Huddersfield Town take on West Bromwich Albion this afternoon in their first game for eleven days, following the postponement of last weekend’s game against Coventry. It’s likely to be a tricky fixture, West Brom sit in midtable after drawing too many of their games so far this season but their team is littered with quality players and even though they are managed by Steve Bruce (who I have held a grudge against ever since his days in charge of Town) they should still provide a stern test for Danny Schofield’s men.
Speaking of Schofield, so far I’ve found his team selections a little bit easier to predict than his predecessor. He’s less inclined to make left-field changes and tends to prefer a settled lineup. Carlos liked to shake things up and tinker but Scoffa tends to stick with what he knows and I think that’s what we’ll see with today’s lineup. Tom Lee’s suspension provides some complication but other than that I think we’ll see business as usual.
Goalkeeper: Nicholls
Against Norwich we saw Nicholls really come into his own in the second half when he kept us in the game with a string of fine saves. He’s not been quite as imperious this season as last season but despite that he’s still probably our best player. Interestingly, Ryan Schofield has now joined Hibs on loan for the season, which means he’ll get a chance to build his confidence back up away from West Yorkshire, which is badly needed after a few nerve jangling performances in the last few times he’s played in a Town shirt. A good loan spell could put his career right back on track and remind everyone why he was selected for the England youth teams only a few years ago.
Defence: Kesler-Hayden, Turton, Boyle, Nakayama, Ruffels
I’m never sure if the wingbacks should go in the defence or the midfield. I suppose it depends on how deep they defend. Given West Brom have some decent attacking talent, we’ll probably be defending more than attacking, so I think they’re in the right place. It’ll be interesting to see how Kesler-Hayden stands up to a thorough test of his defensive abilities. All the traffic came down the other flank against Norwich so we’ve not yet seen him extensively tested.
Ollie Turton is likely to continue in his role as the right-sided central defender. Edmonds-Green might seem like the more obvious choice but he doesn’t seem to be fancied much at the moment, perhaps due to some of his sloppier moments he had both on and off the ball in Town’s early games in the season (though most other players had plenty of sloppy moments too).
I think Will Boyle will step in for Tom Lees in the middle of the back three as he’s the most similar available player in the squad. Somehow only 26 years old, despite looking at least twenty years older, he provides height, presence and leadership in the middle of the park which are the qualities we’ll miss most with Tom Lees sat on the sidelines. I have some concerns about Boyle’s ability on the ball he’s seemed a bit heavy footed in the fee times I’ve seen him so far. Hopefully that’s just him adjusting and he’ll improve in the area.
Yuta Nakayama has hit the ground running since he broke into the starting eleven. He is well suited to playing on the left side of a back three and adds a bit of class and quality to our back line. He’s got the ability to pick a pass, control the ball and dribble with it at his feet.
We’ve got problems in our left back area and I’m not convinced that continuing to pick Josh Ruffels is a smart choice as he has really struggled this season. However, I would give Ruffels one more chance in this game to prove he can compete at this level. If he continues to struggle then it may be worth going into the transfer market to bring someone in that can provide more competition in this area of the pitch.
Midfield: Thomas, Hogg, Rudoni, Anjorin
After Pat Jones came off the bench against Norwich and scored a stunning breakaway goal it would be tempting to give him a start in this game, particularly after Sorba Thomas has failed to set the world alight this season. But Jones is too raw to be thrown in from the start of games and Sorba Thomas is too important to Huddersfield Town to be dropped even if he isn’t firing on all cylinders. Most set pieces, counter-attacks, and conventional attacks go through him and while this reliance on Thomas is a problem we need to solve, I can’t see him being dropped any time soon, even if he isn’t hitting the high standard he set for himself last season. I think Jones is a huge talent but it’s likely he’ll have to keep impressing from the bench before he gets a start.
I love Jonathan Hogg and I’m delighted for him that he’s going to get to reach his testimonial this summer but I was still a bit surprised that we gave him a contract extension. I’d have thought that his season would have been his last for Town but the club must think there’s more running left in his legs despite his advanced years. I’ve enjoyed watching him play as a conventional midfielder alongside Rudoni in the last few games, where he’s playing higher up the field and winning the ball in more advanced positions. He’s also playing some decent passes forward at times, which goes to show you can teach an old dog new tricks!
Jack Rudoni’s mum followed me on Twitter shortly after the Norwich game, so I felt pretty rotten for giving him a 5 out of 10 in my player ratings article. In my defence, I’d given him mostly 8s in his previous scores l and I’ve been hugely impressed by the former Wimbledon player. He brings the creative spark to the middle of the park that we’ve been missing ever since Aaron Mooy left for Brighton.
I’m not sure that I could say that Tino Anjorin is actually all that good. He definitely looks like he might be good but he rarely actually lives up to the promise that he shows. But if he’s fit and available I would want him on the pitch just in case he puts it all together and lives up to his potential. He looks cumbersome and awkward a lot of the time but I feel like sooner or later something will click for him and he’ll be completely unplayable. Duane Holmes might be a (slightly) more reliable choice but I’d prefer to see Anjorin selected for the X factor that he carries.
Forward: Ward
Town have been linked with a striker for weeks but nothing has yet been announced so we can continue to whinge that we need a striker. Never mind that both of our strikers have scored a couple of goals each and look to be in good nick, as Town fans it is our right to complain that we need a striker in any given transfer window! In fairness, Danny Schofield did confirm in yesterday’s press conference that the club are on the lookout for a striker and by loaning out Phillips to Morcambe we now only have two proper strikers on the books. Ward is still the first choice and Rhodes the understudy but that order could be flipped if Ward was to have a dip in form or if Rhodes started scoring from the bench.
The back 5 doesn’t instil confidence. Our success last season was built around a solid defence. Ruffels is not as good as Toffolo and Kessler-Hayden is unknown but has started well and shown promise, potentially a good signing. In the centre Pearson, Lees and Colwill/Sarr were solid with a mixture of experience, height and doggedness. Whilst Sarr was error prone I would have retained him because I think he scored more goals than he conceded and, so far, looks better than Boyle. Nakayama appears to be a good signing and is flexible enough to replace Ruffels. It is unfortunate that Pearson is injured and Lees is suspended and I feel that Turton and Boyle look suspect.
We appear to be signing Luke Mbete on loan from Manchester City but he is only 18 and could be too little, too late.
Can’t argue with your points about our defence. We’ve also been linked with Helik from Barnsley who has bags of experience at this level and would be a quality signing. We’ll have to see what happens in the next week.
I would be happy with Helik. He has performed well against us in the past and is the type of central defender we need.