Huddersfield Town are in Norwich today where they’ll be hoping to give fans the Christmas gift of three points but David Wagner and his band of former Town coaches will be trying to make sure that the Terriers leave Carrow Road with little more than a lump of coal in their stocking. To stretch this Christmas themed introduction to breaking point, Town fans are also still making their minds up about whether Darren Moore is on their Naughty or Nice List – with a growing number finding his style of football, uninspiring press performances and failure to register enough wins making him a prime candidate for Santa’s naughty list and an imminent P45.
A hectic pre-Christmas week meant I didn’t get time to do a dedicated article to reflect on the Millwall game, so I’ll share a few of my slightly stale ideas about that particular match below. On top of that, I’m going to look ahead to today’s game, with a team prediction and a closer look at our opponent.
And, if you click away before reading it at the bottom, Merry Christmas!
Thoughts on the Millwall game
Given it’s nearly a week since Town rescued a point against Millwall thanks to Bergzorg’s late penalty, I’ll bang on too much about the game. However there were a few talking points I wanted to cover as they may be relevant to today’s and future games.
Firstly, what was the game? I watched it and didn’t really know what to make of it. I was mostly bored and unimpressed with Town but I also saw glimmers of something too. Not much, but there were little passages where Town seemed to get more passing rhythm going and Jack Rudoni’s return gave the midfield a buzz and industry it has sorely missed during his injury layoff. He wasn’t at his best, which is understandable but he still lifted the team. But overall, I didn’t enjoy the match as Town still seemed to go to pieces whenever they went anywhere near the final third and it was two teams sorely lacking in quality.
Ward and Bergzorg seemed to both be operating on different wavelengths and despite now having a few games together and seeming to theoretically have complimentary styles – the grafter and the flair man- they never seem anywhere near each other on the pitch. But back to my earlier point, I couldn’t really work out how I felt about Town’s performance, better than some of their recent worst but still pretty poor. I looked at other reactions to the game and didn’t really feel like it helped make my mind up. Darren Moore’s comments seemed far too chipper and it worries me that he was pleased by such a lacklustre showing. But then again, on social media there were fans acting like the sky was falling in and it didn’t seem quite that bad either. I suppose a point away at Millwall is not to be sniffed at, even if our opponent was there for the taking and a decent Town performance would almost inevitably led to a victory.
One thing I thought was poor about the game was the squabbling over who should take the penalty. I always think it makes a team look ill-disciplined and lacking in unity when two players tugging at the ball, deciding who will take it like they’re back in the school playground. Given Town have a set piece specialist coach who’s literal job it is to sort out things kind thing, this should be decided ahead of time in a clear hierarchy and when there’s any question the captain should step in and make the call. I’m familiar with the argument that the person who is most confident should take it and Bergzorg certainly doesn’t lack confidence but the little performance between him and Thomas piled extra pressure on an already stressful moment. I hope Moore has addressed this during training this week.
Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Norwich
Darren Moore commented on how balanced his side was against Millwall last week which he seemed pretty pleased about. I think this was probably about as close as he’s got to naming a team that he actually wants rather than just cobbling together eleven mostly fit players.
The comment about the balance within the team hinted at Moore’s preference for how he wants his ideal team to look to. He liked having a left-footed centre back on the left of the three centre backs, and Nakayama also adds pace and ball playing ability to the defensive abilities that Lees and Helik obviously have.
The midfield trio of Hogg, Kasumu and Rudoni also compliment each other as they all possess things that the others lack. Rudoni is the creator and the one able to pop up furthest forward and score. Kasumu is a box-to-box player who can drive the team up the field, tackle and put pressure on the opposition on the ball, while Hogg is able to be the old man of the unit that keeps things organised and mashalls things from further back – though I have noticed under Moore he tends to play a bit higher up in midfield and doesn’t drop into defence as much as he used to under previou managers, were he would almost be an extra central defender.
The wingbacks of Headley and Thomas both provide pace down the flanks and have improved under Moore’s management. Headley tends to cut inside and Sorba is more likely to stay on the touchline when going forward but they do both like to drive fowrard and can carry the ball. Steven Chicken made the point in yesterday’s press conference that Ben Jackson may take Thomas’ role at right wing back to free him up to be played higher up the pitch but I doubt we’ll see that today as Jackson hasn’t been back in training for long.
I mentioned how I don’t think there’s a great deal of chemistry between Bergzorg and Ward in my comments about the Millwall game, but Moore clearly disagrees with me and he was talking up the partnership in the press conference for this game and it’s likely we’ll see this partnership persist. While I don’t think this particular pairing clicks, I do like that we’re playing a system that uses two strikers, as we often look a bit short of fire power with a lone striker.
Even though Ben Jackson and Kyle Hudlin are reportedly pushing for selection in today’s game after injury and Matty Pearson is a hard player to leave out of the starting lineup, I think we’ll see and unchanged outfield team today with the only change being Maxwell coming in for Nicholls, as he’s going through the concussion protocols for the bump on the noggin he received against Millwall. It’s so bizarre how Maxwell lost his place in the team and could feasibly never play for Town again after only one slightly off game but his time on the bench didn’t even stretch to a full game following an unfortunate coming together for Nicholls.
Providing there aren’t any other major injuries we might start to see a relatively settled best eleven start to emerge over the next few weeks and I think that can only be a good thing. Particularly if we can then add to that core with quality additions in January.
Predicted starting XI: Maxwell, Thomas, Lees, Helik, Nakayama, Headley, Rudoni, Kasumu, Hogg, Bergzorg, Ward
Norwich preview
Norwich started the season well, with a particular highlight coming when they thumped us 4-0 at the John Smith’s Stadium. But that was a high point that they didn’t manage to kick on from, and they went on a terrible run which saw Norwich fans calling for David Wagner’s head.
Against the odds, he’s kept his job and turned things around somewhat in recent weeks but Norwich haven’t stormed the division in the way I expected them to after they so effortlessly swept Town aside early in the season. They currently sit in 11th in the table, with 31 points, which is a fairly poor situation given the widespread expectation that they should be competing at the very top end of the division.
They are unbeaten in their last four games though with a draw against Ipswich last weekend, beating Sheffield Wednesday, drawing with PNE and beating Bristol City.
Player to watch: Jonathan Rowe
The winger is a Norwich academy product who has become a danger man for the Canaries this season and been a regular source of goals for them, scoring ten goals in 20 games so far this season. His pace and skill from the wing make him a difficult prospect and given Town’s defence often struggles with speedy wingers, he may be licking his lips at the prospect of today’s game.
David Wagner’s Norwich system isn’t so different from the way his Town team played, so imagine Van la Parra if he scored more and that’s similar to what Rowe can do. The only potential saving grace for Town is that his goal-scoring exploits have been spotted by a host of Premier League clubs and this distraction may put him off his game with the January window approaching. Or, knowing our luck, with scouts watching from prospective bidders, he may up his levels to impress potential suitors.
Score prediction: Norwich 3 -1 Huddersfield Town
Despite there being some signs of encouragement against Millwall last weekend, I think we’re still a pretty poor team and tend to struggle when we come up against the higher quality squads. While I do think we’re starting to make improvements, I also think David Wagner can set up his Norwich team to play in a way that we can’t cope very well with. They are aggressive and attack hard which makes it tricky for us to know whether to sit in and soak up pressure or push out and risk leaving gaps to exploit.
I don’t like predicting Town defeats, as it’s nice to look on the sunny side of life where possible. But realistically, even this inconsistent Norwich side have too much about them to be troubled by Town because we only really look like getting something from games when the other team give us opportunities and Norwich have a lot of quality and are in relatively good form.
Don’t be too down hearted about my gloomy prediction though. I am typically pretty wayward in my predictions, so by confidently saying we’ll lose I am actually doing my bit to improve Town’s chances of getting something from today’s game.
Merry Christmas Town fans!
Prediction
Lose 3-0
Moore is shocking
Completely uninspiring football from town. Not at all impressed by Darren Moore. Most town fans will take a point but it’s hard to see anything other than us getting soundly beaten.
I too am apprehensive about today’s game it looks like a defeat in waiting, we will be under the cosh as we invariably look second best regardless of the quality of our opponent.
Regarding last Saturday standing directly behind the goal is not my preferred view of watching a football match, but that is generally the lot of the away football supporter. This still did not prevent me from seeing that the basic skills were down to the usual standards, even our Japan international allowed the ball to crawl unnecessarily out of play on a couple of occasions.
It was good to see Rudoni back in action, he Headley and Kasuma were the only ones who looked convincing in their actions. As usual we looked second best on the field of play in spite of Millwall’s similarly lowly status. It was interesting to hear the locals on South Bermondsey station being critical of their team’s efforts whilst simultaneously belittling ours.
I didn’t spot the penalty area handball only the player’s instantaneous claims and the referee’s equally quick award. I thought it was a minor contretemps between Burgzorg, Rudoni and one other about who should take the penalty, although I agree with you TS that it should not have happened. Once decided, strangely, I had no doubt that he would score.
There is nothing more exhilarating than gaining a slightly fortuitous draw with a last-minute penalty; except when substituting win for draw.
This was not promising, I hope that Ben Jackson returns to fitness soon.
I am going along with Nickhudd. Norwich 3 HTFC 0. My hope is that I am proved wrong, both with my predicted score and the result, a loss.
As expected Norwich City 2 – 0 Huddersfield Town, we are just back to pre Warnock days, no heart, no flair, and a manager that doesn’t have a clue, he might be the nicest guy on earth but as a football manager he is totaly lost, we had the best manager outside the prem. and better than some in that div. and good old Town sacked him, that just shows what the yanks know about English football, it will be fun to see what happens in Jan. and I don’t mean Jordan Rhodes coming back, god forbid, some one should be on there way to Cornwall to beg Neal to come back and sort this mess out, wish all Town fans a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
👏