Huddersfield Town were beaten by Birningham last night in a game here Town dominated possession but didn’t have the wit or the guile to do anything much with it. Isaac Mbenza’s superb free kick nearly grabbed the Terriers an undeserved point but Lukas Jutkiewicz guided home a late winner after Leko’s shot crashed off the crossbar and fell kindly to the ex-Town man.
There was a very familiar feeling to this game, with Town once again failing to unlock a stubborn defence but leaving plenty of gaps at the back for the opposition to exploit. After the buoyant atmosphere following back-to-back wins a week ago, consecutive defeats mean we’re now back to the usual doom and gloom among a section of the fans. That’s the roller coaster life of being a Town fan I suppose. Personally, I’m not sure we’re as bad a team as last night’s game suggests but there were some pretty poor individual performances.
Here’s what I thought of each player.
Ben Hamer – 5 out of 10
Couldn’t be blamed for the first goal but will probably not want to watch the replay of the second. Hamer’s reactions seemed slow to say the least when the ball came back off the crossbar and despite the shot going close to him, he almost seemed to move out of the way of it. The slow motion replays make it look worse than it was bu itt was a strange position he got into when the ball came in, he flaps his arms like he’s letting it go harmlessly wide despite the fact the ball goes straight into the middle of the goal.
These last couple of games are likely to bring back up the debate about whether to stick with Hamer as first choice. My opinion would be to give him more time as prior to Preston he was playing well and dropping him would ruin the fragile confidence that has been returning to him recently.
Harry Toffolo – 6 out of 10
I think Birmingham had done their homework on Town and knew that Toffolo is our greatest attacking threat, so they paid him special attention and he didn’t get the kind of space he needs to be effective. Not really his fault but he didn’t have much impact and struggled to create much going forward through the congestion Birmingham threw in front of him.
Richard Stearman – 6 out of 10
In the second half I found myself shouting “Stop passing it to Stearman!” as every attempt to move the ball up field was snuffed out and we pushed the ball back to him. Unsurprisingly he had more passes than any other player on the pitch (127) and only Schindler got anywhere near him (94) and the rest barely achieved half this number. It’s not really Stearman’s fault that he struggled to do much with this possession as he had so little to aim for but had Sarr been available I think he might have had a bit more success with his long-range passing.
Christopher Schindler – 5 out of 10
Had a couple of occasions where he strayed out of position and his pace badly let him down once he had to backtrack. I think Schindler is one of the best defenders I’ve seen play for Town but this wasn’t his kind of game. His passing was too often wayward and his movement looked stiff and overly cautious at times.
Pipa – 7 out of 10
Had to work in very tight spaces but has a knack for taking players on and coming away with the ball. Wasn’t able to make a decisive contribution in the final third but looked to be one of our more dangerous players. I’d love to know his honest opinion about Diakhaby because the pair didn’t link up well down the right and I”m not sure if this is just because they’re unfamiliar or because Pipa didn’t trust Diakhaby with the ball and chose to ignore his runs. Only Pipa knows the answer to this question.
Jonathan Hogg – 5 out of 10
Carlos confirmed that Hogg was not well in the build up to the game and perhaps shouldn’t have been on the pitch at all. He looked out of sorts and beyond an intriguing confrontation between him and San Jose at a corner he didn’t contribute a great deal. His passing badly let him down on a few occasions too, with simple passes going astray.
Carel Eiting – 5 out of 10
This is the kind of game I would expect Eiting is tailor made for. A stubborn defence that requires a creative passer to crack them open. Sadly he didn’t seem to be able to make the defence splitting passes we badly needed. He has the quality but he’s still going through an adjustment period to English football and I think we’re far from seeing the best of him. I can see why he chose the Championship as the league to improve his game as he needs to show his quality in games where he’s not given a lot of time but he’s not quite there yet.
Juninho Bacuna – 3 out of 10
It seemed blindingly obvious that he needed to be dropped after Saturday’s game but he still kept his place in the team. This means he’s started all eight league games so far despite being rubbish in at least six of them. It’s getting to the point now where I’m wondering if he has incriminating photos of Corberán and that’s how he’s securing his starting position in the team because he’s certainly not being picked because of what he’s producing during matches. He was a passenger for long periods and seemed happy to cough up possession whenever a Birmingham player was anywhere near him. All Town fans know about his potential but there’s only so long you can dine out on potential when you consistently fail to live up to it.
Adama Diakhaby – 3 out of 10
I’ve already mentioned that he failed to build a relationship on the pitch with Pipa but it seemed like the whole team had lost faith in him by the end of the match and nobody wanted to pass to him. Eiting tried a few Hail Mary cross-field passes to set him free but they never seemed to come off. In fact it felt like nothing came off for Diakhaby last night and his body language on the pitch was terrible, with lots of arm flapping and whinging on display.
Prior to this match I’ve been complimentary about his improved attitude under Corberán but it was shocking in this game. His face looked like a wet weekend in Grimsby and I think Grimsby is probably the level he can expect to play at after his lucrative Huddersfield Town contract ends. Much has been made of Corberán’s ability to draw better football out of this squad but if he can pick Diakhaby up after this performance and turn him into a useful member of the squad it will be a near miracle.
Frazier Campbell – 6 out of 10
Starved of quality service he was guilty of dropping too deep at times to get on the ball. Otherwise he looked lively and had a couple of speculative efforts that weren’t too far from finding the net. It’s phenomenal that he’s played for all 90 minute of the three games we’ve had in eight days, particularly when Danny Cowley said last season he couldn’t play more than 60 minutes in any given game.
Josh Koroma – 6 out of 10
Like all of our attackers, he struggled to regularly get into space and create opportunities but still managed to hit the crossbar with a powerful strike. These kind of games need someone to step up and create a moment of magic but unfortunately Koroma wasn’t able to be that player for us last night. Despite that he did a reasonable job for most of the game.
Substitutes
Alex Pritchard – 6 out of 10
Didn’t do too badly when he came on at half time to replace the woeful Bacuna. Unlike the player he replaced, Pritchard managed to hold on to the ball in tight areas and get us in possession in the final third more often. Sadly though, he wasn’t able to get away shots or creative passes once he got into good positions and too often had to turn around and pass the ball back out of the danger zone. It was good to see him back on the pitch and he did enough to justify taking Bacuna’s place in the starting eleven but ultimately failed to do what he was on the pitch to do: create or score a goal.
Lewis O’Brien – 5 out of 10
Still looked a bit rusty and wasn’t able to influence the game in a meaningful way. He’ll get better the more minutes he plays but currently is adjusting to this new style in much the same way the rest of the squad were at the very start of the season.
Isaac Mbenza – 7 out of 10
Nobody was expecting a great deal from him when they saw him stood over the free kick but it was a superbly taken goal that he deserved for his hard work so far this season. He’s struggled to make an impact in his last few appearances but coming off the bench meant he looked fresh and dangerous in the short amount of time he had. Diakhaby’s horror show of a performance should mean that Mbenza goes straight back into the lineup for Millwall away at the weekend.
Again, a honest and fair assessment. I agree with all your comments and ratings. We still do not look like creating much up front and look vulnerable at the back, particularly without Sarr who I think is a good signing and certainly defends set pieces well. I think CC is sticking with Campbell simply because we do not have anyone else. After relegation I thought we could build a team around Bacuna but, so often, he flatters to deceive, gives the ball away far too cheaply and does not warrant a place in the starting line up. Regarding Diakhaby, I think he has been given plenty of opportunities and enough is enough. I hope we don’t see him in a Town shirt again. Why not give Aaron Rowe a try?
Thanks Terry. Good point about Rowe. He played as a rightback in preseason but has mostly played as a winger prior to that. Its hard to see how he would be worse than Diakhaby.
Bacuna’s problem is his attitude from what I can see. If he sorts it out then he could do really well but otherwise he’ll never fulfill his potential.
We looked tiny at art pieces last night and without Sarr it seemed inevitable they’d score from a header. He’s also capable of switching play with crossfield balls which we missed last night. I’m sure he’ll come straight back in for Millwall.
I would place Eiting on a par with Bacuna.
So far he’s been pretty hopeless; his passing last night was all over the place. It went behind players, backwards and to the opposition on the vast majority of occasions.
Wouldn’t disagree with your other ratings though.
Thanks Roger. I was really impressed with Eiting when he first arrived but he hasn’t lived up to the billing of an Ajax wonderkid yet. I think he’s more likely to come good than Bacuna though, once he adjusts to the physicality of this league.
Bacuna and Diakhaby should not wear the shirt again, Corberans coaching team and tactics are completely wasted on half the team, I am afraid that the new look Town has bypassed Schindler, Hogg and Pritchard,
its time for Carlos to be brave and bring in the young lads who will do the running, he has got to look to Critchlow, Austerfield, Jackson etc, or last night will happen time and again, Town should have had at least a point, after the superb free kick, its time to take a good hard look and make hard decisions ,regarding the so called first team, last night was just embarrasing. UTT
I was expecting Carlos to give more of the kids a go but so far he’s been quite sparing in using youngsters. Last night makes me think that could change fairly soon.
I didn’t mind that we pushed for a winner after equalising. It cost us a point last night but over the course of the season I think we’ll nick a few wins in similar situations.
Well said David North, I’ll more than second all that.
There are no goals in this team, however many men we put into the box. It’s a brave manager who can drop one of the few who can create a goal out of nothing as Bacuna recently has.
It was a good goal but he’s an absolute liability for most of the time he’s on the pitch. I don’t think this system suits that kind of player. I want him to turn a corner and play with more consistency but it’s not looking likely at the moment.
Yes Gavin, I can see that clearly, but why doesn’t he contribute to help our defensive frailties by tracking back and doing the defensive side of the game ?
I pretty much agree with your assessments, that was a joyless first half considering how much possession we had, the second was more interesting mainly because we tried to do everything at a greater speed. The opposition gave the impression of being twice the size of our chaps all over the pitch – Sarr is a big loss! I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that Hamer, Schindler, Bacuna and Hogg simply cannot pass accurately often enough, and as for the latter I was stunned that I didn’t see any mention anywhere of the fact that he waved through the Preston player to supply the cross that eventually led to the equaliser in the previous game. The decision to go for broke at the end of this game found us out in the middle at the back, alarmingly the Birmingham forwards had very little problem gaining and keeping possession. I hope that you are right in hoping/believing that the occasional energetic youngster is allowed to flourish in the future.
I think there’s currently a mismatch between the players we have and the players we need for this system to be fully effective. There’s a load of players out of contract next summer. If Carlos is still with us I think we’ll see a lot of turnover and better suited players brought in.
Do you really think Carlos will still be at Town? Unlikely – I think this is just a stepping stone.
The average Championship manager’s tenure is about a year. It’s hard to know if Carlos will hang around. Either he’ll do well and get a better offer (Leeds are likely if Bielsa goes) or he’ll struggle and Phil will sack him. As much as Phil is singing his praises now, he’s had an itchy trigger finger with his other managers so far.
Very true.
Actually there were a few mentions of Hogg lifting his arm for offside and looking at the linesman not the attacker instead of playing to the whistle. He was well onside if you look at the replays.
I remember saying “Play to the whistle” when I was watching it, like I was coaching a team of 7 year olds.
Did you notice how surprised Hogg looked when he realised the attacker still carried on behind his back!
The team is just poor. Last season there was Smith-Rowe, Chalobah, Grant, Willock, Mounie, Losl and it is still a fact there have been no replacements. That’s 5 or 6 players who would automatically be in the first 11. Hamer, Diakhaby, Mbenza and Koroma were not good enough to get into last seasons team. Mbenza has proved he can be good, Koroma only partially so and Diakhaby – well! Hamer good in patches but makes too many mistakes. Schindler is still good but now prone to error and not fast enough as he gets older. This also applies to Stearman and Hogg though without either we would probably lose more. At the moment O’Brien hasn’t shown last season’s form since his injury. Pritchard is good on paper but not on the pitch. Eiting doesn’t show much. How can you play well when there are so many not good enough for a Championship side? At the beginning of the season we were saying we needed. 9+ quality players. We still need 9+ quality players.
It’s hard to disagree with any of these points. But on the other hand, I feel so optimistic about this season after we won two on the bounce.
I feel like we’ve underinvested in the squad this season in the hope that there will be three even worse teams. Which is smart business in thees uncertain times if it works. If we go down then we’ll look very silly for not properly replacing the quality players that left. We’ll look even more silly if Carlos walks because he’s not received the backing he wanted.
Carlos is doing well with what he’s got but it seems his main assisters, Toffolo and Pipa (how sad is that!!) have been found out and cancelled out so where we get anyone to create from the rest of the squad is difficult to know.
Only managed to see the second half but what I saw again was slow built up from defence then when it gets forward it’s 110 miles an hour with little effect, all Birmingham did was let us have the ball pack there defensive and catch us on the break simple, at the moment I’m still waiting for things to click but don’t know how much longer I can wait
I think the style Carlos had brought from Leeds is good but our squad isn’t good enough to fully implement it. I think we’ll get better at breaking down stubborn defences playing like this but we were very poor last night. The fixture congestion means most teams are going to have bad games from time to time.
Everyone has fixture congestion and the quality teams will handle it, and the inferior teams will not. We cannot handle it so therein you have the answer – we are an inferior team
We papered over the cracks with wins against a poor Nottingham Forest, a draw against Rotherham, beating Swansea despite being far inferior (a point would have flattered us) and scraping a victory over a dire Derby County. So we shouldn’t be surprised that we lost to Preston and Birmingham because our luck ran out. Would just like to say Diakhaby and Bacuna are deserving of the stick they are getting right now, but Pritchard is a massive waste of a shirt too. But where do I lay the blame???? David Wagner paid vastly over the odds for awful players before leaving the sinking ship that remains stuck with these flops – lets face it, who is going to take them off our hands when the players will demand significant wages. Wagner succeeded where Hitler failed, leaving the Town in ruins.
I think David Wagner had too much responsibility in that final season when Dean was ill and it was a shame it ended that way. I’m not sure I’d blame Wagner for the poor signings. I believe he had his picks and then the recruitment team gave him cheaper options. If we’d got the players Wagner wanted it may have all been very different. Players like Alphonso Davies and Adama Traore were rumoured to be on our radar. Anyway, it’s all over now. I think a lot of these expensive flops will just leave when their contracts expire. Unless we can shift then in January for a nominal fee.
I hope and believe Corberan can turn the club around, but not with the players we have, I think it will be a stumble through to Jan.and then a change of personel, its quite clear from comments on here who the dead wood are, we are nearly all quoting the same names, I know players like Schindler, Hogg ,etc. have given all for the cause and for me Pritchard’s never lived up to the reputation he came with, if Carlos is going to continue with his system sorry but they have to go, and recruit players who can adapt to it, thats life at a professional football club,
but I think we wont see anything till Jan. 2021. UTT