There have been numerous reports recently linking Huddersfield Town’s Lewis O’Brien with a move to Newcastle United in the upcoming transfer window. I thought it to might be interesting to offer a Huddersfield Town fan’s perspective to this potential move.
O’Brien was last season’s player of the year for Huddersfield Town and has played more minutes this season than most other members of the squad despite missing the opening month and a bit of the season due to injury.
What are Lewis O’Brien’s strengths?
I think one of the best things about O’Brien is that he’s such a hard-working player. Running stats are closely guarded by the club but I’d wager he covers more ground than the majority of players in any given game. His relentless running helps when attacking as he provides overlaps and decoy runs for his teammates and he’s often the one to track back and make a recovery tackle when opponents break away.
He typically plays on the left side of central midfield as a typical box-to-box midfielder but his left footedness means he often drifts into wide areas to support too.
His best attribute is his tendency to drive forward through midfield from deep and break through the lines to create space. He’s also good at pressing opposition defenses and wins a lot of balls in the final third this way.
Another thing I like about him is that he’s a genuinely nice guy who seems down to earth and is a model pro. His bromance with Harry Toffolo has meant the club’s social media team’s fascination with him has teetered into creepy territory at times but he accepts their slightly odd attention with good grace. Whenever he is interviewed he seems like someone you could happily have a beer with. Which might not be a massive reason to sign him but what I’m saying is that he’s not going to go all Temur Ketsbaia on you and attack the advertising hoardings if he gets dropped for a game.
What are his weaknesses?
This season has been one of ups and downs for O’Brien after an incredibly good year the season before. During his worst patch of the season he developed an unfortunate tendency to misplace simple five-yard passes two or three times a game. That has improved a lot lately but he can be a bit slack with his passing at times, possibly because our coach encourages them to play the ball quickly and he rushes things too much. It’s a strange tendency because he can play a lovely, through the eye of a needle through ball one minute and then the next kick it straight out for a throw in when his team mate is standing in front of him.
His goal return is the other area that he most needs to work on. He should be scoring somewhere between five and ten goals a season based on the quality of his build up play and the number of times he arrives in the box at the right time. His finishing and decision making in the box only need to improve slightly for him to become a real goal threat from midfield.
The final criticism of him isn’t really a criticism of him but our head coach. He is not a left back. He has all the attributes of a leftback, mobile, good in the tackle, can put in a cross, but on the multiple times he’s been played here he has mostly struggled. He can play as a central midfielder, defensive midfielder, a pressing number ten and even a left winger but left back isn’t his position, no matter what Carlos Corberán thinks.
Would he fit in at Newcastle?
At the risk of upsetting Geordies that read this, I think a bottom-half Premier League team would be the right level for O’Brien. His work-rate and quality on the ball make me think he’d be likely to win fans over fairly quickly and it most likely wouldn’t take him long to adjust to the pace of the Premier League.
He’s still young and has room to improve, so even if he doesn’t break into the team straight away, he’s the kind of character that will work hard on his game until he gets his chance.
I always expected Burnley to be the team that would come in for him because of his work ethic but I think Newcastle could do with that kind of player too. I’m not sure he’ll set pulses racing straight away but I’m pretty sure he’s good enough to be a regular starter once he gets settled at a Premier League club.
How likely is this transfer to happen?
As a Huddersfield Town fan I really hope this transfer doesn’t go ahead. O’Brien is likely to be too good for a bottom end of the Championship team but I’d have liked to have seen us keep him for at least another season. Not only will we get another year of him but also because he could easily be worth double this time next season.
The fee of £4m being quoted in the reports linking O’Brien to Newcastle seems almost insultingly low even in the uncertain, post-covid transfer market. Phillip Billing went to Bournemouth for more than £15m and Karlan Grant went to the Baggies for around £17m, so on that basis O’Brien should be fetching nearer to £10m.
O’Brien’s somewhat erratic form and Town’s eagerness to bring in some transfer fees to repay our debt may bring this valuation down but our current owner can be a hard negotiator in these situations. Even if all the parties involved want this move to happen, it could take a while to conclude if agreement can’t be found over the transfer fee.
At 22, Lewis O’Brien is coming into his prime and has already shown in the Championship that he’s a quality player. The Premier League is the next logical step in his development and I can see him doing well at a club like Newcastle.
If Lewis O’Brien does leave Huddersfield Town this summer I hope someone at the club keeps an eye on our social media admin. I’m imagining scenes similar to those when Take That broke up, with lots of snotty sobbing and emotional breakdowns. There was a time last year when our official Twitter account effectively became a Lewis O’Brien Fan account, I’m really not sure they’re ready for him to move on.
He’s over-rated, of coarse, as most professional players are, BUT he’s one of our best, so our object, SHOULD BE, to keep him, as it should be, to hold onto, all our best, get rid of all the dead wood, useless players, who we have many of, and add to our best, by bringing in better players to play alongside the few good ones we have, but that would require Phil Hodgkinson funding us in a big way, which, unfortunately, is not likely to happen
Can’t blame O’Brien for wanting to play Premier league football but if £4m is all Town get then he should be given enough incentive (wage!) to stay. The way the club is run now it seems that if anyone offers anything, they will accept. For Town to progress and get good players in they will have to spend more than £4m on a player and not rely on freebies and hasbeens. Unfortunately I can’t see that happening and any money coming in from the sale of O’Brien will disappear down a big black Hoyle.
Big black Hoyle. Spot on mate.
He is overrated, until he stops wasting his final ball after a good run he will never be a top player. He himself ought to know that his final ball is just not good enough and needs massively improving on. If he can improve this area of his game he can do very well out of his football career.
Steve
Australia
I agree he is nowhere near the finished article and it would be a shame if he didn’t further his progress with us, it would be great to see him surrounded by better players – hint hint Mr Chairman. One thing you didn’t mention, which I did on this forum many moons ago, he has the appearance of being able to run more quickly with the ball than without it.
I agree with previous comments – at times he can appear almost like Ryan Giggs the way he can run flat out with the ball under control; but he flatters to deceive; his final ball, even the shortest of passes, is woeful. His shooting too is often a disappointment.
Of course I’d prefer to retain him but if the money is right, then we’ll have to bank it and move on.
Interesting to see him praised for what he might do in future rather than what he has actually achieved. That’s not latitude other young midfielders can expect from terrier spirit.
We dont need him to go, though on this season’s form he is certainly not indispensable to next years team in the way say Schindler is.
I’m not certain even Newcastle would want him anyway. But our owner will bite their hand off if offered 4 million. I have little doubt about that.
Very overated imo, good business if we can get around 6 million for him.
First point is if the lad wants to go he will but on the general point I agree his final ball has to be better but he is a talent and yes four million is far too low and like everything else there will be plenty of speculation this summer so time will tell
Such is the wage differential between Premier League & Championship that you can be sure if there is genuine interest from a Premier League club, then O’Brien will be off. Why wouldn’t you? The only reason might be that I sense he does actually enjoy playing matches. I suspect he’d spend quite a bit of time sitting on the bench in the Premier League but money talks.
I thought he was off to Saints, which would be a much better team for any midfielder, and allow him to hang out with Phil Bill down the road in Bournemouth – is your NUFC story more likely?
£4m? Would Phil really let him go for that? One thing our chairman is good at is sticking to his guns on value. And if we’re selling Bacuna to Rangers and cutting our massive bill we might be able to hold on and get the best out of LOB.
As Dave says, “…there will be plenty of speculation this summer so time will tell”
If I had the option to change just one player in the transfer window, no more, just one, it wouldn’t be Bacuna, nor Campbell, nor Keogh (although I’d pause for thought over all 3 of them), it would be Schofield. I can’t go through another season with him as first choice keeper. I’d like to start transfer speculation that some unsuspecting club is after him.
O’Brien was the diamond in the dirt last season but this season, despite being one of the better players in the team, has not been anything special. Premier League quality – not even close. Top half of the championship quality – probably.
No comments on today’s match because it was a non-event, wasn’t it?
I won’t dwell on it other than to say that my Man of the Match was Vallejo. I hope we retain him.