them in during the current injury crisis as soon as they’re fit enough. I suspect our training regime will have worn him out in his first few days though, so I can’t see him even making the bench. We’ll have to see.
I doubt Swansea intend keeping Hamer beyond this season either. He’s gone there as a back-up, which is what he was here. We now have a cardboard cut out goalie as a back up.
we all have our opinions but to say we are a bad club is not only untrue but shows your and others lack of understanding of the game.hamer was a free cagent in the summer town will have received a fee however small . got a good wage earner of the books and while all decisions have a risk its one the club have taken. criticise the club but given the current situation its a well run club.. Asfor today Watford away even with a full squad will be a tough ask but I’m sure the team will do its best so whatever happens we move on win draw or lose
So how would you describe a club whose owner sells to someone who can only afford to pay for the club with the club’s own parachute payments? I’d say that is pretty bad!
I’m not exactly sure of how much the club was sold for (it’ll be public in a few months when the accounts are published I think). But the parachute payments aren’t paying for the club, they’re paying back the club’s existing debt to Dean Hoyle. The difference might seem minor but it’s a significant one.
Indeed the difference is significant. One is legal; the other isn’t!
rumour not fact and I repeat we are not a bad club no more comment needed
It’s like watching a slow motion car crash; or witnessing Boris dithering over a decision when everyone can see the problem and the solution. I would so love to be proven wrong but in a month’s time I can see our buffer against a relegation battle being eroded, transfer window been & gone, low morale, the slide unstoppable.
I shall say no more until 5.00pm today.
Your team is just about the best we can field, what will Corberan do when he has injured every player in training?
and can’t get my head round not being able to play players for two to three weeks when we sign them, and when will we sign a player who has quality instead of non league or irish lg players, surely Aarons should be up to fitness coming from a team like Newcastle, all we can hope for is a big effort today and get the injured niggles back on the park.UTT.
I think Aarons will be fit but maybe not “match fit”, so could be a bit rusty.
It’s a funny thing with the injuries and the training methods. I’ve been a big advocate of intensive training and improving fitness since Siewert’s sloppy preseason left us unfit. But there has to be a balance where you train hard but not so hard you break your players. The unusual circumstances of this season are a factor but I believe Leeds had a similar situation in the early days of Bielsa.
The team just about picks itself as there are very few alternatives so the prediction seems correct unless Carlos throws a curved ball.
On another subject and if you didn’t know. If you are watching the match on a a Windows 10 laptop and have a modern smart TV you should be able to watch the match on the TV wirelessly. Put the TV into Wireless Display mode then on the laptop go to Settings – System – Display. Scroll down to “Connect to wireless display”. The laptop should find the TV, you select it and away you go. You should see everything that’s on the laptop screen on the TV with much better TV sound. It may also work on mobile devices if you have the correct app but I have no experience of that.
I normally pick my team before reading this and then like to have my say, but on this occasion yourselection/rationale is better than mine so have to concede you have picked a good line up. Five at the back is a good shout. I take your comments on board about Pat Jones and Kieran Phillips but think they remain too raw for starts at this stage. Carlos has mentioned Scott High as well but I find it hard to imagine a player who was barely getting any game time in his latter days at Shrewsbury could add much.
There was no shortage of effort but when you look at Andre Grey and Will Hughes coming off the bench for Watford and we had Scott High and Pat Jones then it tells its own story. Vallejo and Schofield had been excellent until gift wrapping Watford their opener, and goodness only knows where Toffolo was for the second when leaving Jones out to dry. Rowe remains out of his depth, Bacuna was below par again and I don’t think I have ever seen a worse performance from O’Brien – by anyones sandards he was awful. Positives, and there were a few, Crichlow looked very capable again with Scott High adding some zip in the middle – I would certainly consider him starting on Wednesday night in place of O’Brien. Even Danny Ward looked lively. But at the end of the day, losing 2-0 at Watford with the players we had available, whilst disappointing, was no disgrace.
I’m pretty much with you, Ian. Happy that Town didn’t get beaten by 4 or 5 which is what I had anticipated; but very disappointed at that first goal which was schoolboy stuff and that effectively threw away the match.
Watford are a strong physical side and Town were regularly outmuscled. They were lucky to keep 11 men on the field; that tackle by Deeney on Bacuna was brutal.
Despite the physicality, I thought Town did pretty well at the back; it was in midfield that we lost our way. I agree that O’Brien was very poor today; amazingly I have seen him play worse this season. And yes, Bacuna again had too many flicks & tricks when a simple accurate pass would have been better.
Once Town went behind, heads dropped a bit and I really couldn’t see any way that Town would get back into it as we posed little or no goal threat. So Schofield really must carry a huge chunk of the blame for that defeat. It’s a shame because he made 2 excellent saves in the first half. Yes the backpass from Vallejo was slightly short but not as bad as Schofield made it look.
Scott High did ok when he came on. Both young centre backs should feel pleased with their efforts. But apart from that I’m struggling to eek out the positives.