Huddersfield Town managed to grind out a one-nil victory against a poor Derby side that have now lost five of their opening six games of the season. While it’s obvious that Derby are having a rough time, it’s still impressive that Town managed to get a win against a team packed full of players that are, on paper, better than ours.
This win means that Town have earned 10 points out of the last 12 available and are sat comfortably in the top half of the table. It’s too early to be getting carried away about Town’s prospects but there is unquestionably a good feeling around the team now and Carlos’ new approach is already bearing fruit.
Winning despite misfiring
This wasn’t a great performance from Town in my opinion. We struggled to play through Derby’s high press for long periods and our passing, particularly in the first half, was sloppy. Derby were regularly gifted possession in good areas because of individual errors that could have cost us on another night.
There is something to be said for picking up three points despite being well off our best. This is going to be a hectic season with matches coming thick and fast, so it’s inevitable there will be plenty of games where both teams look tired and out of touch.
I’d say that Derby had far better individual players than Town but we were the better team. That unity and work ethic was the difference between the two teams (and a bit of luck when that header hit the post towards the end of the game).
Derby showing Town-like qualities
I thought Derby’s performance had some similarities with the worst of Town’s games last season. Their heads dropped after going behind, like they expected it and didn’t feel they could get back into the game. The response was tepid until the closing stages and there was a lack of cohesion about their play.
Even Tom Lawrence, who tormented us last season, looked out of touch and frustrated for most of the game. Several set pieces he played went harmlessly over the top of his colleagues and in open play he couldn’t get time on the ball around our penalty area to get shots off.
Maybe Huddersfield Town can take some credit for stopping Derby playing. It was a scrappy affair for long periods and Derby couldn’t produce any quality in the final third. Under David Wagner Town had a knack for catching teams on their bad days, it was only after this became a pattern that we realised it was our effort that was causing opponents to have bad days against us.
Teams are starting to counteract Carlosball
I found it flattering that much of Derby’s gameplan was to stop us playing rather than to try to enforce their own style on the game. This is proof, in my eyes, that teams are starting to fear our all-action approach and are scrambling for strategies to overcome it.
Derby targeted Hamer at every opportunity last night and I was really pleased that he didn’t produce the errors they were desperately trying to force. This was particularly evident when Hamer was passing out from the back, where Derby tried to set traps by standing just far enough away from their men to tempt Hamer into making a pass.
The pressing from Derby did unsettle Carel Eiting and led to his worst performance yet for Town but the rest of the team did relatively well at playing through the pressure and we stuck to our philosophy despite Derby’s attempts to knock us out of our stride.
If this good run continues for Town then we’ll most likely see more teams try to counteract our style. Derby’s response was to try and get in our face and stop us at our source and they got some joy from this approach but we kept plugging away and got our reward in the end. Other teams might try and park the bus against us, like Rotherham did, and that will present a different kind of test.
Mbenza’s strop
One thing I really miss about physically attending games is all the little details you don’t get to see on TV. So I enjoyed Oggy and Matt Glennon talking about Mbenza’s reaction to being subbed. Apparently he made his disappointment quite clear after he was subbed just after Bacuna’s goal. They made it sounds like he had a little paddy as he made his way into the stands.
Mbenza can have no complaints about being hooked after a fairly anonymous performance but I’m almost certain he’d have just moped off in the same situation last season, so it’s nice to see a bit of passion. Wingers often struggle to influence games, so a poor night doesn’t mean alarm bells need to start ringing just yet.
If he wants some pointers on what to do in this sort of game, I’d suggest he looks to the other wing for inspiration. Koroma also had a relatively poor game compared to Swansea but he still kept showing up for the ball and tried to make things happen. I’d rather see wingers try and fail rather than drift out of the game entirely.
The xG shows Town deserved to win
Not everyone likes xG but I think it’s a useful metric for assessing the quality of shooting chances created. You can google it for a full explanation but xG is a number that is worked out by giving each shot a score based on the likelihood of it going up and then adding up all the scores.
Last night Town’s xG was 1.97 to Derby’s 0.84. So the chances each side had that involved a shot would typically have ended in a 2-1 victory to Town. Based on my own interpretation of the game, I think a draw might have been a fair reflection but I suppose Town created the better chances just like the xG stats suggest.
Interestingly, to me at least, Bacuna’s chance he scored wasn’t our best opportunity. His strike was given an xG of 0.35, meaning it was the kind of chance that goes in 1 in every 3 attempts. Naby Sarr’s free header in the 83rd minute was a better chance to score, given a 0.43 score by infogol but sadly his cushioned header was saved by Marshall.
Fans returning to stadiums
I felt a bit sad in the build up to this game as it would have been the first home game Town fans could go to if the original plan of reintroducing fans in October had gone ahead as scheduled. Obviously safety has to come first but this game or Saturday could have been my first game back in the stands if those plans hadn’t been changed.
I’m glad we’ve got football behind closed doors now and I’m enjoying watching the games on TV but it’s not the same thing as being there. There’s no point going over all the ways it’s not the same to celebrate a win at home rather than in the stadium. It’s the equivalent of comparing methadone to heroin, it’s significantly better than nothing but still nowhere near the same as the real thing. Not that I’ve ever experienced heroin or methadone but then again, I’ve not experienced Town winning games much this last few years either.
The dark arts
One of the the pleasing elements of last night’s game was how well we managed the game after going ahead. Rather than keeping pushing forward we subbed a winger for a defender to make the game more stodgy and to limit Derby’s chances. We still created opportunities on the break but didn’t leave them any spaces to exploit and disrupted their flow with game management.
It’s easy to celebrate the amazing passage of play that led to Bacuna’s goal but this victory was also partly down to messing around at throw ins to slow down the game and frustrating them by running the ball into the corner.
As much as I love to watch nice football, its quite enjoyable to watch us use the less glamorous side of the game to secure a result. It shows an element of pragmatism to compliment the idealism underlying Carlosball.
I’m not getting excited but my pessimism is lifting
This was a laboured performance. With occasional glimmers of quality and the now-usual 100% effort from the players. But it was far from a perfect game for Town and on another night that late header from Derby would have hit the other side of the post and gone in.
Seeing Town lying 8th in the league and unbeaten in four games makes it easy to get carried away but it’s not time to be planning promotion parties just yet. I think we’ve got a great coach in Carlos and he’s getting far more out of this squad than I expected he could without significant investment.
I’m still keeping my expectations for this season fairly low. If we finish top of the bottom half and avoid a relegation fight then I think we’ve done really well, even better if we bed in some of the academy lads along the way.
I feel like we’re over achieving currently but it’s likely we’ll have a poor run at some point. I’m not saying that to try and drag down the mood, just to say that it’s possible. If it we start to slip up that won’t be a disaster, it will just be a blip. If we stick to these new principles even when the matches aren’t going our way I think we’ll win more games than we lose over the season.
I thought we had a very real chance of going down this season but this last few games makes me think we’ve got more than enough to stay up. What we lack in quality and experience is more than made up for with collective effort and Carlos’ tactical system.
Lets throw some stats at this. After 6 games last season we had 1 point so 10 now is brilliant. To achieve safety we need about 1.13 points per game for about 52 points. This season already we are up 3.2 points on that, last season at this stage, 5.8 points below. To achieve at least the playoffs we probably need 78 points (1.7 points average per game). At the moment the present position is that we are 0.2 points below that level. So which ever way you look at it we are doing ok.
To put the promotion ambition another way a 6 match sequence should be something like WDWLWD which is well above the level required.
Love the stats when they’re so positive, John.
I’m so impressed with CC and the effort these players are putting in. What a man-manger he must be to get that level of graft and craft out of some of those lads mentioned in the post. The runs in both directions have been lung-busting, and I’m actually enjoying watching us again.
And then I remember we’re playing PNE on Saturday and it’s like a seagul has cr*pped in my pint…
Having seen how we can now grind out a result I believe that we will be ok this season. We still have to see O’Brien start and I think his quality will make a real difference. Once we can see a settled midfield, I think the final 3rd chances will significantly improve. Question is, do we have the ability to convert. That is my main area of concern.
As far as fitness is concerned, I think that we will be fitter than most. Don’t forget that lot down the road won many of their matches last year in second half in part due to their fitness levels.
I also think that CC is building from the back and so the whole project will take time. I remember my Dad(he supported the team in their golden age in the 1920’s) once telling me that Herbert Chapmans great success was because he built teams with strong fit players who could all defend first and then all attack. His teams used to be very quick in turning defence into attack. Probably an early version of Carlosball. Anyway my point is that I see a much more resolute defence and signs that we can be very quick in transition. Slowly, slowly catchee monkey as they say.
Getting more confident but still needs improvement. I think the foundations are there however.
One of the nice things about this good run is that we can see its still not quite right but we’re getting results anyway.
I agree completely with your comments about fitness. I’d you can outrun your opponent then you’re always likely to get chances later in the game. Possibly why we’re getting most of our goals in the second half of games.
After the effort at Swansea and a five hour journey each way and two days to get their breaths back, I am not surprised that Towns game was slightly down, but its was still enough to beat Derby, plus I think we play better 3-5-3 than 4-3-3 but let Carlos do it his way, but how many would have thought we would have 10pts at this stage, c’mon Town fans enjoy it, we have to embrace the good times when they happen ,on to Sat. and
Preston.UTT..
Well said David. I felt pretty glum when the transfer window closed but two wins and it all feels very different.