Huddersfield Town were beaten 2-0 by Watford in a game that will be remembered for a Ryan Schofield lapse of concentration, a red card incident that wasn’t for Troy Deeney and little else.
Town fielded an inexperienced and young side and made a good job of containing Watford in the first half and were following a similar path in the second half until Schofield’s moment to forget. After that it was a fairly straight forward victory for Watford who were obviously the better team on the day.
Here are a few of my immediate thoughts on the game in bullet point form, a more in depth look at the game will follow tomorrow.
- Schofield’s mistake turned the game away from Town but he deserves some slack after his saves have already won us points this season (most notably in the game we won against Watford before Christmas).
- Watford’s attacking four looked very dangerous but we managed to mostly contain them. Having the extra centreback in Vallejo took a bit of pressure off the backline and Crichlow did reasonably well in only his second Championship start.
- The tackle by Deeney on Bacuna in the first half looked like a straight red in real time and the replay made it look even worse. It was a cynical challenge that Bacuna was lucky to walk away from. It’s easy to play the game of “what if” after a defeat but a red card would have swung the momentum in Town’s favour and given us a long time against 10 men (not that we ever do well against ten men).
- Aarons had a decent full debut despite looking a bit rusty. He’s clearly very quick and was an outlet with his runs in behind. I doubt the plan would have been to start him so early but injuries mean he’s one of very few options out wide.
- Our tactics seemed to be to hold possession for as long as possible and to frustrate Watford. Too many loose passes in midfield meant we struggled to make progress up the field. Those sloppy passes also gave Watford lots of counter attacking opportunities.
- While the first goal was obviously a howler, the second involved some fairly generous defending too. Firstly from Jones being too easily beaten by the fullback before the cross and then a variety of Town shirts not quite being able to clear an admittedly good low cross.
- Once again our subs failed to change the momentum of the game in a meaningful way. Ward had a few nice touches, High brought energy and Jones looks quick but none of them did anything that ever made Watford look uncomfortable.
- It’s never nice to lose a game and the number of players out injured is a concern but our season isn’t going to be decided on how we play against teams like Watford away from home. I’ve seen doom and gloom merchants say relegation is now looking increasingly likely but you can get odds 25/1 of Town being relegated this season so perhaps we need to keep things in perspective.
- It’s going to be interesting to see what happens in the rest of the transfer window for Town. Hopefully we’ll see a few come in and a few go out. A bit more depth would make me feel more comfortable but I really can’t see any significant investment unless it’s to replace players going in the other direction.
What did you make of the game? Leave your comments below. (And please remember to be nice to each other!)
It was typical of too many games this season. Plenty of possession, hardly a chance created and then the game thrown away with suicidal schoolboy defending. Sadly, I have to disagree with your generosity towards Schofield. Vallejo should never have put him in that position but he never gave himself a chance of making a save by the unprofessional way he went for the ball with his feet. If he had dived at the ball and put his head and hands behind it, as all goalkeepers are taught, Cleverley may not have scored. I can only attribute it to fear. Maybe I am being too harsh but it is a concern when he has just become our first choice.
Erm, wasn’t it a back pass? So if he’d dived on it with his hands it would have been an indirect free kick in the box so I don’t think going with his feet was fear as some of the saves he’s made in previous games would indicate he’s not afraid to stick his body in where it hurts. He should, however, have got to it sooner, rather than giving Cleverly the chance to get there.
a fair report terrier spirit pity about first goal and agree about deeney tackle and given the news on unjuries we competed well this is not the time for overreaction but a honest view about the position we find ourselves in injury wise. I agree a couple more in will help but we may lose a couple more before we get back on track.its not the doom and gloom that some seem it to be.though..22 games left yet
There is no disgrace losing to Watford away. Giving minutes to Aarons isn’t a bad thing either. He looks promising and the sooner he becomes fully match fit, the better. I agree with you that the injury situation is not good, 11 players unavailable today. We have to bring more players yet. We are crying out for a creative midfielder but I don’t think our youngsters are ready yet, so possibly a Premier League loan. Could also benefit from a central defender. I have been impressed with the business so far so have every confidence in the club making the correct decisions.
Is it just me or haven’t we needed one or two strikers since the first lockdown. I think we only need to be looking how many chances were created yesterday, said before there is absolutely no backup and Campbell won’t last a full season so what happens when he gets crocked. Not alarm bells yet , but teams below us have games in hand we need the cavalry back plus additions to ensure championship football continues. Let’s not be too harsh on the youngsters, dropped in at the deep and could be a good thing in a couple of years, and we would have been behind anyway had Schofield not pulled off a great save.
Town did all the right things for nearly an hour then gives the three points away with an underhit sloppy backpass that the keeper didn’t know whether to leave it, come for it, or dance a jig round it, not for the first time this season, I thought we may have nicked it with a makeshift side that did well upto then, it was then inevitable that once we conceded they would score another soon after, thats another part of the Town makeup, nobody should be surprised that glamour boy Troy Deeny did not get sent off, he is just another who can get away with anything with the refs.
but on to Wed. and Millwall, lets hope Carlos can reduce monday mornings string of injuries outside the treatment room door, today he should be taking them up the terraces to show them where row Z is and saying
“if in doubt this is where the ball should be” and showing our keeper he should not be afraid of it. UTT.