After a disappointing defeat to Cardiff on Tuesday night, Town have an opportunity to get back to winning ways against QPR this afternoon. We are up against a team that share many of Huddersfield Town’s characteristics such as playing out from the back, trying to play attractive football and often getting it all a bit wrong.
Like Town, QPR have both underperformed in some games and over-achieved in others, so the game is particularly hard to predict, much like Carlos Corberán’s team selections.
Carlos made five changes on Tuesday night in a bit to rest some tired legs and to give some fringe players an opportunity. Unfortunately the new additions to the lineup didn’t cover themselves in glory and I suspect the bulk of the changes today will be an effort to get the best available eleven on the pitch.
Goalkeeper: Ben Hamer
I was advocating for Ryan Schofield getting an extended run in the side prior to the Cardiff game but I wasn’t too disappointed to see Hamer return as he’s been OK this season so far. Barring injury, I think we now know Hamer will play the bulk of our games and Schofield will be his understudy. Maybe next season will be the one where we finally give Schofield a chance to be the first choice.
Pereira looks unlikely to feature much, if at all during his loan spell. Looking back, I wonder if the loan deal we agreed with Manchester United involved them paying the bulk of his wages, as that would make sense of why we signed a player that was coming off the back of a torrid time in Scotland last season and we didn’t intend to play very much.
Defence: Pipa, Edmonds-Green, Sarr, Toffolo
Carlos said that Pipa would be available for selection today if he made it through yesterday’s training session without any issues, so hopefully can come straight back in to the starting lineup. The poor performances of Bacuna and Duhaney in his absence mean we’re badly in need of the Spaniard as soon as possible.
All three central defenders made a mistake that led to a goal on Tuesday so it’s hard to know what to do with them. Schindler’s inability to track Moore for the opener was probably the most excusable error but he looked out of sorts all night and Edmonds-Green seems a lot more comfortable carrying the ball out of defence and I’d like to see him given a chance. Dropping Schindler feels wrong but putting sentiment aside and judging on recent form it might be the best move.
Sarr being left footed means he’s likely to continue despite his blunder in midweek as only Crichlow is a natural left sided central defender and Carlos has made it clear he prefers a lefty on that side. He’s also a commanding presence at set pieces and likes to carry the ball out of defence, so suits our system even if he makes the odd mistake. I’m hoping the recent mistake will encourage him to take a safety first approach when under pressure.
I was a bit taken aback when Toffolo was subbed on Tuesday as he’s very rarely taken off. But at the same time, he didn’t look at his best and may have been struggling with fatigue. I’d still play him today as the lighter duties midweek should mean he’s relatively fresh now.
Midfield: Hogg, O’Brien, Eiting
I’d say the experiment of playing Hogg as a sweeper failed against Cardiff and hopefully he’ll return to his usual task of ratting around in front of the defence when we’re out of possession and hanging back when we attack. Vallejo could be considered instead of Hogg but I suspect we’ll see him come on as a sub before he gets his first start.
O’Brien and Eiting should continue on central midfield despite neither shining on Tuesday. Bacuna and Pritchard’s injuries mean we’re a bit short of options in this area of the pitch but thankfully the best pairing are currently fit and will potentially get better the more they play together.
Forwards: Koroma, Campbell, Mbenza
Ward and Daly both came in to the attacking trident in our last outing and I suspect neither did enough to justify another chance to start. Daly was subbed after an uneventful half and Ward struggled to make an impact on the game despite playing the full 90 minutes.
I hope we bring in reinforcements to this area of the pitch in January but until then Koroma, Campbell and Mbenza are the best combination up top. The encouraging thing about Koroma and Mbenza is that while their form game-to-game goes up and down, there’s a clear and obvious trend of both of them significantly improving under Corberán. Even Campbell looks sharper and more threatening this season even if he could offer more in goalscoring areas of the pitch.
Well here we are again. Same old dilemmas. It’s very disappointing that so few, if any, players have taken the opportunities given to them and mounted a serious challenge for a starting XI shirt. Players like Duhaney, Schofield, Daly, even Danny Ward should at least make Carlos pause before he pins up his team sheet (do you think they do that anymore? Part of my culture was to check the school notice board on a Thursday to check you were in the team for Saturday).
None of these players have shone, barely even a glimmer from Danny Ward.
I thought Edmonds-Green showed his naivety for the 3rd goal on Tuesday, far too easily let the attacker go. So for that reason I’d stick with Schindler. He is a bit of a talisman. Otherwise the XI is the XI. I’ve got a horrible feeling that Pipa won’t be quite ready; then we really are in trouble.
I wouldn’t like to think I was picking the team for today. I felt for Ryan Schofield when he was dropped as he only let in one goal from open play in two games, but to be fair it should have been more !!!! I agree Hamer hasn’t had a bad season, but he hasn’t had a good one either. I felt Edmonds-Green had done enough to deserve a start against Cardiff, but didn’t do enough in that game to start today. O’Brien has nowhere near reached the heights of last season, or maybe it was because he shone like a diamond in the §h¡t last year – there is noone else who could take his shirt off him at present. Danny Ward is a waste of time so you’d have to go with Campbell although I’d love to see Kieran Phillips make an appearance (from the bench) at some point. Mbenza reverted to type against Cardiff but still deserves to start today. Lets hope Pipa passes a fitness test and that Sicknote Pritchard gets another note from his mum to say he can’t play.
Hi, I have two teams, one the same as you which I think is our best starting 11 at the moment with a toss up between Schindler & Edmond-Greern, My other team has a back three but I loose a forward player,I feel we need to stop conceding goals like we are doing & a extra defender would help with that, Schindler in the middle with E-G & Sarr who can both pass, we have to stop Hogg dropping so deep he is better slightly forward holding, the forward to miss out is mbenza sorry & I would play two upfront, I’m undecided which team as we are at home so it’s a bit negative but we are conceding a lot of goals & we can make it more attacking as the game goes on
good allround team performance today with some outstanding football and goals.the injury to schindler could well be a serious one and a massive blow given stearman is out for a good while.another tough game on tuesday and there is no respite in this division but carlos is doing a fine job given we are a work in progress.
I agree that the injiry to Schindler could be massive, but not sure what you have seen in Stearman to think that makes the situation worse. It is time for Edmonds-Green and Crichlow-Noble to fight for the shirt as they are both 21 now and if they are not good enough for big boys football we should then get ready to dip into the transfer market. Lets be honest, Schindler (love him to bits), Stearman (I would love to love him) and Elphick are not the answet and all past it and now is the time for Edmonds-Green and Crichlow-Noble to prove their worth – I think they may do. And can we buy a centre forward please – Danny Ward ia a waste of a squad number.
I agree about green and crichlow but shindler is certainy not past it and in this tough division neither is stearman. they will be missed no doubt about it but its a great opportunity for one of them or both to step up to the plate when fit.