Can you imagine having a haircut and saying it was mostly fine but the hairdresser got distracted with the clippers and shaved a chunk out of your ear? Or being really pleased with how an actor has performed in a play apart from the bit where they left that stage to take a personal phone call? Or enjoyed a meal out that was excellent but for the scabby plaster floating in the soup? Can you see where this is going? Huddersfield Town at Reading were much improved compared to recent outings but it counted for nothing because they still, at key moments, couldn’t shake the habit of sabotaging themselves. So I’m not in the mood for handing out participation trophies for players that put in a decent shift but let themselves down at crucial moments.
As we’ve seen so much in recent games, Huddersfield Town continue to find their biggest threat on the pitch is typically their own players as at any given moment someone in a Town shirt might do something calamitous. While the all-round game against Reading was generally better (though far from perfect) I’m not sure pats on the back for effort is all that helpful at this stage when we’ve dropped so many points already and have seen a further three slip through our fingers in a game that was very winnable.
This might be an overly negative introduction but it’s been nearly two days since the match and I’m still aggravated about it! Here are a few more of my thoughts…
Michael Duff changes the lineup but not the system
There were meant to be six changes to the lineup for this game but Lee Nicholls worrying injury in the warm up led to their being seven, the biggest shakeup we’ve seen to the starting eleven between league games under Duff. The fact that we saw such wholesale changes in personnel but the formation was still the same 3-5-2 shape we’ve persisted with all season (at least to start with in games) shows that Michael Duff lays the blame for our recent slump at the door of the players and not his tactics.
It’s hard to know if this assumption by Duff is true based on this fixture. Bringing in the likes of Hogg, Spencer, Pearson and Kasumu were obviously done with an eye on making us a tighter defensive unit, and that did work to an extent. But the cost was that we lost just as much going forward and too often lacked creativity when we advanced towards the final third. Town’s xG (I know this is a stat that gets some people wound up, but it gives you a reasonably good idea of how many good chances a team had) was impressive for this game but when you dig into the numbers, most of the high-quality chances we had came from set pieces, not open play.
I can understand why Michael Duff is reluctant to put the 3-5-2 system in the bin, as there has been a lot of work put into it with Huddersfield Town and he has seen a lot of success with this shape at previous clubs too. Not to mention, players can pass the ball straight to opposition players regardless of the formation you set them up in. But it does feel like we may need to make some tactical changes to try and address how flat the team have looked in recent games. Even against Reading, when we were on top we didn’t create nearly enough good chances when we had the ball in open play. If Duff was reluctant to reinvent the wheel then we could at least experiment with a front three, so we had a bit more width in attacking areas. Both Marshall and Koroma could play as inside forwards with either Ladapo, Ward or Radulovic as the central striker.
We need to talk about corners
Please don’t ask me to quote my sources, because I can’t remember where I read it, but I did once hear that around 5% of corners result in a goal. About one in 20 corners turning into a goal sounds about right to me. However, 0% of your corners will result in a goal if you can’t beat the first man, which seems to be a persistent problem for Town with their corners at the moment.
Say what you want about Sorba Thomas, he was a great set piece taker and we’re really missing his deliveries at the moment. Though I’m also not loving our current tactics around corners either. While I’m not an expert on these things, almost every corner we take is broadly the same approach of flooding the six-yard box and trying to win a flick-on at the near post. Sometimes it does OK, the majority of the time it fails. The fact I’ve rarely seen us vary this approach baffles me.
The Cowley brothers bragged about taking inspiration from basketball and ice hockey for their set piece tactics. Carlos Corberan appointed Narcis Pelach as his set piece man and he seemed to whip us into great shape (and continued to do so after Carlos left). But lately we don’t see nearly as organised on set pieces and seem to just do the same thing over and over.
Maybe I’m overthinking it, but we have relied heavily on goals from set pieces so much in recent seasons because we’ve been poor in other areas of our game and it would be mad to let this aspect slip.
It could be that this is an area that has not received a lot of attention because so much else is being overhauled in terms of Town’s style of play. But when you consider how important being a threat at set pieces can be, it could be the difference between getting points from games like this or not.
We had 11 corners in this game and ten in the Blackpool game but from memory, close to half of the deliveries of those 21 corners would have been cleared by the first man or claimed by the keeper. I think we either need to make sure the corner takers are able to consistently drop the ball exactly where it needs to go for this near-post flick-on corner routine to be effective. Or perhaps, we could maybe mix it up and try putting the ball somewhere else every now and again.
Letting them back into the game when we were otherwise coasting
A lot happened in this game after the equaliser, but I think the game really turned on the moment we allowed Reading to score the equaliser. I’ve used my words carefully there too, it wasn’t that Reading broke us down and scored a great goal. We just coughed up the ball on the edge of our own box. I’ve really liked Nigel Lonwijk so far, but when he mopped up Koroma’s moment of sloppiness, he should have just booted the ball out of danger. Instead he turned straight into trouble and had the ball taken off him and then we were level after being one goal ahead and looking very comfortable.
The cliche “goals change games” is a cliche because there’s truth in it. Prior to the goal going in, Reading looked like the club that were in trouble, the team that were a hotchpotch of kids and journeymen that had been cobbled together because of the off-the-field troubles that were plaguing Reading. Letting them back into the game reminded them that they can play a bit. Suddenly we weren’t coasting and in charge. The game was on and we looked wobbly.
Had Town not conceded such a soft goal, that owed more to their own mistakes than quality Reading play, then this game could easily have followed a different trajectory. We were actually playing some decent football during this stage of the game and mostly keeping Reading at bay. The silly mistakes at the back really cost us and took us from a position where we were bossing the game to the momentum swinging against us and having to try to contain Reading.
Mental weakness following the disallowed goal
Matty Pearson could have had a brace after he scored another headed goal from a Antony Evans free kick. However, Nigel Lonwijk was offside and distracting the keeper so the goal was ruled out. The sort of decision that is fair but rarely seems to be given the other way for Town.
Town’s reaction to the disallowed goal was as predictable as it was disappointing. Rather than seeing the goal being chalked off as a source of inspiration to keep plugging away, they let this disappointment ruin their composure and Reading took the game by the scruff of the neck and scored shortly after this incident.
The second Reading goal had a whiff of indiscipline about it too, from both the officials and Huddersfield Town. Firstly, the quickly taken corner was taken too quickly because the ball was rolling when it was kicked and should have been pulled back to be retaken. Hardly a hanging offense but seeing as though it resulted in a goal, the referee and linesman’s oversight is a tad frustrating. But the real problem was that Town failed to anticipate Reading taking the corner quickly and from the chaos that ensued, managed to get a shot off from the edge of the box that made it into the net through a crowd of players.
Reading had been taking quick set pieces and throw-ins all through the game, so it’s annoying that we weren’t on our toes for this corner and better ready to defend it. Instead everyone looked flat footed and the few quick passes exploited our slow wittedness.
Chasing the game at a snail’s pace
I feel like I’m complaining about the same things over and over again lately, but Town’s response to going behind was lethargic. Michael Duff made changes to try and swing the game in our favour but nothing seemed to really make much of a difference and we didn’t do enough to break down Reading. On paper, 19 shotsfor Town in the game sounds impressive but we often just took pot shots from a long way out because there was no better option on. Too often there was no movement in the final third and we struggled to find any fluency on the ball.
In a game like this, where we really needed a win after being on a poor run lately and, no offense to Reading, playing against a team we should be able to beat, our second half performance was far too meek. While I’m completely respectful of the teams in this division and what they are capable of, I also expect to see a bit more of what this Huddersfield Town team are capable of too. There are players in our squad that believe they are Championship quality standard but are currently being consistently outplayed by every League One team they come up against. As much as I like to grumble about the tactics, the players have to look at themselves here too and their own performance levels. Too many are playing well below the standard we know they are capable of.
Calls for Duff’s head are far too early
This game marked Town’s third consecutive loss in the league and their sixth defeat in seven if you include the cups. Whichever way you look at it, we’re in a pretty serious slump. So it’s not a huge surprise that there are a few rumblings for the manager’s head. Because of the fickle nature of football, pretty much any time a team loses three games in a row this will happen.
I’m never keen on rushing to change managers though and I like Michael Duff and what he’s trying to do at Huddersfield Town, so I would prefer us to stick with him almost regardless of results this season provided we don’t start to flirt with a consecutive relegations (not impossible based on current form).
Blaming the manager is easy but it feels like the problems at Town run deeper and may take a while to fix. I think another change would, if anything, set us further back on our road to recovery as it would subject us to another change in style and need even more recruitment to suit the new manager. It’s easy to think that we can just keep sacking managers until we find the right one but I think it’s going to be better to stick with Duff and give him the time he needs to see this project out.
I will say that I’m not all that impressed with how slowly Duff has responded to Town’s tactics being exploited by other teams in recent games and how ineffective his in-game management has been lately. However, I think a lot of the problems we currently have are long-standing issues that run deep within the club for reasons that are hard to fathom. But the attempt to change the culture is there from Duff but for whatever reason, the losing mentality is persistent and has not yielded to his methods just yet. Hopefully the tide will turn for him soon.
Birmingham up next… oh!
After losing three games in a row, you really want a nice easy game to get your confidence back. So playing the strongest team to ever play in League One, away from home, is probably not ideal. Though, as Alex pointed out in the comments before the Reading game, it would be typical Town to lose to Reading and beat Birmingham. I actually think that’s quite possible too. In some ways, we’re better set up to play against good teams than poor teams, so may give Birmingham a good game and could even taken something from it.
I don’t think any result would surprise me tomorrow night. If we were beaten by a huge scoreline, that would fit the current narrative of Town being in freefall but a Town win would also make sense in terms of them generally playing better against teams that want to play out from the back. We’ll most likely want to press Birmingham high and if they make any errors at the back, we’ll pounce on them.
Having said that, it does seem written in the stars that Alfie May will score against us after his deal to sign for Town was hijacked by Birmingham at the eleventh hour. So we’ve got that inevitable indignity to look forward to. Maybe we’ll see a Freddie Ladapo masterclass and we’ll be able to show Alfie May that we didn’t need him after all and he can enjoy his rumoured £20,000 a week wages in the midlands without us shedding a tear.
As you mentioned TS and I’ve alluded to in the past, there is an apparently unfathomable problem at Town.
It’s not the manager as we’ve had so many that have been so different surely one manager would have solved the problem. I also can’t fully blame the players as there had been a fair amount of change there too.
Failure to sign a good (for Div 1) striker is I believe part of the problem in that scoring goals would lift the team all over the pitch but this seams too simple a solution.
KN has backed us and is a winner by nature.
So that only leaves the whole of the management and backroom staff. Is their mood or apathy or whatever so pervasive that it negates any positives ?
It seems everyone comments agrees there is a problem but what the hell is it since at the moment no one anywhere seems to have the remotest idea of what a solution could be. Until someone can find the problem and sort a solution out I fear we are destined to continue ambling along in mediocrity as we seem to be at the moment.
Any ideas ?
I’ve nothing much to add, TS.
I agree, Town’s ability to self-destruct seems to know no bounds. I sincerely hope that the rather cocky Koroma ate a lot of humble pie at half time and thereafter.
The calls for the manager’s head of course stem from frustration – the impotent fans who can see what’s wrong (or think they can) and wonder why a further week on the training pitch hasn’t sorted it out. But it’s a bit more than that. Many people’s lives are hugely brightened or depressed by the fortunes of the team they support. Whilst everybody says “it’s still early in the season”, we will get to Christmas before we know it by which time Town could already be cut adrift from the top 6; or even worse than that, in yet another relegation battle. Then from Christmas to May, it’s just a long slog. Then the cycle starts again and hope springs eternal. So what people fear is that another month of defeats and the season has more or less gone and they’d rather fast-forward to next August. The transfer window doesn’t allow players to be changed (most of us would ditch quite a lot of them!) but the one thing that can be controlled is the hiring & firing of the Head Coach. So I’m afraid, unfair or not, the Head Coach’s position must and should be under scrutiny.
I have 3 beefs with Michael Duff:-
1. I don’t yet see a super-fit energetic side that runs and runs to the last whistle. That’s what we were promised as a minimum. There still seem to be a number of aimless joggers out there.
2. He is a slave to his Plan A of 3-5-2. Surely to goodness a Coach should be able to adapt his tactics to a Plan B or a Plan C according to circumstances? I’ve seen no evidence of being at all flexible. He’ll change the personnel but it’s always within the same system. The system cannot work unless you’ve got 2 very capable fullbacks and I’m afraid we haven’t. I thought Sorenson coming on as sub the other night was unbelievably awful.
3. As he’s clearly not a master tactician, is Duff a team motivator? I have no idea but there’s no evidence that players come out from a half-time team talk reenergized and prepared to run through a brick wall for their manager. I’m not going so far as to say that Duff has lost the dressing room; but there does seem to be an air of indifference.
Enough said.
I disagree with Peter…KN has not backed the club this summer luke he said he would. We have spent 950k of the £5 million Rudoni money. The owner has not funded any incoming transfers this summer. Birmingham showed real intent to go straight back up with a £20 mill spend compared to our 950k. We say we are being smart and strategic 🤔….we say we won’t sign players unless they are better than the ones we already have…yet every week we see better players in the teams who are beating us.
But Phil.
It’s not KN in charge of scouting and recruitment. Trying to sign a striker was pitiful. All eggs in one basket and no back-up plan. No wonder we were priced out of May.
Town have had one job for years now – sign a decent striker ! We are top of the table for Xg and possession stats better than for a long time. Only Newcastle can get away with playing a winger as a centre forward and then only just.
How KN can affect recruitment and management is by replacing the people who are doing such a poor job at the moment. Yes we have recruited some slightly better players but if you haven’t got a striker fit for the job then who wouldn’t be better than what we have who are only useful as backup if that.
KN really is in charge of his recruitment team. Or, if not , he should be. I don’t want to hear his views about results abd performance. I want him to take responsibility and provide at least one of his managers with the quality players needed to put right last season’s unnecessary relegation.
KN is a winner? Not from what we’ve seen of him since his arrival. Unless he’s delighted with his off-the-pitch business plan of course.
I have to challenge that, the club had a clear and sensible transfer strategy bringing in the best players from other L1 level clubs Evans, Sorenson, Kane, Miller all smart picks in the positions needed despite recent form and they will come good give them time.
They were in for another in Alfie May and that was hijacked with silly money, are you seriously saying it is a good idea to drop 20k a week on a striker in this division or that he’s worth that? The fact Birmingham piggybacking our targets shows something was right no? I agree that left us light up top Marshall is a good loan option and Nagle was prepared to fund the May deal at the right price.
In addition, fans always seem to think all players will come to the club, they won’t, or will ask silly money like the builder who doesn’t want the job.
Also, by not moving on/or losing Ward, Nicholls, Helik, Hogg, Koroma a lot of wages are tied up in those contracts still and it will be next summer some big changes are made.
There’s plenty to criticise at present but this isn’t it.
You made valid points, Alex. (Must be the initials!)
We could have signed free agents like James Rodriguez and Mario Balotelli if we could afford their wages and if they would want to play in League One. Joking aside, more realistic targets could refuse to come for non-footballing reasons as well, such as not wanting to uproot family, etc.
Perm any 11 from 26 and it’s still not possible to find enough players who can pass, tackle, dribble and mark their opponents to a good standard as was demonstrated yet again at Reading.
Admittedly a better quality of play than in some other matches. Even after going ahead I never felt confident of victory and so it proved, not good enough to defeat a callow Reading side.
Christmas came early for The Berkshire side as it was bestowed with gifts from clumsy, incompetent actions by Town. It was a first for me, I haven’t seen a pantomime performed before the festive season starts. I fear we will still be seeing repeat performances come the May Bank Holiday.
I can’t see the casual customer ringing the Ticket Office for a seat at the moment, unless they want to hear the Stones perform “Start me up”; at least that’s entertaining
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WE HAD A GREAT MANAGER AND ASSISTANT IN WARNOCK AND JEPSON SHAME ON EDWARDS AND NAGLE THEY CANT APPOLOGISE THIS MANAGER IS DUFF !!
I think it is the players, the key ones that still remain at the club who have been involved in the relegation scraps of the last few seasons. You are right that some new players in but it is a surprising number who remain, just look at the changes this weekend all last season players. I think most of the bad apples were moved on, but as MD alludes to several times the players are great in training, good attitude, work hard and have the ability but are crumbling under the pressure under the lights when it gets tough as it has been the last week or so.
Look at Man Utd, not disimilar problems just on a grander scale!
I think it takes time to fix and to some degree it is harsh on MD as all the bad stuff plays out in front of the fans – where it counts of course – and indeed as I mentioned in comments the last article the fans are bruised from the last few seasons too so patience and nerves are short.
The team needs new leadership and a change of the old guard and hopefully MD/Nagle know this and the squad will be gradually fully reshaped, then we will see a fuller change.
It’s also possible the team will go on a run of form, they can play well and win when confidence is up but they have to earn that right with better displays than the last 6 games or so.
Apologies my post above is a reply to Peter’s excellent questions in the first comment.
In response to TS leading article, yes sabotage and mental weakness again. Good grief.
I’ve mentioned it in a comment above but it does seem to be a training ground to matchday issue for reasons already mentioned. Someone commented they thought MD looked beaten or bewildered but I don’t see that, only the frustration of what plays out in matches. I think he is seeing it, learning quickly and will fix it in time. I think that is why he is persisting with the formation as he sees it as a player and mentality problem mostly.
I felt a bit sorry for Lonwijk, he was totally stitched up by Koroma for the first goal and even then it had an element of fortune the bounce through. After that as Beck notes I was not confident about the win.
I’m with TS, tonight could be anything but result regardless it’s a performance needed and some bottle and fight needed.
It’s such a long season this division in a new era for the club, it’s true it can run away from you by Xmas but it’s also true you can storm it from January and I think MD will get it right.
I think that the problem is that the head coach is trying to fit the existing players to his preferred system, instead of developing a system that is within the capabilities of the squad. For example, 3 in the back and high pressing requires mobility, but at 57 with 2 bad knees I fancy myself in a foot race against Lees, Pearson and Helik. Also, none of them are in the Beckenbauer class (not implying that I am) but technical ability can be improved with training, pace, not so much. Hogg also is not going to get faster.
I think we would function better with a 4-5-1 with the staff we currently have at our disposal.
Further to the above comments, perhaps a psychologist is needed to help with motivation and positive attitude in the face of adversity, such as going behind…
I honestly think for both the club and the players involved in the last few seasons they need a fresh start elsewhere.
Yes I agree with that, the loss of Balker was a blow and I think you need at least two of the CB to have a bit of pace. We have 3 excellent CB’s but all of a simialr type. That’s the reason I was suggesting Spencer in the RCB role as he can cover wide if Sorenson pushes up that far. Better retention and use of the ball might not leave him exposed so much and/or he has to work harder to get back.
You can only do so much in one transfer window which is why I am suggesting patience as the squad is reshaped and, again, I think the club might have expected another player or two to have been sold for a fee.
I do think we have solved the central midfield issue and they will find the right blend/understanding as the season progresses. It’s easy to forget after the last few weeks that Wiles forced his way in to the team on the back of a superb pre season, the original planned combo was more likely Hogg, Kane, Evans.
I also think Healey not being fit/keep breaking down is a shame too as there is a real player in there. That said, I’m a Town fan, we still need the best striker the books can afford :0)