Huddersfield Town put in one of their best performances of the season in a masterclass of counter attacking football that saw them win 2-0 despite spurning a string of presentable chances. Maybe it was a bad day at the office for Middlesbrough but Town hardly put a foot wrong despite only even though they only had about a third of the possession.
Expect plenty of high scores as every player stuck to their task over the course of the game, kept a solid shape and were a constant threat when going forward.
Lee Nicholls – 7 out of 10
Not his busiest afternoon between the sticks but he snaffled up everything that came near him, including a few threatening balls that sneaked past our defence. A lot of the skill in Nicholl’s game comes in keeping the players in front of him organised well enough for him not to be called into action. He’s always talking to the defence and makes sure everybody is where they should be.
Pipa – 7 out of 10
Made a superb block late on to deny a good opportunity. With the whole team sitting fairly deep it didn’t suit a naturally attacking player like Pipa but he stuck to his defensive task well and made the occasional foray forward late in the game where we enjoyed a bit more position as we tried to run the clock down.
Oli Turton – 7 out of 10
Switched to playing on the right side of central defence with no issues at all. Not as eye-catching as the other members of the back through but was part of an overall superb defensive performance and barely put a foot wrong all game.
Tom Lees – 8 out of 10
Had the most touches of any Town player, made 11 clearances, blocked two and won nine aerial duels. The stats only tell half the story though, as he was also played with a maturity that calmed those around them and helped the team soak up pressure without losing our heads. A true leader on the pitch.
Naby Sarr – 8 out of 10
For the second time in a week he managed to find the space in the box to head home unmarked from a set piece. While Rhodes’ brilliant knock back put it on a plate, Sarr did well to be in the right place at the right time once more. He was solid throughout the game too, no silly moments and making the right choices consistently. Colwill’s injury is a worry but at least Naby Sarr has shown he can do a job in his last few appearances.
Harry Toffolo – 6 out of 10
Jones was probably one of Middlesbrough’s best players on the day and he was a threat down Toffolo’s flank. On the whole, Toffolo managed to contain the winger but a premeditated dirty challenge straight out of the Jonathan Hogg playbook resulted in a deserved booking that left him on the knife edge for the rest of the game.
Sorba Thomas – 7 out of 10
The fact he was clearly injured but we kept him on the pitch for the remaining ten minutes of the half shows just how important he is to Town. The decision was justified when his superb freekick from deep led to the opening goal. Before taking a nasty knock on his knee he was a persistent threat with his pace and tenacity. The images of him in a knee brace after the game are a cause for concern but hopefully that’s just a precaution and he’ll be fit at least in time for the playoffs if not before.
Jon Russell – 7 out of 10
He only managed eight touches of the ball in the first half as the game passed him by for long periods. In his defence, we were just launching long balls whenever we won the ball back, so there was no need to play through the central midfield. He did get more involved in the second half and was involved in some nice, neat linkup play. He also did a lot of running off the ball to close down Middlesbrough, maybe it could have been a bit more energetic but I think he suffers from the same issue as Philip Billing does, where his massive frame makes him look to be moving more slowly than he really is.
Jonathan Hogg – 6 out of 10
Like Russell, he didn’t see a lot of the ball for much of the game and was limited to just closing down space and restricting opportunities for Middlesbrough’s midfield to break forward. His passing was wayward too often and could have cost us on a couple of occasions.
Lewis O’Brien – 7 out of 10
Played some superb balls forward when Town were looking to break. HIs assist for Rhodes’ goal was lovely and there were a couple of others that deserved to lead to further goals too. He started the game on the left wing and struggled to get involved but moved to a more central area later in the game and saw more of the ball. One thing he deserves extra credit for is his ability to draw fouls in the opposition half. He’s the Championship’s second most fouled player, not because he’s a wimp that gets booted around but because he can cleverly whip the ball away at the last moment and get a whack on the leg for his trouble. Town have been deadly from set pieces this season but many of those set pieces have only come about because of O’Brien’s willingness to get kicked to help his team.
Jordan Rhodes – 9 out of 10
The best we’ve seen of Rhodes in his second spell at Town and showing a work rate and dedication he didn’t need to have in his first spell where he was purely a poacher. In this game he ran his socks off, won countless flick ons and knock downs, released teammates on counter attacks and even cleared a lot of defensive headers at set pieces. On top of all that he was the key person in both goals, making a very clever back post run to tee up Sarr’s opener and applying a superb finish with his weaker foot for the second Town goal. Rhodes has been unlucky that Danny Ward’s form has limited his chances this season but he’s shown in this game that he still has a lot to offer despite recent doubts.
Substitutes
Josh Koroma – 7 out of 10
Does he deserve a good rating because he kept getting in behind and could have scored two or three? Or does he deserve a poor score for spurning all those chances? I think, despite the lack of goals, he showed real threat and was a handful in the second half. His confidence looks to be the main issue, so maybe giving him minutes in our next few games could help nurse him back to form in time for the playoffs.
Josh Ruffels – 6 out of 10
Brought on to avoid Toffolo getting a second yellow in the closing stages. He did a decent enough job of seeing out the game.
Scott High – n/a
A time wasting sub at the end of the game. Very nearly ended up clean through on goal in the dying stages before the referee’s whistle denied him. Calros name checked him in the prematch presser as a player that always trains well even when not in the side, so I think his inclusion was to let him know he’d not been forgotten.
Just keep this performance up, brilliant but not premiership yet. UTT
A terrific team performance with Rhodes rightly MOTM.
The only points I’d argue with is Koroma. You’ve asked the right question (should he be downmarked for his missed chances?) but given the wrong answer! Yes of course he should. 2 shocking misses. And why? Because he’s no confidence in his left foot. The first chance he did what he always does (keepers can predict him now) and go for the right-footed sidefoot to the far post when it cried out for a nudge to round the keeper on the left side. He’d have scored or been brought down by the keeper. Second chance he had a clear chance to shoot, unmarked but on his left foot. No confidence so shifted it to his right foot, by that time the gap to score was smaller; and in any event he scuffed his shot with his right foot. Both bad misses so he deserves no more than a 5. As it happened, Middlesbrough failed to score but had they got one, those misses could have proved costly.
I just hope Koroma watches that finish from Rhodes; that’s how you do it, son.
Egg all over my face and everywhere else following my criticism of Jordan Rhodes, a MoM performance including an assist, a very well taken goal, more energy expended up front than I thought possible and numerous defensive clearances.
The magician that is Carlos Corberan continues to conjure up new tricks, the team selected against Middlesboro could surely have no chance of success; but no a comfortable victory ensued which should have yielded further goals as a result of Middlesboro chasing the game, their lack of confidence, numerous errors and our profligacy in front of gaol – if only these chances had fallen at Rhodes’ feet!
The double right back selection was interesting although I thought Pipa would have been more influential with his freedom from defensive duties. Maybe the omission of Holmes and Sinani allowed us to play very deep, combative and compact presenting very few goal opportunities for the opposition but reducing our goal threat further up the field, although this transpired as missed opportunities rather than opportunities.
No doubts for me about Rhodes. We would have had more points if he’d had more game time!
Well Naby Saar looks like a decent player when he has a good goalie behind him, the whole defense does, with Colwill going I may be tempted to renew his contract. It will be tough to get to the prem if we have to play Forest as we seem to have got slower/ less adventurous than we were before the West Brom game.