Huddersfield Town came from behind to win 3-2 against Peterborough on Saturday afternoon. Town struggled to overcome an organised and committed approach from Peterborough and it wasn’t until Castledine and Alves were subbed on did we really get a good grip on this game. Three goals during this dominant spell meant the late goal from Peterborough was merely a consolation prize and the three points stayed in Huddersfield.
If you’re a glass half full person, then you’ll focus on the huge improvement we made later in the game but skeptical fans will have seen plenty to set off alarm bells in that opening hour. Maybe these issues are merely teething problems in a team that’s gone through a great deal of change. Maybe it’s the fault lines showing in fundamental flaws in Lee Grant’s system. It’s still too early to tell which way this will all go. But for now it’s still fun seeing how Town under Lee Grant progress.
A bad first hour
It’s best to get the bad part of the game out of the way, as Town again put in a loose and lethargic first half. Too many simple passes went astray, our playing out from the back was so slow we couldn’t get out of our own half and the few chances we created came to nothing.
Now I’ve had time to think about it, Peterborough were probably as much to blame for this poor first half as Town were. Unsurprisingly, as a team under pressure and playing poorly, Peterborough played a cautious and fun-spoiling system that limited Town’s potency but in doing so, made themselves toothless too.
I’ve seen it said that Town were lucky to go in level at the break but I don’t remember Peterborough having a shot on goal or even a threatening cross. They had plenty of the ball but their possession was just as sterile as Town’s even if they managed to spend more time in our half than we did in theirs. The first half definitely went better for Peterborough than Town but mostly because of how well they limited us rather than anything fantastic they did on the ball.
Peterborough played a 3-5-2 system that felt quite similar to how Michael Duff set Town up last season, with equally stodgy results. Their three central defenders had no problem marking Taylor out of the game and their wingbacks seemed to tie up both our wide players and fullbacks, meaning they had spare men in the middle of the park.
Town are going to have to learn how to get over these struggles if they want to be a dominant team. Whether it’s teams sitting deep and not letting us have territory or, in the case of Peterborough, teams pushing up and stopping us from getting out of defense. The benefit of playing out from the back is that you draw your opponent out and make it easier for your strikers when you get the ball forward. Only we couldn’t find a way to get the ball forward and out of defence.
The bench turned the game for Town
Whenever a manager is complemented for picking the right subs to change a game, I always think the game might not have needed saving if the initial selection has been right. In retrospect, Whatmough’s inclusion downgraded our passing ability at the back compared to Feeney, Kane and Ledson continued their jaded and sluggish form from Barnsley, Roosken continued to dither on the wings and Ben Wiles had another anonymous game. So while Lee Grant’s substitutions fixed these obvious issues and turned the game around, these were ongoing problems that he may have foreseen when picking the starting team for this game.
I’d say that every sub contributed to the improvement we saw in the second half but it was the double sub of Castledine and Alves for Wiles and Roosken that marked a turning point in this game. The interesting thing was that these two fresh faces didn’t just play well themselves, they acted as a catalyst for the whole team to pull their finger out.
Castledine’s more energetic approach to the number ten role lifted the tempo on the pitch and stirred a reaction from the crowd too. And obviously Will Alves played his part by scoring with his first touch. Both must surely be in contention to start against Bradford at the weekend. As are Kasumu, May and even Murray Wallace.
A midweek break suits Town
Town have played two games a week for the last four weeks straight, which I’ve really enjoyed as a fan but it’s a lot of football in a short space of time. Overall, we’ve been decent during this spell, with a few notable stumbles and only being completely dominant against Newcastle U21s.
While Town will have been training during this busy patch, they will have been limited by needing lighter sessions close to games and recovery days after them. Lee Grant has been good at rotating his squad to keep everyone pretty fresh but there hasn’t been the chance to work in depth on the training ground during this time.
Grant always says how happy he and “the group” are to be playing regular games, which they should be I suppose, but a bit of breathing space between games will be welcome to him I suspect.
Having a full week between Peterborough and Bradford will mean the issues we’ve seen with getting the ball out of defence can be worked on. Our lack of service to the strikers can be addressed. The newer players can get better drilled on how they fit into this system. We could even try to learn a Plan B beyond doing Plan A with different players.
It’s possible that the slightly disappointing performances we’ve seen against Barnsley and the first hour of Peterborough hint at a team that’s mentally fatigued more than physically tired. Having a chance for a breather and more time on the training pitch should make us fresher and more dangerous against Bradford.
Any other business
Here’s the bit where I cram in the Town related ephemera that doesn’t directly relate to the game but I still found it interesting…
Darren Ferguson’s histrionics – Peterborough’s under pressure manager said after the game that he didn’t feel under pressure when asked by the press, which I find completely laughable. I sit relatively close to the away dugout and he’s by far the most foul mouthed and angry manager we’ve had at our stadium for years. If this was him without feeling pressure, I’d hate to see him when he’s actually stressed. He was screaming at every perceived error and flapping his arms at the sky. I think, despite what he said, he might actually be feeling a bit of pressure after not winning any of his first eight games.
Smile a while – I noticed just before kickoff that the video of the old man singing Smile A While was playing on the big screen and I think it was also playing through the tannoy but I couldn’t hear anything from it on Saturday. But then before the song really got going, the announcer bellowed over the top of it to try and gee up the crowd. I’m guessing the video was playing to try and initiate a ritual for singing our song at the start of every game. So the announcer stepping all over this felt a bit amateurish. You would see Liverpool’s equivalent talking over You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Coach partner – While the headlines from last week will mostly be about Town’s win against Peterborough, the really big news was Town announcing their Official Coach Partner. I know many fans find the football an unwelcome distraction from hearing about the club’s latest commercial partner, so the bus deal announcement is a red letter day. I’m being sarcastic but I did actually find the article quite interesting, as it showed off the Eavesway coach that the players will be traveling to away games in. It’s a step up from the Megabus and looks pretty plush inside. Click here to have a look yourself
Ticketing grumbles – Bradford away sold out quickly this week, with many season card holders missing out. Sought after away trips will often leave fans disappointed but there was additional outrage in the middle of last week when fans reported that the tickets went on sale earlier than their advertised 9.30am release. In addition, some Cow Shed season card holders are also irked with the news that their seats will be made available to Man City fans for our upcoming cup game. I don’t blame the club for this decision though, as cup rules often insist on a minimum number of away tickets based on a percentage of the stadium’s capacity, so it’s likely they had to give the whole South Stand to them to be compliant with the rules.
At the risk of sounding smug, I think you’ll find I did recommend ‘Valves’ (I won’t ever forget now, TS) and Castledine for Roosken and Wiles. Just sayin’.
And on the subject of ‘Valves’, clearly whoever is the chump of a commentator on the highlights reel, he doesn’t avidly read this blog or he’d know.
After that, only heard and not seen, I remain sceptical about Nicholls. Three deflected goals conceded in as many matches could just be unlucky but who wants an unlucky goalkeeper? He has always been a good blocker rather than being ‘the Cat’ (for the education of younger readers, this was always the contrast between Gordon Banks and Peter Bonetti for England in the late 60s, early 70s). But we know what the outcome of that was (see quarter final v W.Germany in the 1970 World Cup) so maybe I’ll be calling for Nicholls to be recalled come November.
There’s a very interesting interview with Joe Hart somewhere on the internet talking about what’s required of the modern goalkeeper. He places being as comfortable on the ball as an outfield player as a prerequisite. I’d go a step further, that outfield player can’t be a ‘hoof-it-down-the-field centre back’ but a cultured midfielder. I’m trying to imagine the great Gordon Banks playing in the modern era! Nicholls might not be a dinosaur like Banks, but nor does he appear to have the athleticism and reactions of the Cat. Nicholls will need to be on top form next Saturday methinks.
‘The cat’ was Peter Bonetti. And look how that turned out!
Precisely my point, Gavin. The Cat made some spectacular saves but ultimately, at international level, showed himself to be fallible. This could be Goodman, we’ll see; I hope not. Nicholls is the safe & solid Gordon Banks. That said, I’m not sure I’d fancy either Bonetti or Banks with the ball at their feet playing as an additional outfielder. The game has moved on.
Alex Ferguson was at the game on Saturday in the directors box supporting his son and could be seen merrily singing along to “you’re getting sacked in the morning”. Perhaps “that’s my boy” was trying to put on a show for “daddy dearest” hence the language. I wonder if they had to restock the bar with whiskey when he finally left?
Roosken had the odd decent touch but looked lost playing as a winger he didn’t seem to know where to go at times or how to support his team mates. True to form Wiles drifted out of the game again but as you say the subs made the difference in the end. Grant will hopefully begin to understand what his best starting line up is as we need to set the foundations for winning games in the first half and not having to make second half changes to get the upper hand against such teams.