Huddersfield Town lost to Stoke in an entertaining game that saw a clash of footballing philosophies where the more direct and physical team won over Town’s possession-based approach. The defeat was mostly the result of silly defensive mistakes and poor decisions in our own third but there were also plenty of positives to take from Town’s attacking play.
There were some varied performances yesterday, with some players looking great and others struggling to find a rhythm. Here’s what I made of each individual player.
Joel Pereira – 4 out of 10
Not the best debut for a keeper that had a lot to prove before he’s even pulled on the shirt after the less than glowing references he received from Hearts fans who watched him last season. Could have done better with at least one but more likely two of the goals and his gifting of possession back to Stoke cost us a goal too. Some of his distribution looked pretty good but that doesn’t matter when you don’t get the basics right. I’m not ready to write him off just yet but he’s got a mountain to climb to win around many Town fans.
Demeaco Duhaney – 5 out of 10
Had a tough assignment up against Tyresse Campbell and didn’t do a great job to be brutally honest. Positionally erratic and a bit too slow in possession, which meant he struggled to make an impact. I think part of the reason Stearman struggled was due to Duhaney often needing help on the flank and leaving him covering too broad an area of the pitch.
Richard Stearman – 4 out of 10
Far too many errors, some luckily unpunished and others leading to goals. The own goal wasn’t his fault entirely but it’s hard not to wonder if Schindler wouldn’t have done better and maybe managed to guide the ball wide. Other than these errors he actually had some decent moments but that’s not good enough for a player of his experience.
Naby Sarr – 6 out of 10
Some neat passing to progress the ball forward and stood up to the physical challenge of Fletcher. Took his goal very well and deserves it after being a regular threat at set pieces for a while.
Harry Toffolo – 7 out of 10
Once again one of our most creative players and he put in a lovely ball for Eiring’s opener. Whenever our tidy passing released him down the left flank he looked like he would be able to create a chance. I should also mention that he did his defensive work diligently too, which is easy to overlook when he’s so noticeable when we’re going forward but he always gets back to do the dirty work too.
Jonathan Hogg – 5 out of 10
Had a shockingly bad first half but improved in the second half and looked relatively at home when playing as a conventional centre back in the late stages when we were chasing the game. He had several ponderous moments on the ball and his inability to sort his feet out when receiving the ball under pressure led to us conceding a goal. Hogg had a great spell before the international break, so I’m not calling for him to be sent to the glue factory just yet but he needs to improve his ball control when under pressure.
Carel Eiting – 8 out of 10
Played some absolutely sublime passes and probably had his most influential shift since arriving at Town. The technique for his goal was superb and if he continues in his current role of advanced playmaker then I can see him scoring plenty from that position. He did a very good job of finding Mbenza with clever passes to get him running down the flank.
Lewis O’Brien – 7 out of 10
Not a perfect performance but much improved on his shaky form before the international break. He grafted constantly and put a lot of pressure on Stoke as well as linking up well with Toffolo down the left flank.
Issac Mbenza – 8 out of 10
Scored a proper striker’s goal to slip it past the keeper which is exactly the kind of direct play I’ve wanted to see from him. Provided an outlet for Town on many occasions and carried the ball up field well. His final ball could have been better on a few occasions but was still our most threatening player for long periods.
Fraizer Campbell – 5 out of 10
Limited to only a few decent chances to get on the ball in dangerous areas and looked a bit sloppy when those chances came. Still did a lot of closing down but that’s not enough for our central striker.
Josh Koroma – 4 out of 10
Struggled to get into the game from the start and then completely disappeared from the game when he took a knock and struggled to recover. Not his day but wingers tend to blow hot and cold so it’s not too much of a concern.
Substitutes
Juninho Bacuna – 6
Played rightback, central midfield and as a number ten in his half hour on the pitch and had some nice moments even if he didn’t create the breakthrough we needed from him.
Danny Ward – 4
I was going to give him a not applicable rating because he did so little but he had over 30 minutes on the pitch and didn’t make any significant impact upon the game. He’s still getting back to fitness and came on during a spell where Stoke were throwing men behind the ball and gave us little space to work in.
Matty Daly and Adama Diakhaby – Not applicable
Brought on far too late in the game to make a proper impact and I assume were chucked on in the hope one of them might pull a rabbit out of a hat. Daly put in a few nice balls and looked lively. Hopefully he’ll get more opportunities to impress under the new five subs rule.
We don’t always agree but this week I’ll just be being churlish if I don’t.
But hey, that’s what these ratings are about. One persons view so I can be churlish if I feel like it.
The only 2 scores I’d change would be one up and one down. If there’s to be a second 8/10 performance with Eiting, then for me it would Toffolo. I’m struggling to remember a mistake either defensively or going forward. Plus a super pass to Eiting for the first goal. And the one down, yes Mbenza took his goal well but overall not an 8/10 performance. His crossing wasn’t great and he got caught offside by sheer absent mindedness. True he did look the most dangerous of the the forwards but alongside Campbell & Koroma anyone looks good. So he’s definitely worth 7/10.
To any Koroma fans, I’ve said before and I’ll say again, he is not a Championship standard player. And Campbell never looks speedy but yesterday he looked 53 and not 33. He’ commits too many fouls mainly because the ball has gone before Campbell arrives. Again not one shot from your central striker and missed 2 good near post opportunities. Danny Ward must start the next match.
Stoke have apparently won 2 or 3 times this season with only 30% possession and they did it again yesterday. To score 4 goals from such a meagre amount of time with the ball (that’s less than half-an-hour) tells you how bad Town were defensively and what one decent striker can do.
we were warned about this goalkeeper and they were proved right, total suicide defending, we get a bit of flair up front and then revert to being totaly inept at set peices again, why kick the ball into row z when you can try six passes, lose it, and give it away to concede, crazy football, some day we might actualy win a game after taking the lead, UTT.
Certainly anyone still muttering about Ben Hamer will need to think again. Be careful what you wish for.
I think we need to be mindful that Duhaney was up against a formidable opponent on the day and that Stearman is a donkey, so Pereira had little by way of protection from the right. Granted, he didn’t have a good debut but there won’t be many times our right side of defence will look so woeful, albeit Stearman drops more clangers than a soup dragon.
For those watching & listening yesterday, I don’t think Matt Glennon was convinced by Pereira’s performance. He was desperately trying to find something positive to say. And he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to goalkeeping.
Is that the same Matt Glennon who was one of the worst keepers ever to wear a Town shirt?
Was he that bad? I didn’t see a lot of him (or of Town) in his time between the sticks.
Town have been blessed with a lot of very good goalkeepers. The first goalkeeper I ever saw playing for Town coincidentally had also been on Man Utd’s books – Ray Wood. Sadly my first impression of Pereira doesn’t suggest that he’s in the same class as Ray Wood.
Pratting about at the back is nothing new to town . Been doing it for last few years new manager or goalkeeper, it doesn’t matter , clearing our lines seems to be a ongoing problem. But on the bright side, the performance wasn’t that bad apart from the obvious.
If three players other that Stearman, Hogg and Pereira had been on the field Town could easily have won. Stearman now makes too many mistakes to be picked, Hogg makes even more, after a short holiday he has receded to being the liability he had become and Pereira was either badly influenced by them or he is incompetent too. The opposition must smile and lick their lips when the right hand side of our defence has possession – waiting for them to create an assist. Other than that there was a lot to enjoy in the game; O’Brien is approaching his best form, Eiting is looking good and Toffolo is well………Toffolo. These three unfortunately cannot compensate for the other three.
Hogg was the biggest surprise to me. He had been excellent for 3 or 4 matches before the international break. he looked confident in possession, looking for the forward pass, tackling tenaciously, all with his boundless energy. So to see him slow, ponderous and negative was disappointing. Let’s hope it’s a one-off.
I agree with you, there was a lot to enjoy from the Town perspective. On another day we’d have got at least a point.
Typical Town, we played some excellent exciting football, but its time we knew how to keep the lead.
Town give us that feeling were growing and building our confidence and then snatch it back with woeful displays at the back.
We weren’t good at playing it out from the back in the premiership and we haven’t done much better in the championship. There must be a goalie out there that can do us a good job, 4 goals against shows us were we are lacking.
Let’s put more faith in our young Guns and give them a chance.
Eiting and O’Brien were magnificent, Koroma , Baccuna and a few others need to prove why they deserve to wear the shirt.
We the fans deserve more, when its time for the players to move on we are still here supporting the team we love.
Some of you lads donning the blue and white colours, need to man up and play like you can, what you were bought for and give us the fans our pride back.