Huddersfield Town managed to play out another joyless stalemate last night, this time against Sheffield Wednesday. The players showed more desire and determination than they had against Luton last week but did not have the creativity to break open Sheffield’s resolute defence.
The result was frustrating but could end up being a vital point in our survival bid. Some players did significantly better than others. Here’s how I rate their performances.
Lössl – 9 out of 10
The diving, fingertip save from Kadeem Harris’ curling long-range effort was the highlight of the evening. It was a truly magnificent save, full stretch and strong enough fingers to get just enough on the ball to spin it past the post. It was the best individual moment produced by a Town player on the night and Lössl’s second best save for Town behind his heroics at Stamford Bridge two years ago.
Chalobah – 7 out of 10
Another solid performance from the Chelsea loan man. He’s looking better every game at rightback and could have stumbled across his best position. He seems more assured and is making more positive runs forward than in earlier games.
Stearman – 7 out of 10
Didn’t put a foot wrong all night as far as I can remember. Looked strong and confident and made some good last ditch interventions to snuff out Sheffield Wednesday attacks. I don’t think he’s ever going to be a ball playing central defender but the things he can do, he does well.
Schindler – 7 out of 10
Looked a lot stronger and fresher in this game. Dominated in the air and marshalled the defence well. After a blip against Luton, this felt more like a typical Schindler performance. His distribution can be ponderous at times but I think that may be part of the collective fear of failure that seems to grip the whole team at the moment.
Toffolo – 7 out of 10
It’s hard to give a score for Toffolo because he did some brilliant things going forward and some not so good things defensively. When Sheffield Wednesday had a flurry of attacks in the first half, they mainly came from Toffolo getting blown away by Wednesday’s pacey wingback. While there’s not a lot you can do about getting beaten for pace, his positioning could have been better to avoid leaving the space for the opposition to exploit.
On the positive side, Toffolo provided width and penetration down the left, making up for the lack of both from Karlan Grant in front of him. I’m impressed at Toffolo’s ability to keep going after playing so many minutes since the restart and his consistent level of performance.
Hogg – 4 out of 10
I love Hoggy and don’t like singling him out for blame but he has been frustrating to watch lately. He sits too deep and is far too negative when he gets the ball (which he did an awful lot of last night). Every time the ball comes to him our attacks slow down and he will look for a safe option, either backward to sideways.
Given our ponderous attacking is such a major issue at the moment, it’s hard not to see Hogg as a key part of the problem. When Hogg was in his prime for Town he had Aaron Mooy next to him, who could play incisive passes and dictate the pace of play. Lewis O’Brien, despite being my pick for Player of the Season, isn’t the same kind of player as Mooy and this exposes Hogg’s limitations with the ball at his feet.
If Hogg keeps his place in the starting eleven, I would be tempted to change the system to suit him. When we defend he could do his usual thing of ratting about in midfield and breaking up play but in possession he should fall back and form a three with the two centre backs and allow the fullbacks to bomb on. Smith and Löwe, back when they played for Town, would start far further up the pitch than our current fullbacks and provide more options because Hogg would play like a sweeper when we had the ball.
After slagging Hoggy off, I should add that he played a great ball over the top for Karlan Grant’s big chance, but that was the only time I saw him do something positive all game.
O’Brien – 7 out of 10
Looked fresh and back to his energetic self. Made lots of positive runs and snapped away at Wednesday’s midfield. Ultimately, he wasn’t able to make a telling contribution going forward but he did break up play well and protected the defence.
Kachunga – 5 out of 10
This was a fairly typical Kachunga performance, lots of huffing and puffing without a lot of end product. He’s been a great servant to the club but injuries seem to have slowed him down and reduced the threat he has. The lack of invention and flair upfront is a massive issue right now and there was little of either on show from Kachunga.
Smith Rowe – 7 out of 10
It’s obvious when you see him on the pitch that he’s got more natural ability than anyone else in our squad but, so far in his loan spell, it hasn’t produced any actual end product. He did get an opportunity to open up his body and get off a shot but it sailed harmlessly high and wide.
I get the feeling that Smith Rowe could quite quickly turn into an outstanding player at this level but currently he’s still looking like he’s not fully firing. The weight of expectation on such a young player and the lack of quality players around him may be part of what’s holding him back.
Grant – 4 out of 10
Another hard player to rate, because he managed to get in behind the Sheffield Wednesday defence and had a shot that he would have finished 9 times out of 10 prior to lockdown. Since the restart he’s looked rusty and out of sorts in every game.
Obviously strikers miss chances and I’ll not condemn him too harshly for that. But the lack of contribution in other areas of the pitch make that miss more costly because if he isn’t scoring goals then, based on his current form, he isn’t doing a great deal else.
I’ve seen a lot of talk that Grant has stopped caring because he’s most likely going to leave in the summer. It’s impossible to know what’s going on inside his head but I suspect it’s more that he’s lacking sharpness rather than anything more deliberate.
Mounié – 6 out of 10
I liked a lot of what I saw from Mounié last night but sadly it tended to be too far away from the dangerous parts of the pitch. He did a great job of holding the ball up and linking play, much better than in other recent games. He also won a surprising amount in the air despite being surrounded by taller opponents. I’d just like to see him bothering the goalkeeper a bit more.
Substitutes
Willock – Didn’t make an impact when he came on
Campbell – Missed the best chance of the night shortly after he came on. Buzzed about a bit but will be haunted by the miss if Town go down.