Huddersfield Town put in one of their best performances of the season in their win over QPR yesterday. It was almost like watching an exhibition of pass and move football for long spells of the game where Town completely dominated an unconvincing QPR side.
Unsurprisingly, such a good team performance was a result of several individual players having excellent games and combining well together. Here’s what I thought of each player:
Ben Hamer – 7 out of 10
Only had two saves to make and neither tested him but he made up for that lack of activity by playing some excellent passes out from the back. Rather than pass short every single time, he mixed up his passing by booting it long under pressure and when he had time to think about it he chipped some intelligent balls out to the fullback areas. One of those passes found Toffolo and kick started the passage of play which led to our second goal.
Pipa – 8 out of 10
His return to the starting eleven seemed to be part of the overall improvement of the whole team and he made some lovely runs down the right flank as well as drifting inside and bulking up the midfield. In fact, it’s hard to say he even played rightback, as he went forward so often and allowed Mbenza to track back and cover for him when needed. I’ve looked at the heatmaps for him and Mbenza and they seemed to almost take it in turns to be the most advanced player on the right.
Christopher Schindler – 7 out of 10
A very assured performance from the German, a huge step up from his last outing against Cardiff and proof that he’s still got some of his old magic left. The replay of the incident that led to his injury made it look like a very nasty twist of his knee as he performed a wonderful last-ditch tackle. It was a relief to see him walk off the pitch rather than leave on a stretcher but it’s a big concern that he might be out for a lengthy spell.
Naby Sarr – 7 out of 10
After his error led to a goal against Cardiff, it was no surprise to see him not taking too many silly risks in this game and his overall game improved as a result of him playing with a bit more care. He still makes me a bit nervous because he’s so quick to slide in for challenges rather than stay on his feet but he timed all these interventions perfectly and snuffed out the limited attacking opportunities that came near him.
Harry Toffolo – 8 out of 10
Toffolo now has ridiculous stats for a fullback, having scored two and assisted five goals so far this season. It’s the kind of return a number 10 would be happy with, never mind a fullback. He balanced a good attacking display with marking QPR’s most dangerous player out of the game for long periods. His athleticism and movement for his goal was brilliant and deserved a goal for the effort he put into getting into that position. He had an opportunity to score another but couldn’t beat the keeper.
It was interesting to see Toffolo wearing the captain’s armband when Schindler went off as Hogg and O’Brien were both on the pitch and would have been more obvious choices. It doesn’t particularly matter but I’m curious to see who takes on the armband on Tuesday night given Schindler seems almost certain to be out of contention.
Jonathan Hogg – 8 out of 10
Back in his more familiar role of bossing the deep midfield area, he showed some uncharacteristically good touches with the ball and formed the base of some lovely neat triangle passing moves with the other two midfielders. He also showed some great awareness to move himself into the gaps his teammates left when they vacated their positions to bomb forward. A lot of this kind of work goes unnoticed but without it our gung-ho attacking style would lead to huge holes being exploited by our opponents.
Lewis O’Brien – 6 out of 10
A very hard performance to rate because he had some lovely moments and looked threatening in the final third but also had some very shaky spells where he misplaced basic passes. I think the transition to playing football the Carlos Corberán way has been a tough change for O’Brien and he’s not fully hit his stride yet. The speed he’s expected to move the ball means mistakes are a bit more likely and is leading to sloppy errors. But his link up play at other times is superb, which shows he’s still a quality player. A selfish part of me is pleased he’s not lighting up the league just yet because I don’t want to see him leave in the January window.
Carel Eiting – 7 out of 10
Not his best game but still played a part in some of our best spells of the game. His ability to conjure up unexpected passes out of nowhere is lovely to watch and he’s obviously incredibly talented. Applying his talents in the middle of a frenetic game is a skill he’s developing but not yet mastered but it’s still great to see him stroking the ball about when he does get the ball in advanced areas of the pitch.
Isaac Mbenza – 7 out of 10
As I mentioned earlier, he had to cover for Pipa very often which limited his ability to attack at times. This was somewhat compensated by Pipa’s excellent movement in the final third opening up more space for Mbenza to exploit when the both ventured forward. His crossing wasn’t always perfect and he didn’t ever look like scoring but he still helped carry the ball up field and made some nice runs.
Fraizer Campbell – 6 out of 10
Had relatively few chances to score but did a lot of running for his teammates and created the space for them to shine. I’ve possibly been too quick to dismiss this contribution Campbell makes but we missed him in the game against Cardiff and his return against QPR and our improved overall performance are definitely related.
Josh Koroma – 8 out of 10
I suspect Koroma is a bit of a confidence player, as when he’s up for it like he was in this game he can be very difficult to live with. His finish for the first goal was superb, even if the opportunity to strike at the edge of the box was somewhat gifted to him by an overly generous defence. He was a regular threat throughout the game and was playing with a swagger that comes from knowing you’re playing at the top of your game. He had a few opportunities to score again but either fluffed his lines or chose to pass when the shot was a better option. While he’s currently our top scorer, I still think he could be even more prolific with some better decision making in and around the box.
Substitutes
Juninho Bacuna – 6 out of 10
He’s the kind of player that you want to come on when you’re 2-0 up and bossing the game, as was the situation when he entered this game. Had some nice moments, particularly when he held the ball up in the corner in the closing stages of the game and received a subtle stamp from the QPR defender for being a bit too cocky.
Danny Ward – 6 out of 10
Didn’t do a great deal wrong and looked lively when he entered the game. While he wasn’t a massive threat on goal at least he gave Campbell a chance to rest his legs for the last half hour.
Rarmani Edmonds-Green – 6 out of 10
Looks at home in central defence and is likely to be called upon more if Schindler’s injury is as bad as it looked. Hogg seemed to drop far deeper to act as sweeper during those late stages which gave him a bit more cover and organisational help but if he starts against Sheffield Wednesday he’ll need to be able to fend for himself.
Demeaco Duhaney – 6 out of 10
Seemed to be deployed as a winger, which was a bit odd but was really just thrown on so we could run the time down a bit and Mbenza had run himself ragged.
The game was more comfortable from the moment CC got out of bed to see which trousers his mother had put out for him to wear. The sooner he is allowed to pick what he wears himself, the better. Oh, and the decision to stop playing tippy tappy shite at the back was fundamental. MOTM – step forward the mother and son combination of Senorita Corberan and Carlos!!!!!
It’s getting to a point now where I’m more curious about the trouser selection rather than the team selection before a game. This week’s results only add to the theory about Carlos’ lucky trousers. I only hope he’s stuck them on a boil wash last night and has them drying on the radiator now in time for Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night
Two cracking goals, it was all too easy – for a change. As mentioned the playing out from defence was sensible although QPR did not press as aggressively as many others have done and the fullbacks, especially Toffolo were a useful outlet for the unusually accurate distribution of Hamer; we even retained possession at least once from his long clearances. If we ever improve our passing stats when moving forward and creating opportunities someone will get a pasting. A pity about Schindler who had a really good game but his injury occurred as a direct result of him working over-time to compensate for his lack of pace. I will be interested to see Rarmani Edmonds-Green play a few games as he has pace and seems to be a much superior passer to Schindler. Roll on Tuesday and Wednesday, by Thursday we might be in sight of sixth spot!
Great points Beck. It was nice to not spend so much time dicing with death every time we played it out from the back.
Edmonds-Green looks like a top prospect and got rave reviews from his loan spell last season. He’s young though and won’t be the finished article yet, so I’m trying to keep my expectations down (despite him looking good in the few appearances he’s made so far).
Putting aside this nonsense about the colour of Carlos’ trousers – it is nonsense isn’t it, please tell me it is, I keep reminding myself that I’m not superstitious and now starting to doubt myself – I agree again with 90% of your summary this week.
Some key points for me:-
1. Let’s be honest, QPR weren’t very good! If Town had given a goal away like that one after just 3 minutes, I think I’d have thrown my laptop through the window.
2. Oh how we’ve missed Pipa! What a bundle of energy he is. And I don’t just mean he does a lot of (ineffective) running about like Campbell; he really creates danger and defends solidly too. He must stay fit.
3. I won’t say much about the 2 centre backs but it was good to see that both had recovered from recent very poor performances.
4. Toffolo I agree is extraordinary. He just keeps on doing it.
5. Like you I feel encouraged that the 3 midfielders did ok but didn’t have their best games and yet Town still won at a canter. There’s more in the tank from them.
6. The biggest problem yesterday was Campbell and then Ward. Different types of player but both equally ineffective. One runs around a lot to make up for the fact that he doesn’t score goals, has no pace, doesn’t win much in the air and isn’t even the best hold-up man in the business. The other we know from days gone by has some talent but seems incapable of getting involved in a match to show any of it! Maybe the key words are “from days gone by” and that he no longer has the motivation? I’ve watched a lot of football over the years and think I understand the nuances of subtle tactics but it really does defeat me when people say “Campbell is a necessary cog in the wheel to make the team work”. Please somebody explain. You expect your central striker to run about a bit to put defenders under a modicum of pressure; I could do that bit (well once upon a time I could); you don’t need to have much footballing skill to do that, particularly if you commit a foul when you finally get there. True some of Town’s crossing every week isn’t the best but a good natural striker can turn an ordinary cross into something. Campbell invariably arrives on the scene too late. There was even an incident yesterday in the second half where Mbenza had overshot with a corner, Campbell for once had dropped off and was there unmarked with a great opportunity to get the ball back into the danger zone, Town had loads of players in the box for the corner, and what does he do? He puts in what in rugby union is called a Gary Owen and in rugby league what Eddie Wearing described as “an up and under”; a ballooning high ball that is meat & drink to defenders. My head was in my hands. I’m prepared to be persuaded if someone can please explain exactly why Campbell is “an essential cog in the wheel”. Otherwise, in my book you lose nothing by throwing in the ‘young gun’ who didn’t even make the subs bench yesterday.
I seem to have said a lot when I started out by saying I agreed with most of what you said!
Thanks for commenting Simon, I always enjoy reading your thoughts on the game.
Campbell’s movement often makes space for others to score. He’s good at pulling into gaps that force defenders to decide if they should cover him or go to the ball. Eiting’s recent air of goals from the edge of the box are examples of this, as (from memory, so I might be wrong) Campbell forced the defenders to drop deep and that created the space for Eiting to shoot with fewer bodies around him.
Steven Chicken’s “5 conclusions” article on yesterday’s game has some more in depth analysis about Campbell’s contribution on this theme too.
Having said all that, he should be scoring alongside being a workhorse and three goals isn’t a great return considering the attacking way we play.