Notes on Huddersfield Town’s impressive 4-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon

Huddersfield Town bounced back from their drubbing at the hands of Mansfield last week by handing out a drubbing to Wimbledon yesterday. Neither result particularly matters in the grand scheme of things but it was at least some consolation to see the team play well. Wimbledon had secured survival in their penultimate game of the season so approached this game as a pre-holiday kickabout, so Town didn’t have to work too hard to find their openings. Even still, this was a genuinely good Huddersfield Town performance which is something we’ve seen very little of this season.

It’s easy to frame this game as a disappointment because we waited until our season was effectively over to show what we can do, Martin Drury certainly felt this way in his post-match comments. It’s probably more useful to see this as proof that Huddersfield Town aren’t fundamentally broken and there is potential, with some targeted recruitment, to make the shift from mid-table mediocrity to promotion chasers next season. 

Here are some of my thoughts on this game…

Town finally show they can control a game

Before I go into the specific moments that helped Town win this match, it’s worth commenting on how well Town asserted themselves on this game. They were completely dominant in possession and did a good job of dictating the pace the game was played at (even if that way too often a slow pace for my liking). 

Many times this season we’ve seen Town allow the opposition to set the tempo of a game, which then led to situations where games are wide open when we’re protecting a lead and frustratingly bitty when we’re in need of a goal. Wimbledon couldn’t cope with the clever, intricate passing moves we created. Marcus McGuane can be a bit too negative with his passing at times but in this game he knitted our passing moves together well and he was a factor in how well we kept the ball and progressed it up the field. 

It was nice to see that we managed to move the ball purposefully in the final third too. Compared to the standard we’ve set with our attacking play this season, this was a big improvement. When we attacked there was a real enthusiasm from the players off the ball to get into space and create problems. The first goal was a good example of this, with Sorensen busting a gut to get forward, unmarked, to get on the end of Ledson’s clever pass.

Yes, it’s 45 games too late for Town to suddenly realise they’re able to boss other teams at this level but it at least provides a blueprint for next season. 

Impressive goals

It’s hard to pick a favourite of the four Town goals, as all of them had something to like about them. None were as impressive as some of Ryan Ledson’s thunderbolts this season but they showed some of the qualities Town really need.

I’ve already mentioned how our opener was the result of Lasse Sorensen’s willingness to run from deep to crash into the box. But the move only started because of Humphreys pressing hard high up the pitch. And Harness does a brilliant dummy run to pull his defender out and make the space for Sorensen to run in to. If this was a Wimbledon blog, I’d be complaining about the defending but I really liked how well we worked as a cohesive unit to create this opportunity. And Sorensen deserves additional credit for finishing the move off with a bold finish. It looked like he’d hit it over but he managed to squeeze it under the bar. 

The second goal came from a counter attack from a Wimbledon corner, showing the virtue of keeping a man up when defending them. Alves managed to bring the ball away, pick out May who had pulled wide, then May switched it to the other side to Humphreys who himself switched it back again to May to apply a clinical finish. The zig-zag one-two between May and Humphreys used the whole of Wimbledon’s half but worked really well. Compare that to the number of corners we’ve cleared but then immediately lost possession because we didn’t have anyone up the field to aim for.

The third goal would probably be my pick, even though it was fairly routine, just because it was nice to see a 19-year-old academy product score his first professional goal. Hopefully the first of many. George Sebine showed some good qualities with this goal, a good touch to receive May’s through ball, pace to evade his man, strength to make his half-yard advantage pay off and a cool finish under the keeper. After looking raw in his earlier outings, he now seems to be adjusting to senior football.

The game was over as a contest long before Alfie May scored the fourth but it was still a well-taken goal. Ledson played another excellent forward pass which May latched on to well and exploited some sloppy defending before a dinked finish over the keeper. Another striker’s goal, with May showing Sebine that he knows how to score them too. It’s been a bad season for Alfie May by any metric but this brace at least shows that he’s not a spent force at this level and has plenty to offer.  

Some great individual performances

It was a good team performance as a whole but some individuals deserve a special mention.

Lasse Sorensen – Not many fullbacks finish a game thinking they should have had a hat-trick but Sorensen had two very presentable chances on top of the one he finished. I also loved how he basically bullied their left-back, Nkeng, at every opportunity. He rarely fouled him but he did harass him and push him around all through the game. Referees at a higher level would have punished many of these shoves but at League One there’s more leeway and it’s nice to see Town giving out a bit of rough treatment rather than being on the receiving end.

Ryan Ledson – I was quite disappointed with Ryan Ledson’s first half of the season. Too often he went missing and he seemed content to drift out of games. In the second half of the season he’s improved a lot and offered more attacking threat. His passing was excellent in the final third in this game, notching up two assists and creating a few other good chances too. He also hit the post following a mazy dribble as well as drawing a decent save from a blasted outside-the-box shot.

Alfie May – Compared to his previous few seasons, May has had a nightmare season. This game was the Alfie May I was expecting to see this season when we announced his signing. His movement was terrific, he linked play well, caused all sorts of problems for their defenders and most importantly, was ruthless with the chances we gave him. Two goals and an assist is a fair reward for his efforts.

Cam Humphreys – In most likely his last Town performance, Humphreys produced his best display. Like so many of Town’s players, he’s not consistently produced his best football but he was great to watch in this game. Perhaps being deployed further up the field and having Ledson and McGuane anchoring midfield gave him the licence to showcase his talents. Given we don’t really have anyone else with his ability on the ball and knack for finding space in the box, a new number ten should be on this summer’s shopping list.

Marcus McGuane – A lot of the good stuff that McGuane does is under the radar, tippy tappy passing but it does help us keep the ball and move up the pitch. It was notable that his passing was more forward than backwards in this game, which was the most obvious reason why he played better in this game. His injury that led to him being subbed off looked nasty but hopefully it’s just a knock and he will be fully fit by the time preseason comes around.

There were others such as Wallace, Harness and Sebine that probably deserve a mention too but this section is already too long.

What now for Huddersfield Town?

I feel like I say this at the end of every season, but it’s a big summer ahead for Huddersfield Town and it’s vital we get it right. But we never seem to manage to get it right. Maybe this time it will be different but after another disappointing campaign, it’s hard to be too optimistic.

This game against Wimbledon showed that we’re capable of playing well but we were playing against a team that only scraped survival in their penultimate game and were playing with their flip flops on. To really do well, we’ll need to find a way to consistently dominate games when the stakes are higher and the opposition better. 

The immediate things for Huddersfield Town to sort out will be the retained list and the managerial situation. My guess will be that few of the players with expiring contracts will be offered new deals. Mickel Miller, Rhys Healey (I’d forgotten about him too), Nik Tzanev and Neo Ecclestone are the only players out of contract this summer according to the website Transfmrkt and I can’t see any of them being kept on. Mickel Miller is a tricky decision as he’d obviously deserve a new deal if he could keep himself fit. But his whole career has been overshadowed by persistent injuries, so it’s hard to see that changing any time soon.

As for the managerial situation, it’s an uncertain period. I think Liam Manning was incredibly brave to admit he needed a break and it’s completely right that he put his family first. I’d guess now we’ve reached the end of the period of absence that was initially announced there will be a decision to be made. Either he’ll leave permanently, come back or extend his leave to further recover. Mental health isn’t like a physical injury and the healing process is more complex and erratic. My hope is that Manning’s time away has given him the opportunity to feel better and he can come back ready to take on the challenge at Huddersfield Town. 

On a human level, I want Manning to come back so he can complete his recovery. But from a selfish perspective, I also think he’s a far better manager than anyone else we’re likely to be able to attract to the job, based on his track record. I also think it’s generally better to have continuity rather than constantly pinning our hopes on the next manager daft enough to attempt the job.

Stead and Drury have done a better job than the results suggest. If we’d have not conceded so many injury time goals in those vital games in the middle of their run then things could have been different. I wouldn’t be too concerned if their period in charge was extended to give Liam Manning more time to focus on himself and his family but I don’t think we should consider them as a permanent replacement to Manning. They’ve done pretty well but the Huddersfield Town job should be a prestigious role that’s awarded to managers that have proved themselves elsewhere, not handed out to someone fresh out of coaching school that sounds impressive in an interview (yes I’m talking about Lee Grant). 

In all honesty, I’m glad this season is over. Huddersfield Town have been a source of frustration and disappointment for large parts of this season. Rather than looking forward to matches, it felt too much like a chore to get out of the way. Thankfully every new season is a chance for football clubs to renew themselves. And as disappointing as this season has been, I’m sure a couple of months of no games and then the first pictures of the players coming back for preseason training will reignite my enthusiasm. 

Any other business

Final day weather – What a glorious day we had for this game. Having followed Town for over thirty years, I can’t remember a final game of the season that wasn’t beautifully sunny. It’s a weird meteorological phenomena that seems to do this, or maybe I’ve just got a bad memory but it’s nice this tradition continued.

Matt Glennon was extra salty on commentary – There was a bit of a “last day of school” feel to Oggy and Glennon’s coverage of this game on Radio Leeds and I quite enjoyed it. Both seemed a bit more willing to moan about Huddersfield Town’s problems this season and were pretty un-BBC like in their willingness to express their opinions. I’d like a bit more of this from the commentary. I suppose they’ve both got to maintain a relationship with the club and slating the players might jeopardise that but throwing in a bit more of their personal opinion improved their commentary.

Sorensen smile – If you watch back Sorensen’s goal you will see that he didn’t crack a smile when he scored his goal. He punched the air and had a sort of determined scowl on his face. It made me realise that he very rarely seems to smile on the pitch, which is a shame as I think footballers do better when they enjoy their craft. He seems a fairly affable personality in his media interviews, so maybe he needs to lighten up a bit. Too many of our players don’t take playing for Huddersfield Town seriously enough but he might be the rare case of taking it too seriously.

Town fans in good voice – It’s reasonable to question the sanity of the Town faithful that made this trip down to Wimbledon for a game that meant nothing following a heavy defeat against a poor opponent the week before. But the fans deserve credit for the persistent racket that came from the away end. And I’m delighted that those fans that made this effort were rewarded with plenty of goals and a beautiful sunny day. 

An apology – It’s a bit rich that I’ve complained about the players not turning up this season when I’ve been absent from this blog since January. While the football hasn’t encouraged me to take to my keyboard, I have also been busy with family and other projects. I toyed with giving up this blog but my current plan is to keep going, at least for next season. I’ll try to do some end of season articles in the next week, after that I’ll probably take a break again until preseason starts and there’s more to write about. Thank you to all of you who have read my articles this season and especially those that take the time to comment.