Huddersfield Town take on Shrewsbury this afternoon and will be hoping to extend their winning start to the season to four games in a row. Our guests this afternoon arrive in poor form, riddled with injuries and unfancied by the bookies but will still do their best to try to frustrate Town and give us a difficult afternoon. Michael Duff’s challenge will be to pick a team that will be able to break down and find a way through a team that may well set up to frustrate us this afternoon.
What a novelty it is to go into a game we favourites and expecting to see some decent football from Town. While playing Shrewsbury rather than a household name is the reality of being in League One, for now I’m enjoying the novelty of Town being a big fish in a small pond in League One after years of patronising underdog talk in the leagues above. The important thing is to not be complacent because Town have been in the position Shrewsbury will be in today often enough and we know how it’s possible for the unfancied team to take points when the favourite assumes they’ll breeze to victory.
Anyway, here’s how I think Town will line up today…
Goalkeeper: Lee Nicholls
Nicholls was frustrated to let in his first goal of the season with the late penalty against Stevenage last weekend but still hasn’t let a goal in from open play. He may well be in for a quiet afternoon if this game follows the form book. The biggest test will be of his kicking ability and how well he can move the ball quickly forward to launch attacks without having to resort to long balls.
Defence: Lees, Helik, Spencer
Brodie Spencer has made a few errors on the ball in the last couple of games, so it wouldn’t stun me if there was a change around in defence but I think the biggest issue is the lack of a natural left-footed option on the left side of the back three. Josh Ruffels is the only current option to play there and Duff doesn’t seem to fancy him, so unless we sign a new defender I don’t think we’ll make changes in this area. I’m not sure the other options, suchas Matty Pearson or Oli Turton would improve this area, so I think building consistency with this back three and hoping they improve with more game time is probably the right way to go.
Midfield: Sorensen, Evans, Kane, Wiles, Miller
Sorensen and Miller are both doing great work in the wingback areas, so are obvious selections. Miller has competition for his spot from Headley but he was roughed up by Stevenage last week and struggled to make an impact after receiving some physical treatment.
Evans was excellent against Peterborough but dipped a bit in a quieter game against Stevenage. Wiles was a bit quieter last weekend too but still managed to score a superb goal that was ultimately the difference between the two teams. Against Shrewsbury, I think it is important to have these two attacking midfielders on the pitch so we have as much creativity as possible. But I also think Herbie Kane should be brought in to add some passing flair in deeper areas, which means sacrificing Jonathan Hogg from the base of the midfield three.
Hogg is an important player for Town and is great at organising the rest of the team and keeping things tight at the back but he’s less influential when it comes to contributing to our attacking play. I would hope against Shrewsbury that we will be doing the majority of the attacking and the biggest issue is likely to be finding the killer ball to unlock their defence. Herbie Kane is the player in our squad that is most likely to find a pass that nobody else can find; even in his few sub appearances and the run out in the league cup, he’s regularly shown an eye for a pass that can release forward players.
I’m not sure this would be a wise midfield lineup to start with against Birmingham or Bolton, where we’d expect to be having to do a lot of defending but in a game where we’re expecting to be knocking at the door and moving the ball around a lot, selecting a team with as much creativity seems logical to me.
Attack: Koroma & Marshall
Josh Koroma opened his account last weekend with an unlikely headed goal. Not only was it the first headed goal he’s scored, I’m actually struggling to think of many times he’s successfully contested for a header full stop. So it’s nice to see him adding new skills to his armoury. I wasn’t expecting Koroma to have much of a future at Town under Duff but he’s applied himself well in preseason and forced himself into the starting eleven and deserves his chance to shine. I just wish he’d either stop shooting every time he gets the ball or, if he’s going to shoot from all over the place, score a few screamers to justify his decision to constantly back himself over better placed teammates.
The other striking position is a bit harder to predict. Danny Ward played alongside Koroma last weekend in another selfless, hardworking shift without a goal and with a presentable opportunity spurned. The standard Danny Ward performance. Rhys Healey seems like the most potent of our striking options but Michael Duff said that he only returned to full training on Thursday, so I’d expect he wouldn’t be seen as being fit enough to start the game given he’s a long-term injury risk. Callum Marshall put in a lively performance against Stevenage off the bench last weekend and, as Duff so eloquently put it, he wasn’t just chasing crisp packets either. I would like to see him started in this game as I think he’s got something a bit different that could cause problems for a team like Shrewsbury. The only problem is, I don’t think he’s got a lot of fitness, so he may have to be used sparingly and need subbing early in the second half.
Hard to disagree TS.
Let’s hope we start fast and get the early goal to avoid being frustrated.
I think keeping Spencer in is the best plan and I’m sure he will improve. Shame Balker is out and wouldn’t Nakayama be useful there.
Agree about Hogg, his performances seem to be splitting opinion, I’ve been a great fan and have huge respect but I think hes been poor and it is time to start using him more sparingly. Kane in today too.
Koroma I’m just over in a Town shirt perhaps somewhat unfairly. Poor decision making on the pitch, needs 8 chances to score, and will be one to fold if the going gets tough. Was high on my list to be cleared out tbh and replace the wages with a proper striker.
I really hope Healey gets fit and we bring in another option in loan. Marshall to start too for me.
I’d like to see Iorpenda the bench too.
Thanks for your comment Alex.
I agree with you that an early goal will make a big difference. If we score early then it could be a very one-sided game but if we can’t break them down then that will boost their confidence and the crowd could get frustrated. Having seen how we’re playing, I think we’ve got ideas on how to break down teams when they sit deep, so I’m optimistic we’ll be able to win today. (Not something I’ve said in a long time.)
Unfortunately Nakayama signed for a Japanese team fairly recently, so the prospect of him making a return has gone away for now at least. I would have welcomed him back given we need a ball-playing, left-footer. Then again, it’s hard to know how well he’ll come back after such a lot of injuries I suppose.
I think Hogg is really important to the team but we should try to use him more for the games where we need an organiser and a defensive presence in midfield. Today hopefully won’t be that kind of day.
Koroma has been hot and cold throughout his Town career, so it’s understandable that some fans are a bit fed up with him. I think there a some signs he could be approaching a hot spell. With him scoring last weekend, it could set him off on a run of goals.
Iorpenda is very unlucky to be not even getting on the bench. He’s had a great preseason but is the victim of League One only allowing seven subs and not nine, as we had in the Championship. Regardless, I expect he’ll start on Tuesday against Walsall, so he will get game time in the cups at least.
Lees has played on the left side of defence for the last couple of seasons so why not move him back there and move Spencer to right sided centre back…because he has looked uncomfortable at left side centre back.
That might be worth a try. Though hopefully we’ll sign a new central defender in the next week to strengthen this area and not need to play a right footer on the left side of central defence.
I largely agree with your line-up, but let’s face it, the team more-or-less picks itself for the most part.
I agree that Brodie could have been better at times, but he hasn’t been a diaster either so deserves to keep his place – he will only get better with experience.
The question mark really appears to be whether to be cavalier and drop Hogg or not. I would prefer to keep a line-up that has all bases covered but I really feel for Herbie Kane as he looks like he could tear Shrewsbury apart.
Danny Ward will always miss presentable chances, so I agree to start with Callum Marshall and play him until he tires. I would bring on Rhys Healey until he tires. I would say I would bring on Kian Harratt until he is a 🍆 and gets into trouble again, but chances are he will have done that before half time and I expect Marshall/Healey wont be tired before then, so on that basis Danny Ward can come on for the last 10 minutes.
I wouldn’t be too disappointed to see Hogg keep his place, I’m just eager to see more of Kane because he’s such a good passer and couldn’t justify dropping either of the other midfielders against a team that’s likely to sit deep and need all our firepower we can throw at them. Then again, if they’re as physical as Stevanage, we may need Hogg’s muscle to win the battle in the middle of the park.
When you consider all the options up front, there’s a but with all of them. He looks good but gets injured too easily. He can score brilliant goals sometimes but then goes missing for months at a time. He has potential but sometimes bets against his own team. But, but, but. I hope we can sign a striker that is just good without a reason he’s not so good straight after.
At the back, how can long will Duff continue with the Spencer experiment? There’s been little sign of it working.
In midfield, I wonder if Zaegar & Evans, sorry I’ve got ahead of myself, it’s not 2525, I meant Kane & Evans might prove to be like Lampard & Gerrard for England – both talented players but just don’t fit together? Today might be a good day to find out as it’s certainly going to be a day for creativity. Definitely a role for Iorpenda today as a sub.
And up front, Marshall must surely start and let’s see what he’s got. Your synopsis of Danny Ward is spot on – huff & puff, a few flicks & tricks, but can’t hit the back of the net. And with Koroma just being Koroma – mainly frustrating – let’s find out if Marshall has what it takes. If he paces himself up front but scores a brace from inside 10 yards, I’ll be perfectly happy.
I think I’ve seen enough of Spencer to forgive him the errors he’s made so far. I think most have been a result of getting tangled up on his unnatural side, which the majority of right-footed players end up doing when trying to play on the left side. He’s also in the team partly because most of the other defensive combinations would be painfully slow and havinng Spencer in the back three means he’s able to bale out the other two if they get caught out by a quick player. But he could do with a few decent games after a shaky start to the season.
I assumed that Kane and Evans had been signed as a midfield partnership and would be on the pitch together most games but so far that hasn’t been the case. Ben Wiles comeback has been a large factor in that but maybe they are too similar. We’ll find out over the course of the season but I think they’ll most likely both play most games once the team settles down.
I mentions in an earlier comment, all our strikers have question marks over them at the moment. It would be good to see one or two stake a claim for being first choice today with a few goals.
I think that opening para is a bit harsh!
To paraphrase the Roman joke, apart from 3 wins, two clean sheets and no goals
from open play what dod the back 3 ever do for us ;0p
We should really be trying to switch Lees with Spencer rather than changing either of them. Up front, I’m still unsure whether Koroma is good enough and would like to add another striker, hopefully Joe Taylor from Luton. Balker’s injury has left a gap in defence and we may be looking at a loan from a Premier League team, maybe until January.
Swapping Lees and Spencer might be worth trying to see if it makes the back line a bit steadier.
I’d like to see Joe Taylor come in too, though I just checked and he played 12 minutes off the bench last weekend for Luton so they clearly rate him. It might be that he’s forced his way into contention at Luton. Maybe if they sign a striker or two before deadline day that could change but it now feels less likely to come off than it did when the rumour first surfaced.
From France, Come on the Terriers !
Hoping for an offensive And pleasant match…..Maybe the Day of a great performance for Marshall ?
Thank you for your analyses….Good match 🟦⬜🐕
Thanks Bob!
You have to pick Spencer at the back , the other 2 are pace less . Midfield picked its self . Up front , light desperately require a 15 to 20 goal scoring forward . 👍⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️
U T T
I agree, Spencer’s strengths compensate for the other two’s weaknesses and vice versa.
Hopefully it’ll be a busy week next week in terms of transfer activity and we’ll all feel happier when the window closes.
Just reading your analysis and comments here – without having seeing anything on the ptich, doesnt inspire confidence.
Apparently vulnerable to direct physical teams, and to footballing teams, lacking reliable strikers and dominant defenders.
This is written at half time – leading 1-0 , but despite 77% possession – Shrewsbury have same number of shots and shots on target (6 and 2)
No great expectations for second half.