“His worst game in a Town shirt” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s dismal defeat to Stockport

Huddersfield Town suffered another depressing defeat on Saturday, losing 2-1 to Stockport. After struggling to break down ten-man Blackpool earlier in the season, I had a sinking feeling when Stockport had a man sent off early in the second half. That feeling was completely justified as, if anything, we played significantly worse than when we were playing against 11 men. 

Apologies it’s a bit later than usual, but here are my player ratings for this deeply disappointing defeat. 

Lee Nicholls – 6 out of 10

Made a series of regulation saves, which he made look easy with his good positioning and good anticipation. His best moment was in the second half when he stopped a one-on-one by coming quickly off his line and not committing, meaning the shot hit his forearm and went harmlessly wide. Should have come up for the final corner in the dying moments of the game but for some reason didn’t.

Lasse Sorensen – 6 out of 10

In the past, I’d have lumped Sorensen in with the group of players that would nearly always play badly if the rest of the team weren’t performing, so it’s nice that Sorensen put in a decent shift against Stockport. I liked the way he got stuck into his battles and his forward play was pretty good. My only quibble would be that he could really do with improving the quality of his final ball, as it often lets him down after he’s done well to get into a good position. 

Josh Feeney – 7 out of 10

I thought his diving tackle in the penalty area was one of the best tackles I’ve seen in a long time but apparently many people thought it was a penalty. While most tackles from behind are fouls regardless of the execution, my impression was that he judged it perfectly and lunged in front and then chopped his foot back to make a legal challenge. For some reason this key moment of the game didn’t make it into the highlights, so I’ve only my initial reaction to go off. I thought Feeney was pretty good otherwise, with him making some nice interventions in the middle of the park to break up play and winning most of his battles. 

Joe Low – 2 out of 10

Easily his worst game in a Town shirt, he was the one pulling a shirt for the penalty we conceded and he stood off Bailey and allowed him to score their second. So if Low hadn’t made these two basic errors we could be talking about a different outcome. The penalty decision may be harsh but Low has been very handsy with opposition players lately, so I feel like this was coming. He often uses his physical size and strength to good advantage but too often he crosses the line into manhandling, which opens up the risk of conceding free kicks and penalties. And the second goal is really quite embarrassing to watch back, despite picking up Bailey early on his run, he just keeps going backwards and doesn’t engage him, eventually sent the wrong way with a hip swivel and giving Bailey time to pick his shot. After a good start to the season, Low’s really dropped off lately. 

Ruben Roosken – 6 out of 10

He made a great recovery run and tackle to stop Diamond going clean through on goal. He also contributed well going forward, with Castledine’s narrower interpretation of the left winger role leaving more space for him to run into from deep. 

David Kasumu – 5 out of 10

He does a lot of good things on the pitch, in terms of using his pace and energy to close down space in defence and to spring forward in attack. However, all this good work is too often undone by his poor command of basic footballing skills. Nearly every pass is just a little bit off, which means he either gives the ball away or it’s not in the stride of the player he’s passing to, so they then have to check their run to receive it and the momentum evaporates. The way Town are trying to play requires technically minded midfielders and Kasumu doesn’t fit into that mould. Which is a shame because he’s a very competent League One midfielder if he’s allowed to play to his strengths.

Ryan Ledson – 5 out of 10

Much more attacking than usual and played some nice passes forward but still doesn’t look like the commanding presence I thought we’d signed. I actually thought he looked a bit like our old player, Anthony Kay at times in this game, pointing and directing other players rather than doing the work himself.  That’s a bit harsh on Anthony Kay maybe because he was a decent player on his day but did often resort to pointing and shouting when he was too tired to run.

Marcus Harness – 6 out of 10

Had a decent strike from a narrow angle that the keeper stopped with his private parts. Personally, I’d have rather conceded a goal. He looked decent in patches, linking up play nicely and moving into space well but he’s still too subtle with how he works at times. I’d like to see him really grab a game by the scruff of the neck and force things to happen, rather than making small but useful contributions to our attacks. 

Ben Wiles – 4 out of 10

Had a shot that could easily have been deflected in but went wide, otherwise a fairly quiet outing for him. I used to admire how his movement would help others out and even when he wasn’t directly involved in play, he would pull defenders out of the way. I’ve not been seeing that as much lately and it seems more like he’s hiding from the ball for long periods. Like the other two attackers behind the main striker, not nearly effective enough in the final third.

Leo Castledine – 5 out of 10

Did well to draw the foul for the red card, perhaps he went down too easily but he drew the contact and convinced the ref a foul had occurred. Perhaps he’s been taking acting lessons from his soap star sister (I don’t watch the soaps, so apologies if “soap star” is over egging it). He had a glorious chance from close range but hit it straight at the keeper. Noticeably waned in the second half and his contribution to the game dried up long before his number was called for him to be subbed off. 

Alfie May – 5 out of 10

Hard to score him higher in a game where he had literally no decent service but not really his fault either. Started dropping deeper to pick up the ball, which is helpful to the team because his build up play is often better than the people who should be doing this work. The problem is then that we don’t have Alfie May up front to receive the balls forward Alfie May plays. Getting decent service to our strikers feels like a problem that goes back for years and years in a time where we’re averaging around two and a half managers a season. I’ve no idea why this has been such a persistent issue but I sincerely thought Lee Grant’s system and the current crop of strikers would put an end to this tedious problem.

Substitutes 

Bojan Radulovic – 6 out of 10

I have to admit that I was annoyed to see him being brought on while Ashia and Taylor were on the bench but he did the job he’s paid to do by getting on the scoresheet. His stooping header from a corner wasn’t the prettiest goal but it’s the sort of goal few of our other strikers would have scored and shows that he can be useful. However, he did look a bit slow in open play and his touch was clumsy at times.

Lynden Gooch – 6 out of 10

Put in a lovely corner for our goal. Generally looked decent and attacked well when we were chasing the game.

Joe Taylor – 6 out of 10

Added some spark to our attack and stretched Stockport with his eager running. It was his persistence that forced the corner which led to our goal.