Huddersfield Town host Millwall tonight and will be hoping this game will be a chance to stop our three-game losing streak. Having beaten Millwall once already and the Lions currently being on a poor run of form themselves, this game isn’t as daunting for Town as it might have looked when the fixtures came out.
Carlos Corberán was forced to field a weakened team against Watford at the weekend due to a glut of injuries but the arrival of Richard Keogh and others returning from injury mean we’ve a few more options available this evening.
Here’s my predicted lineup…
Goalkeeper: Schofield
After his blunder at the weekend, he’ll be hoping for an uneventful evening tonight. I’m confident that he’ll have learned from his mistake and any dodgy looking back pass will go directly to Row Z without any fuss. While there’s not escaping the fact that he made a costly error against Watford, he’s also pulled off some remarkable saves already in his brief time as our first choice keeper, so on balance he’s doing OK.
Defence: Pipa, Keogh, Sarr, Toffolo
Both Toffolo and Pipa were pinned back at the weekend by Watford’s wingers that played more like two additional strikers. They’ll probably have fewer defensive responsibilities against Millwall and will be more free to push up field.
I hope Richard Keogh didn’t look at the replies to the tweet announcing his arrival at Town yesterday or he will have seen he has a lot to do to win over his new club’s fans. He’s unquestionably not a “sexy” signing that will set pulses racing but he is very experienced at this level and is deemed to be ready to slot straight into the team.
The incident he was involved in that left him badly injured and sacked from his £24,000-a-week contract didn’t cover him in glory and I can understand why many fans are struggling to overlook his involvement. I’m not sure how I feel to be honest. Everyone makes mistakes and he wasn’t the most culpable person involved but he made a big mistake by letting teammates drive while drunk particularly as he was the captain at the time. I’ll back him now he’s a Town player but if it was me making the decisions I’m not sure he’d be on my list of players I’d want at the club.
Naby Sarr has recovered from his knee niggle and will go straight back into the team. He’s such a key player for us that we really miss him when he’s not there despite Crichlow doing fine as his replacement. Having someone with Keogh’s experience alongside him may help him and curb his tendency to try and do too much with the ball in dangerous areas.
Midfield: Vallejo, High, O’Brien
When Carlos was asked about Watford’s opening goal after the match he looked frustrated and replied that he had instructed his players to avoid passing back to the keeper because Watford were looking to press us hard whenever we did this. So it seems that Carlos blames Vallejo for the choice of pass more than Schofield for the lapse in concentration. I thought Vallejo was otherwise pretty good though and looked solid so I think he’ll keep his place. As tonight’s centre back pairing looks likely to have a good bit more experience I think Vallejo may be encouraged to play further up field in his preferred role as a defensive midfielder.
Lewis O’Brien was linked with a move away from Town in the Sunday papers but it seems like there wasn’t much substance in these stories beyond the fact that any of our players could leave if the right offer comes in. The bigger concern with O’Brien is his poor form and errant passing. While most players have progressed under Corberán, so far we’ve seen a regression from last season’s player of the year. I still rate him highly but just want to see a bit more from him.
My wildcard prediction is that Scott High will get the nod in midfield after a high-energy (pun intended) cameo off the bench at the weekend. I liked the look of him and felt his presence added some much needed tempo and drive to midfield. My only issue with him isn’t his fault but whenever he’s mentioned I can’t help singing his name along to the sound of the stoner chart topper, ‘Because I Got High’ with the lyrics changed to ‘Because He’s Scott High’.
Apologies to any Town fans that will now do the same whenever they hear his name.
Forwards: Bacuna, Campbell, Aarons
Bacuna is a useful option because he can be played in a variety of positions, so I’ve picked him as a winger but it could be elsewhere he actually plays. He had a few decent shooting opportunities against Watford that he didn’t make the most of and his goal tally isn’t amazing this year for the number of games he’s played. Playing further up field may free him up to get into goalscoring positions more often and hopefully see his tally improve.
Fraizer Campbell now has a bit of competition for his place from Danny Ward or at least has someone to share the duties of being the central striker. He deserves to keep his spot tonight purely on the basis of his workrate but I suspect he’ll make way for Ward as soon as he shows any signs of flagging.
I’m not sure if Rolando Aarons will be fit enough to start another game so soon after Millwall. He looked knackered before he was subbed at Watford but may have enough to at least play some part. Mbenza is likely to be on the bench and will surely be thrown on to relieve Aarons fairly early in the second half.
Substitutes
I’m not going to try to pick the whole bench but I have a feeling we might see more players coming off the bench tonight and being used earlier in the game too. In recent games we’ve had particularly weak looking benches, lacking in players with enough quality to change the game in our favour. Tonight I think we’ll have a bit more on the bench in terms of decent options.
As I’ve already mentioned, I think Danny Ward and Isaac Mbenza will come on at some point as part of their returns from injury. Alex Pritchard is another player not fit enough to start but expected to make the bench. He continues to be linked with moves away from the club so may not be risked or, alternatively, may be given a chance to put himself in the metaphorical shop window.
Then players like Rowe and Crichlow will be hoping to get back into the team after not doing much wrong against Watford. Crichlow in particular is a bit unlucky to lose his place in the lineup if he is dropped but it’s hard to argue that he’s a better option than Sarr on the left side of central defence despite his decent showings in his two Championship games so far.
Not a bad team selection if he started with that It would be ok but I would start with Pritchard instead of High, we have severely lacked a play maker in that forward midfield roll over the last few games, if he is fit enough for the bench start him then replace with High early second half, as he is in the shop window it could work for all parties, either Rowe or Bacuna on the right could be another change as neither deserve dropping but agree with bacuna as he can drop into the right back position to cover pipa a tad better than Rowe, our squad is badly lacking numbers & experience so the signing of keogh is badly needed & like you l’m willing to give him a second chance & hope it pays off
The changes that I expect to your team are Bacuna for High and Mbenza on the right for at least part of the game. Over the years footballers have done much worse things than Keogh but there wasn’t the media attention then so nothing was said. Players used to be partying the night before a game but nothing was said and it was almost par for the course. If you want names there was Best, Worthington, Greaves and many many more. So Keogh made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. That’s all in the past so as long as he performs on the field, that’s all that matters.
Franky’s weakness (as he told me himself) was ladies – not alcohol!
And, talking of players we are missing desperately – Schindler deserved a mention. Our defence has sprung a leak since his injury. It will be a great shame if we don’t get to see him again and to thank him properly for his loyalty to the club and his fantastic contribution to our history.
There are people in and around the club who don’t seem to value him enough. I think that is a great shame and it will be a blot on our fans excellent record of always valuing the clubs legends if he leaves without our proper recognition.
I’m with you, Gavin. Schindler has been a class act, perhaps of late not quite up to his own very high standards of a few seasons ago but nonetheless has remained an important player.
I’m in Suffolk, not in Yorkshire, but if the weather forecasters are anything close to being right, the match will be postponed!!
I like your tweak to add High.
Let’s see how CC’s does.
The final whistle has just blown. If I read one person coming on here and say “UTT”, “we’re doing ok”, “it was a difficult pitch” or anything remotely upbeat after the absolute rubbish we’ve seen tonight, well I shan’t bother contributing to this blog anymore.
Quite right Simon, utter rubbish, we dont do anything in the final third, as Matt Glennon said in comentary
“their goalie could have been sat in a deckchair with a pint and a cigar for all the trouble we gave him”, we want another Aaron Mooy and Jordan Rhodes, and any German to take a penalty, and waiting for summer just might be too late, but please lets not talk about getting rid of the manager, its the players who are not up the mark,
Its as if they are holding two fingers up to the fans, the manager and the club, the next couple of weeks will tell us where we are going.
A kindred spirit, David. The summer will be too late. The position we are in in the league is a false position. We are far worse than that. Why on earth doesn’t somebody within the Town hierarchy see that without a creative midfielder and a striker who can actually strike, we are going nowhere fast. Or if we are going somewhere, look down, not up!
A stunned silence from Terrier Spirit and from all the normal contributors. Yes the Millwall debacle really was that bad! I’m so glad to have a weekend off.
I couldn’t bring myself to blog about the Millwall game it was so bad. I don’t think there really was much to say apart from it was awful and hopefully a one off.