There were reports earlier this week that Watford may be considering a move for Sorba Thomas after his impressive season so far for Huddersfield Town. The stats he’s been producing in the Championship, particularly in the first few months of the season, have been amazing and he’s also earned his first few call ups to the Welsh national team.
It’s no huge surprise that the former Boreham Wood player is generating interest from Premier League clubs and it’s possible several other clubs are keeping tabs on him. Here are a few of my opinions about Sorba Thomas and this rumour.
Sorba’s ridiculous start to the season
Prior to this season, Huddersfield Town have had a long standing problem with set pieces. Even in our promotion and Premier League survival campaigns we had a tendency to struggle to beat the first man. Sorba Thomas changed that at the start of this season when he started putting his corner and free kick deliveries exactly where Town’s big men would be attacking.
We scored a glut of set piece goals at the start of this season and even the corners and free kicks that didn’t lead to goals often either found their man or at least landed in a threatening area. I don’t think there’s any secret to Sorba’s dead ball technique (maybe the little stutter step he does?) but the key things are his accuracy, whip and speed of his deliveries that repeatedly cause chaos.
He’s not just a dead ball specialist though, he’s shone as a (very) attacking wingback. Despite his stated beat position being as a winger, he looks the most threatening when starting further back up the pitch. This is partly because it gives him more space to run into and also because it allows for an inverted winger to play ahead of him, to pull fullbacks out of position.
As you’d expect from a dead ball specialist, his passing in open play is accurate and imaginative; he often finds clever passes inside that open up opportunities to switch play to the other wing. He’s also pretty quick and has a few tricks up his sleeve to get past a defender.
A recent slump in form
Thomas has played in nearly every game of Town’s season so far, despite suffering from a late autumn slump in form. Given he was playing non-league football as recently as January this year, it’s no surprise that he has fallen off a bit. This issue was most likely exacerbated by the fact he continued to be selected to play despite clearly needing a break – injuries to an already thin squad meant we had few decent alternatives.
His performances haven’t fallen off a cliff but, until the last few games where he’s shown signs of improvement, he had a patch of regularly falling short of the ridiculously high standard he set in August and September. Dead balls weren’t arriving in the right area (possibly the coaching team’s obsession with hitting the near post), his first touch was too heavy and his decision making was suspect, crossing or shooting when the other option would have been better.
It’s to his credit that he’s kept plugging away through this tricky period and last weekend against Bristol he had one of his best games for months which would have included an assist were it not for a deflection on his cross for Danny Ward’s goal.
Sorba Thomas: a fan favourite already
Thomas comes across as a really nice lad and has quickly become well-liked among Town and Wales fans. His humble beginnings in non-league football appear to have made him more grounded than your typical footballer and he has a cheeky personality that makes him good value during interviews.
His dedication and work rate have been repeatedly commented upon by the staff at Town and he’s quoted as regularly putting in extra work to help improve his game. I suspect this dedication points to why he’s progressed so quickly since arriving at Town, having previously only experienced non-league training set ups, he’s made the most of the extra resources put into player development in the Championship.
There’s an edge to Thomas’s personality which means he’s frequently involved in incidents on the pitch and getting visibly wound up. Personally I think this is part of what gives him an edge and he needs this to get himself going. Winding himself up gives him that extra bit of adrenaline to push him forward. This has spilled out into petulant and silly bookings at times but he’s yet to see red, so clearly he can control his anger when needed and he mostly channels it into his game.
Is Sorba Thomas ready for the Premier League?
My honest opinion is that he could potentially play in the top flight but he needs more time before making the next step up. He’s shown at Town, and with Wales to a lesser extent, that he has undoubted quality. But he’s not yet played in the Championship for a full season, and has only been a regular starter since September. He needs to show he can produce over a longer period rather than just a few months.
The difference in quality between Championship and Premier League is huge and you don’t get the time and space Thomas needs to really shine. When he has played well for Town it has been because his pace has been able to take him past players and there’s been room in behind to exploit. He’s frequently struggled when played as a conventional winger, mostly because of the extra attention he is given and the fact he has to operate in tighter spaces.
One peculiarity of his game I’ve noticed is how he tends to like to look up and take stock before crossing the ball in open play. It’s often not a problem but occasionally means an opportunity passes him by because he took too long on the ball. Most likely this instinct can be coached out of him but most wide players don’t need quite as much time as he takes to make a choice when in the final third. Similarly, his touch occasionally let’s him down unexpectedly, possibly because he’s rushing himself and not concentrating on basics. These are things he’ll get better at as he progresses but he can be a bit raw and unpolished at times.
How much would Huddersfield Town take for Sorba Thomas?
I don’t have an inside track on the workings behind the scenes at Huddersfield Town but it has been widely reported that our current owner’s businesses have gone bust and the club is being propped up by the former majority owner. Despite assertions from the club’s hierarchy that everything is fine, it’s not yet clear whether we need to sell players in January to balance the books.
It’s possible that Town may take a relatively modest fee for Thomas, at least when compared to the typical excesses of Premier League transfer business. The fee paid to Boreham Wood wasn’t publicly stated but it will have been in the hundreds of thousands rather than millions. So selling him one year after we bought him for in the vicinity of ten times the fee we paid would be good business on paper.
Completely plucking a number out of the air, I’d guess any bid over five million would be taken seriously. I’d personally rather we kept hold of him for longer, let him develop further and potentially be worth even more in future transfer windows but football doesn’t always work like that.
Sorba Thomas has made no secret of his ambition to play in the Premier League but moving to Watford in January and straight into a relegation scrap isn’t the ideal environment for him to develop. I hope he stays with Town a bit longer and we only look to sell him when he’s closer to his full potential and therefore we get the best possible deal.
Sorba Thomas has been abysmal over the last month for Town.He improved last Saturday but that still does not make him a star player.He needs nurturing and looking after for at least the next two years with Town.If that were the case Town could then demand a far higher fee than 5 million.But I am afraid it is the usual story with Town “Britches Arse” attitude sell at all costs to line the pockets of the so called directors
Just like they did when we sold Lewis O’Brien to Leeds in the Summer – funny thing is he hasn’t played for them yet.
I don’t see him being anywhere near Premiership level at the moment, the difference between his best and worst games staggering, but there is undoubtable potential, his petulance as you point out is definitely an issue, he is too quick to feel aggrieved. He’s good to watch, I look forward to his development. He reminds me a little of van La Parra in the excitement and anticipation of something wonderful happening with the ball at his feet, except in his case almost nothing ever did in terms of goals and assists, Sorba has already out-performed him in the latter..
Actually Leeds Utd did not want Lewis O’Brien that’s the real reason he has not played for them.But you can bet your bottom dollar Phil would sell him now at any price due to his business going south
The coaching team have taken away his main weapon, i.e. dropping the ball on the penalty spot for the big players to score. Near post corners hardly ever work for Town so it just makes Thomas look bad when the ball appears to drop short. He is full of enthusiasm and guilty of trying too hard which is understandable given his relative inexperience. Also in this team, everyone is expected to do everything, attack, defend and everything in between. Thomas will have been brought up just to attack so having to defend as well will take time to learn. He is not ready for the Premiership (nor is O’Brien!) so it is in his own interests to stay at Town but he would be sold if the right (Any!!) offer came along and you couldn’t blame him for tripling his salary, even to just sit on the bench at Watford.