Huddersfield Town signalled their intent to go deep into the Vertu trophy last night when they beat Newcastle Under 21s 6-2. The game itself was a complete mismatch, with Newcastle’s youngsters looking like rabbits in the headlights at times. While there was a sprinkling of talent among Newcastle’s team, they had nothing like the same level of match sharpness or tactical understanding to be able to compete on an even footing in this game.
Despite making lots of changes from the weekend’s starting eleven, Lee Grant fielded a strong team, with Daniel Vost being the only player not a proper first team player. While a game with eight goals in it would usually be described as a thriller, this game was a bit more like an unevenly balanced training match, played in front of a handful of fans. Town were good and deserved their emphatic win but against such inexperienced opposition, I’m not sure there are many conclusions you can draw from this performance.
Here are my player ratings for the match…
Lee Nicholls – 6 out of 10
I noticed a lot of shorter little passes from him, often to marked men, suggesting he’s trying harder to follow Lee Grant’s gameplan. I don’t know if he did it better in this game or if Newcastle’s players just weren’t sharp enough to intercept, but the more adventurous passing didn’t cause any problems. Couldn’t be blamed for either goal, their first was a wicked deflection that left him stranded. They look really bad at first glance but it was just bad luck. The second was blasted at point blank range, so another he couldn’t do anything about.
Lasse Sorensen – 5 out of 10
Put in a good cross to Castledine to draw the foul for the penalty that opened the scoring. Then moments later, as if to show the duality of Sorensen, he smashed another ball straight at Harness from point blank range, leaving his colleague completely dumbfounded. His defensive header that went straight to their player setup their deflected goal, a basic error, as he deliberately put the ball into a dangerous area when he could have angled it to numerous safer parts of the pitch.
Jack Whatmough – 6 out of 10
Took his goal well, taking advantage of the two nearest defenders not even competing for the ball and the keeper leaving it despite the ball dropping in his six yard box. The easiest goal he’ll ever score. Had very little to do, so I can’t score him higher but nothing wrong with his performance.
Murray Wallace – 6 out of 10
Not a lot of work to do but looked solid and tidy when he was called into action. Had a shot from range that nearly went into orbit; despite the left back often having opportunity to push forward and shoot, I’m not sure Wallace should do, as the current evidence suggests he couldn’t hit a cow’s backside with a banjo (a phrase I think I’m borrowing from an ancient FIFA game).
Sean Roughan – 5 out of 10
Made a good last ditch challenge to snuff out a rare moment of danger but otherwise a slightly muted performance. He didn’t do loads wrong but looked a bit leggy and slow to react at times. He was similar against Barnsley, so I suspect that he may not be 100% fit.
Daniel Vost – 7 out of 10
Put in a good shift and covered a lot of ground. Very reliable again in central midfielder and linked up well with plenty of short passes. Maybe it was because we were playing players of a similar age to him, he seemed more comfortable on the ball and was more involved than his other recent cup outings.
David Kasumu – 7 out of 10
Picked up a silly booking, pulling back a player inside their own half. He could easily have seen this upgraded to a red if the referee didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt a few times. Aside from that, he did play well and helped us push up the field with some of his surging runs. He looked genuinely surprised at times that it was so easy to get past his opponents but he didn’t get complacent and did his defensive work diligently.
Marcus Harness – 7 out of 10
The usual good passing and movement, enjoying the extra space he was allowed compared to playing against experienced pros. He took his penalty well, waiting for the keeper to commit and rolling it to the other side.
Leo Castledine – 8 out of 10
Had a lovely curling shot saved just before half time, then moments later scored, cooly guiding it past the keeper. He set up Taylor for the fourth and forced the fifth with a good cross that was put in the net by their defender. I like the way he dances around with the ball in between defence and midfield, slithering into spaces and threading passes to teammates. I’m not sure yet whether he’s better or worse than Ben Wiles but he definitely plays the number ten role differently and I think I prefer his more energetic and involved approach.
Ruben Roosken – 6 out of 10
Put in a testing corner close to the keeper which Whatmough nodded in for the opening goal, showing good judgement and execution to drop the ball in just the right area. He really needs to stop standing on the ball and looking around when he’s advancing into the final third. He slows down our attacks and looks like he’s having to check his notes to see what a winger does next. Maybe once the winger role becomes more instinctive he’ll get better at this. On a more positive note, he dummied well to let Castledine score our third goal. A greedier player would have shot, but his selfless decision gave Castledine an easy finish.
Joe Taylor – 8 out of 10
Great run down the channel to set up Castledine’s goal. Then got his first goal thanks to his persistence and predatory instincts, latching on to a sloppy back pass. Two gifts in two games, after the same situation allowed him to score last weekend, just what he needs to build his confidence. His second saw him receive good service from Castledine, then he faked on his right but let it run across him for an easy finish on his left. Would almost certainly have got a hat trick if he wasn’t subbed after 57 minutes.
Substitutes
Will Alves – 7 out of 10
Looks fast and carries the ball well. Threatening whenever he went forward and got into some good shooting positions but was a bit wayward with his finishing. He looks like the kind of difference maker we’ve been crying out for in attacking areas. Like most young loanees from higher up the pyramid, he’s perhaps a bit raw and his decision making could have been better in his final action. Once he should have shot but he passed, then a moment later he had another good attack but shot when he should have passed. Lee Grant’s background in coaching attacking players at Ipswich could be very useful in improving this area of his game.
Jay Sway – 6 out of 10
Replaced Sorensen at right back. To blame for their second, he wasn’t checking over his shoulder and therefore didn’t track the goalscorer. Nearly made up for it with a run and shot from range that was well saved. Used his pace well both offensively and defensively and was fairly decent apart from that one notable lapse that cost us a goal.
Cameron Ashia – 6 out of 10
Had a good dribble and right footed curling shot that their keeper saved well. He has a touch of the Josh Koromas with his tendency to continually want to set up his favourite shooting opportunity. Otherwise quieter than usual, possibly struggling to adjust to the slow pace of the game, which didn’t suit his frenetic style.
Bojan Radulovic – 5 out of 10
Complained a lot to teammates about them not giving him service, he may have had a point but was he too static, not providing the movement players need to make him the obvious choice for the next pass. He looked at his best when he dropped off and linked up with midfield, allowing other players to push forward and fill the gap he left. With Town now having a raft of attacking options to play in the three positions behind the main striker, I can see Radulovic being more useful as a facilitator of other attackers. He needs to stop moaning at them for service if he wants to take on this facilitator role though, so he can develop better relationships with his colleagues.
A match that, for me, revealed only negative things. The biggest negative was surely to show the ridiculousness of this competition. The opposition was so bad, it took me back to U13s football when there’d be such a mismatch, you could win or lose 12-0. Quite frankly, to only score 6, most of them gifted, and to concede 2, well on that basis no Town player should score more than 5.
Living far away from my hometown, I’m grateful for any TV coverage, but really, what is Sky doing screening this competition? You have to be the most ardent fan to watch it (which of course I did and left with the overriding thought, “that’s another couple of hours of my life wasted.”)
I didn’t feel like I completely wasted my time watching this game but my attention did wonder during the drearier moments. It was telling how the players barely celebrated their goals, a complete contrast to the League Cup game the week before. Jack Whatmough looked almost embarassed to have been able to score an uncontested header from such close range.
I’d agree with you that Town could have scored 12 if they were really interested in embarassing a team of teenagers. I believe the U21 teams being included in this cup was a concession the EFL made to Premier League teams as part of the larger deal for them to spread money down the pyramid. So they’re mostly there because the big clubs wanted it and the Football League clubs wanted to keep them happy so we get those payments from them. Last night’s game certainly seemed less of a learning experience and more of a pubishment for their team.
Men against boys? Training exercise? Both true to a certain extent. Town were obviously physically dominant and Newcastle were not lacking in ability.
In recent matches Nicholls’ has only to don the goalkeeper’s jersey and he concedes a deflected goal and Taylor has only to wear the magic shirt to become invisible to the opposition then to be gifted a goal via an intercepted back pass.
Nicholls’ passing was the best ever, Kasumu often the competent first receiver and distributor, as he was everywhere else except when negotiating the killer, adventurous through ball, he was not to be blamed for their second goal after all he was the only one to read the danger and had the pace to almost deal with it.
Goodish contributions everywhere as you would expect under the circumstances TS can’t argue with your scres.
It is an odd coincidence that we’ve conceded two heavily deflected goals and pounced on dodgy back passes twice in two games. Hopefully the deflections are not a pattern. Taylor’s poaching isn’t completely luck though, as “unlucky” strikers rarely take up the positions where luck can come your way.
I felt sorry for Kasumu on the second goal, as he’d tracked back well and closed off the path to goal but that left a simple pass to an unmarked man before he hadn’t been picked up by anyone else.
Lee Nicholls staying beyond the transfer deadline and seeming to be buying into the passing out short system suggests he’s going to do his best to fit into the latest new system he’s seen in his years at Town. I don’t want to count the number of managers and goalkeeping coaches he’s seen in a relatively short period of time but the large number makes it more understandable that he might not want to change his methods too quickly.
Newcastle players looked like U18s rather than 21s, I dont know what they hope to gain by this.
The young lads never had a chance of making it a competitive game.
If youre going to take part, at least take it seriously.
Technically they were Under 21s apart from a handful on the bench who were part of their Under 18s. Most looked very young though. Another factor was that their manager had only started in his job days before (maybe THE day before). It’ll be interesting to see how they fare against Harrogate and Mansfield. I’d expect two more beatings but you never know in football.
Just fine the players who are moaning and send the money to charity
All moaning players will be fined until morale improves.
Who needs to stop moaning
Bojan Radulovic, it’s in his section at the end of the article. He spent a lot of his time on the pitch flapping his arms and complaining he wasn’t passed to. Sometimes he had a point but it isn’t a good luck to be constantly berating your colleagues. We’ve had too much of that in previous years and have mostly stopped this season.
What ever negativity people look for in the Town v Newcastle U21 . The positives to me out way them, the Town players needing minutes gained these . Town gave Vost , to a lesser extent, Ashia and sway some more experience. The loan player from Leicester looks good. A win further instills confidence, no matter who it’s against. Obviously Saturdays game is a must win .
We all understand league 1 is the priority.
UTT- ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️
“Couldn’t hit a cow’s 🍑 with a banjo” … well known quote by a disgruntled Mick Wadsworth on Radio Leeds circa 2003.
I thought Mick Wadsworth was terrible when he was Town manager, but I look back on him fondly now. Must have been his straight talking, dour nature that appealed to me. (I’ve substituted your word for a rear end with a peach emoji to get around the swear filter, hope you don’t mind.)
All valid points. And, the other important thing about the Vertu Trophy is that we’ll get a day out to Wembley if we can progress to the final. I’d love to be able to go for a game where our divisional status isn’t on the line and just enjoy it as a spectacle.
People seem to forget Town had a complete reshuffle and brought in 13 new players most of which arrived early and started training and building as a team. They have done okay with results in the league but losing 2 games would not have happened in another couple of months. This looks like a good squad and team in the making but is still early days so a competition at this stage giving the coaching staff the chance to look at options for later in the season is a good thing and if it helps build a winning mentality who cares. Funny how people talk down games like these but the reality is they showed a winning mentality and gave respect to their apponents to the last minute working right up to the final whistle. Had Newcastle beaten us what would they have said? Just remember we have just beaten Leicester of the Championship just from the Premiership and Sunderland just promoted to the Premiership and we are 2nd season 3rd tier EFL. I think the clear out has been needed and the new blood look keen and well drilled and I hope they keep making progress and learning to work as a team that includes letting players have a moan as long as it leads to more and more wins!!
Anyone know if we can still loan payers like Bojan and Freddie out?
I searched and found that some windows are still open, but not sure how that works with English clubs:
– Belgium and Switzerland’s window closes on Monday, 8 September
– The Saudi Pro League window closes on Tuesday, 23 September
– Turkey and Greece’s windows close on Friday, 12 September
– The Serbian Super Liga’s deadline is on Wednesday, 17 September.
The two benefits I see to the U21 teams in this cup are firstly it gives our lads, especially younger ones, a good run out. It did, as has been said, look like a mismatch. The other is it lets U21 prem players see the benefits of a loan with us. Josh Feeney was chatting with Charlie McArthur at the end of the match, they are 6 days apart in age. I can only think Josh is saying what the opportunities are like here for young players, which is demostrated by the number who played last night. 3 were McArthurs age and 3 younger. It must help us attract others in the future.
I can see why it’s good for U21 teams and to sn extent, the extra match is good for us because we’ve got a big squad of players pushing for games. For fans though, I’m not sure there’s much to enjoy until we get to the knock out stages. It’ll be interesting to see if any of last night’s Newcastle team ever come to us on loan. Or make it in into the Newcastle senior squad. A few looked pretty talented but it just didn’t come together as a cohesive team.
Sean Neave was on the bench at the Wembley league cup final against Liverpool – so obviously of the fringe of a premium league first team
Ah, interesting. I seem to remember him being one of their better players.