Injuries, Youth, Tactics, Streaming, Wingers – 5 things to watch for in Huddersfield Town v Barrow

Huddersfield Town take on Barrow in a behind closed doors game on Tuesday lunchtime. The one o’clock kick off is taking place at Canalside with fans only able to watch it via a £6 live stream through the club’s website. 

You could quibble that it’s not really “behind closed doors” when the game is being streamed around the world, as the title suggests a game that nobody can know about. Though the results of Town’s recent behind closed doors games have not been kept secret anyway, so it’s a good thing it’s going to be available for anyone silly enough to spend money watching on a pointless friendly (I will be among those stupid people).

Is there an injury crisis?

I wrote on Saturday about the players that were absent from the club’s behind the scenes training video last week. There were at least five first team players not present in that video, which is a lot to be missing in the early stages of preseason. Not quite enough to call it a crisis but it’s a concern. 

It would be pleasing to see the likes of Joe Low, Radinio Balker and Rhys Healey turn out against Barrow but if they don’t then it may be a sign they’re injured.  Not terrible but it means they’re missing out on the vital preparation that goes on during these few weeks before the season starts. 

What tactics will Lee Grant use?

Whether it’s Grantball or Northern Football, we’re in the early stages of seeing how Lee Grant wants to set his team up. We saw glimpses of the shape and style he wanted to play against Emley but that was after only a few days on the training pitch. Now it’s been a couple of weeks, we should get more of a sense of how Lee Grant’s Terriers will play. 

Managers are great at telling fans and owners their lofty ambitions to play a certain way when asked but the best way to see a manager’s philosophy is on the pitch. A friendly isn’t likely to see a full throttle, maximum aggression type of Northern Football but we may see glimpses of what the big idea is. 

If nothing else, the lack of spectators should make it easier to listen in to the coaching instructions coming from the sidelines. Lee Grant so far seems very positive and perky when he’s talking to players. I’ll be particularly interested to see how he reacts if players don’t do what he wants. When it comes to using the carrot or the stick, I think being mostly carrot is fine but a little bit of stick is required with football players to let them know you’re serious. Danny Schofield was a lovely guy but players took advantage of his good nature, I hope Grant doesn’t make the same mistake. Though, in fairness, he does seem to have a bit more streel about him than Schofield.

Are some youth players impressing?

As much as I love Town, I’m not invested to the point where I’ll go watch the B Team play. So preseason is a good chance to get an in depth look at how some of the youngsters are getting on. Unfortunately, the youth players at Emley got spanked 3-0 in their 30-minute spell and the B Team lost to Sheffield FC over the weekend (not Wednesday or United, the third Sheffield team that’s the oldest club in the world).

The collective standard of our B Team might be ropey but there are a couple of players that could break out into the first team if they impress during preseason. Neo Eccleston may already class as a first teamer after spending the first half of last season on loan with our next opponent, Barrow. He’s not played much senior football though, so he’s one to keep a careful eye on to see if he has a role at Town this season. 

Cameron Ashia looks promising to me too. He has a short but muscular build, so won’t win much in the air but isn’t easy to knock off the ball. Whether he’s ready for League One is debatable but he’s another to watch when he gets a chance. Town desperately need creative, attacking players, so sourcing one from the academy would make life easier for the recruitment team. 

George Iorpenda has been training with the first team, so must have caught someone’s eye. Though he’s younger than his brother, Tom, and only signed for the B Team at the end of last season, he may be another that is being considered to have a role to play at Town this coming season. 

Are Miller and Roosken now wingers?

Town recruited specialist wingbacks last season to suit Michael Duff’s preferred shape. Now he’s gone and we’ve got to work out how to fit these wingbacks into a different formation. Last Saturday both Roosken and Miller played left wing, which is an indicator that Grant sees these two as wingers rather than left backs. However, Town hardly have any specialist wingers in the team, so Miller and Roosken may have just been filling in a gap. 

If both continue to play further up the field, then it’ll be a sign that Lee Grant doesn’t think they’re defenders and wants both to play on the wings. It might seem irrelevant which position these two play in but it will affect which positions Town looks to recruit for. Either we’re drastically short of wingers or we’re relying on central defenders who can also play wider for the left back slot (Wallace and Roughan).

Will the lack of fans make it a dull game?

Footballers love to play football but they also love praise and adulation from the stands. So this game being played behind closed doors at Canalside will potentially make the game even more lifeless than a typical friendly. It’s not like friendlies are usually fast-paced and full of drama but the lack of fans at this game could lead to a particularly sterile and pedestrian game. 

Watching games during COVID was weird, without fans in the stadiums it felt like watching a training session. Add to that the half pace tempo that friendlies typically play out at and it feels hard to recommend fans pay the £6 streaming fee. 

Not that I’m complaining about the streaming charge, if Kevin Nagle has put nearly £50m of his money in, I’m happy to chuck an extra £6 in the pot for some mild distraction on a Tuesday afternoon.