Huddersfield Town beat Burton Albion 3-1 on Saturday in a game where they dominated the chances and exploited some bizarre mistakes at the back from Burton. Martin Drury picked an attacking lineup and committed players forward to press Burton and we regularly exploited their tendency to (over)play out from the back. I think this game was the clearest example of Martin Drury getting the better of his opposite number tactically, which is encouraging after some results where his decisions have been questioned and even more so when it’s come against a Gary Bowyer, who I think is an excellent manager at this level.
There were some really eye-catching performances in this game, with Mumba, Fernandes and Humphreys being my standouts but plenty of others did their job well too. The three previous games had felt like our form was sliding, so this result and performance was needed to get things back on track.
Here are some of my thoughts on the game…
Burton’s generous defending
Any game where Town score three goals and win is a good game from my opinion but it has to be said that all of Town’s goals in this game were more a result of Burton’s poor play than Town’s positive play. I’m not too concerned about this though, as we created plenty of other chances in this game that we didn’t put away, so the creativity is still there for Town.
Finn Delap’s backpass that went straight to Fernandes was a truly shocking bit of football. The decision to try and ping the ball back to the keeper when he was out on the flank was poor but the execution was so bad it looked like he was trying to pick out Fernandes. Town deserve credit though, as we pressed them really well and had created the kind of tension in their back line where mistakes like this were possible and we pushed enough players forward to really exploit their tendency to knock it around at the back. The finish was good from Fernandes but the opportunity was a gift.
Town’s second involved more good play from Fernandes, as he did well to cut inside and pick out Bali Mumba’s run into the box. Mumba did excellently to control the ball and apply the finish but it was incredible that he was able to find so much space in the box. Maybe Radulovic and Fletcher deserve credit for tying up the defenders to the point where they missed a runner from deep but it was still pretty shocking that he found all that space straight in front of the keeper.
Then our third goal arrived in time to knock the stuffing out of Burton and rule out a late comeback from them. This was a blunder from their keeper which could make the cut for Danny Baker’s Own Goals and Gaffes if those VHS compilations were still being made in 2026. Radulovic and Fletcher both deserve credit for still pressing hard on their backline despite Town having the lead but it’s baffling that their keeper decided to try some fancy footwork on an ill-judged backpass rather than blast it out of play and scream abuse at the guilty defender for such a terrible ball.
I have a lot of respect for Gary Bowyer but this game was a perfect example of why teams with limited resources really shouldn’t try and play like they’re the 2010 Spanish World Cup team. The lesson for Town in this game is that “hard work pays you back”, as Michael Duff used to say. Glancing at the highlights might make you think that we benefited from a bad day at the office for Burton but anyone who saw the whole game will understand how much Huddersfield Town created the circumstances for Burton to implode.
Catflap hands
I wrote before the game about my doubts around Matty Young’s ability to command his area but this game revealed another concern about his goalkeeping abilities. It’s fair to say that Finn Delap connected well with the ball (most likely because he was desperate to make up for his earlier mistake) but the ball was in a very savable area of the goal.
I feel confident in saying Matty Young could have saved this goal because he looked like he had. It seemed that he got both hands behind the ball but then the ball went straight though them anyway. It was like he’d replaced his hands for two catflaps and the ball travelled straight through them.
After last season’s failure with Owen Goodman, it seemed like history repeating itself when we signed a young loanee keeper to be our first choice this season. Reports suggest that Young is a better keeper than Goodman (including rumours linking him to Liverpool) but based on the evidence we’ve seen of him in a Town shirt, I’ve got some doubts.
The bigger concern I have is that Nick Tzanev and Jak Alnwick are both questionable alternative options. They were both given opportunities in league games at the end of last season and neither shone. Hopefully Matty Young will turn this blip in form around and we don’t need to worry about the quality of our backup options but if I was Chris Markham, I’d be drawing up a list of potential goalkeeping options to bring in for the January window in case things don’t improve.
Bali Mumba’s best game in a Town shirt
I’ve been critical of Bali Mumba in the past but I think this game hinted at why we were rumoured to have paid a million pounds for him last January. That alleged (and possibly incorrect) price tag seems to have weighed heavily on him and he’s struggled to find consistent form, even within games he can blow hot and cold. But against Burton he was effective throughout and caused plenty of problems.
I still don’t like how much he tends to swap back on to his right foot when he comes forward but his goal showed how those inverted runs into the box can be useful. I also liked that there were a few occasions where he used his left foot in situations where it was required. Even if he’s better with his right, he’s far too predictable if all he ever does is cut onto his right whenever he gets the ball.
Martin Drury’s comments about Mumba after the game were interesting; he talked about how he’d sat Mumba down recently and pointed out how he wasn’t getting the rewards for his work. I took this to mean that Drury was encouraging him to get forward a bit more and to put himself into positions where he can score or assist. This little chat seems like inspired coaching now, given that Mumba’s goal came from the sort of aggressive run I don’t think I’ve seen him make much prior to this game.
I still have my reservations about Mumba but at least this game showed that he can use his abilities to make an impact on games. The next step will be to consistently produce this level of performance but at least this showing gave us an insight into what we must have seen in him when he was signed.
The best squad not the best team in League One
It probably makes me a bit of a saddo but I’ve recently taken to listening to rival managers’ comments about their games against Town. Gary Bowyer’s post-match interview was quite interesting, with him initially saying we were the best team in the league before quickly correcting himself and saying we had the best squad.
I’m not sure either of these statements would stand up to a lot of scrutiny but the way he rephrased his statement to praise the squad rather than the team is quite revealing. Having the best squad but not the best team suggests Bowyer doesn’t think we’re getting the most out of the players we have available. Or perhaps it’s an acknowledgement that Martin Drury is still finding his feet with Huddersfield Town and we’re still in a transition phase.
If Bowyer’s analysis is true then it should only really need competent management to guide this squad to the top end of the league. After two consecutive disappointing seasons, I think a lot of Town fans have reduced their expectations but it’s interesting that the manager of another team rates our squad so highly.
Drury the statsman
Staying with post-match comments, it was an odd reaction from Martin Drury after the game. He seemed to want to talk up our defeat against Bromley rather than celebrate this victory against Burton. He was quick to point out that we had more chances against Bromley and touches in the box but we were more ruthless against Burton.
The numbers Drury quoted to back up his point are hard to dispute but the value he’s placing on those numbers strikes me as weird. Having watched both of those games, we completely dominated Burton (despite having less possession than them) whereas the Bromley game was far more open and Bromley had some pretty good spells.
I’m a fan of stats in football and like to dig into the numbers but they all fit within a context. Drury clearly feels like the reaction to the defeat against Bromley was overblown and that the celebration of this victory is equally exaggerated. I don’t agree and think there was a pretty obvious improvement in how we played in this game compared to Bromley even if you take the goals out of the equation and focus more on the balance of play.
Currently, valuing stats over the evidence of his own eyes is a harmless quirk but having worked in jobs where data-driven targets have become a management obsession, I worry that it could create perverse incentives where players are more concerned about boosting their “touches in the box” stats over smashing the ball into the top corner.
The fact I’m quibbling over such a minor point suggests that this was a good performance and result for Town and hopefully a sign of things to come.
A tough month beckons for Town
Next up we’ve got Sheffield Wednesday at home, followed by Plymouth away, Wycombe at home and Bradford away, so a pretty tricky run of fixtures compared to our opening run. The suspicion in recent games has been that we’re better set up to play against ambitious teams and struggle against teams that park the bus against us, so it may actually be helpful to play some of the league’s better teams.
Thankfully, we’re coming into this run of fixtures in a relatively strong position in the league and have just put in one of our best performances of the season too. I hope we go into all of these games with proper attacking intent and try to cause our opponents problems rather than focusing too much on mitigating their threats. Let’s go into these games on the front foot and ask the question: “Who can beat the Town today?”.
Any other business
Balker playing with one boot – There was a brief spell in the second half where one of Balker’s boots came off and he had to defend with only a sock on one foot. He managed to retrieve his boot and get it back on before Burton could exploit this weakness but it made me remember playing football in bare feet on the beach as a child and the sore feet crunching tackles could create. Given his past injuries, it’s a relief he didn’t get stamped on during this period.
Bojan Radulovic’s hair – This is a football blog, not a fashion blog but what is going on with Bojan’s hair? It’s currently somewhere between the traditional bowl cut that mum’s would inflict upon their children in the 80s and some of the worst examples of home hair cuts we saw during lockdown.
Town fans rub it in – We’ve all made mistakes at work before. Not many of us have made a mistake and then had hundreds of people singing songs about that mistake from a few yards away. It’s fun to see our fans mocking Corey Addai but I also feel a bit sorry for him. A day to forget after he pretty much dribbled the ball into his own net.
This is slightly off the subject but Alnwick, the town in Northumberland, is pronounced Ann-ick, however does our goalkeeper Alnwick also pronounce his name that way?
I always pronounce it ann-ick in my head but your comment made me doubt myself. I’ve looked up his interview video from when we signed him and the interviwer also pronounces it as ann-ick too. https://youtu.be/8DV2gtPggJA?is=DDrjETiJ7DnyzUUo
I’d love to know what was identified as Young’s great strength that singles him out above many other young goalkeepers? We know already that he lacks physicality on high balls into the box. I assumed he must be an excellent shot-stopper; but apparently he’s not that either.
Mumba took his goal well; not forgetting he’d just missed an excellent chance set up for him by Radulovic. But his wing play, as you say TS, is far too right-sided.
Credit the manager for picking the 2 big fellas upfront. Judging by the opening 5 minutes, I thought it was just going to be an aerial bombardment, but credit to Town, they did attack with variation.
I think I commented before the season started that the fixture list was very kind to us at the outset but the real challenge would be October. Some will be asking how many points would we be happy with out of the next 4 fixtures? I’ll open the bidding with 7.
I’m pretty sure I heard that Sunderland think he’s as good as Jordan Pickford was when he was that age in their academy, so that’s pretty high praise. Putting aside the hype and just judging from his performances for Town, I’m not that impressed but I suppose it takes longer to properly judge a keeper because they’re often not involved much in games. The best thing I’ve seen him do was kick the ball out of his hands accurately into the stride of a winger in the opposition half. It didn’t lead to anything but I think he’s pretty decent with his feet.
I’d also be happy with seven points. Even 5 or 6 might be ok if the performances remain decent and we are competitive in all these games. It always seems to be extremes with Town though, so we’ll either finsih October top of the table and flying or be midtable and already writing this season off.
It was interesting, TS, to read your observations on the post-match comments of Bowyer and Drury I had not heard either, maybe I should pay more attention in future. I couldn’t disagree with you more about Mumba, certainly up his debut goal. However I support your comments regarding Fernandes and Humphreys but would add Radulović.
Town were aggressive and efficient throughout the game inducing countless error in Burton’s play, errant passes out of play or to us, which is usually a hallmark of our contributions.
Certain individuals, which is not unusual, had a profound influence on the outcome of this game. DSF was handed a simple finish for the first goal and picked out a precise cross for the second.
Delap was the culprit for laying on DSF’s goal and later producing a pair of thunderbolts: the first, within Young’s wingspan but beyond him; the second straight at him with no need to react.
Mumba yet again was ineffective including yet again messing up a scoring opportunity. Not for the first time this season I was left wondering what the point of him was, as did the Burton defenders giving him the freedom of the penalty area where his touch and finish were easily his best offerings this season. He played more confidently thereafter.
It may sound harsh but Young had a clear view and should have saved the first goal, he was fortuitously in the right place for Delap’s second effort, prior to both he made a complete mess of a routine clearance given the time he had available, luckily ending with a goal kick not a goal against. He also sent the ball out of play far too often.
His counterpart Addai had a much better game apart from possibly the worst decision I have ever seen – dribbling past an opponent on your own goal line when he had ample time before hand to deal with an admittedly risky pass to him.
A strange but very entertaining game.
With manager interviews, it’s 90% waffle a lot of the time but if you tune in to what they’re saying there’s sometimes something interesting. Though I’m pretty sure many of them talk to the press with the express intention of being as uninteresting as possible.
It’s interesting that you didn’t rate Mumba. Perhaps I was caught up in the excitement of him scoring his first goal for Town but I thought he was decent. Maybe not the danger that Fernandes gives us on the right flank but still threatening at times. I’d still like to see us bring in a proper left winger in the January window but until then, I don’t think we’ve got many better options than him on the left side of the pitch.
What is the obsession with always trying to find a player to have a go at. It manifests itself, the sheeple jump on board and it must be impossible for a player to shut out and therefore have a negative effect.
Is this about my comments on Bojan’s hair? If so, I agree that my remarks were below the belt.
As for nominating a whipping boy for their on-pitch performances, I think most clubs’ fans will be a bit like this. Mumba has received a lot of stick since arriving, so I’ve been pleased to balance that out with some praise for him here.
Matty Young is probably the player getting most criticism lately. But he has also been questionable on quite a few of the recent goals we’ve conceded.
I always find that most Town fans are flexible in their views if a player turns it around. Bojan is a great example. He was a laughing stock at one point but is now one of the most loved players in the squad.
My point is that some people never seem to be happy/always nitpicking/always look to blame someone.
The reality is that it’s all part of being a professional footballer in these days of stats for every player, ratings on individual performances, loads of opportunity via blogs, social media, etc to express views. Players need to be resilient. It’s unrealistic to expect fans to only say positive things about every player. That said, I do agree that on occasions it does seem to be ‘one way traffic’ and so some criticism becomes unfair.