Huddersfield Town suffered a humbling defeat at the hands of fellow relegation strugglers, Stoke City. Our third consecutive defeat in the league was as bad or worse than the West Ham and Leicester games. We were comprehensively outplayed and struggled to get a foothold in the game.
It’s not going to be pretty, but here are my player ratings from the game…
Lössl – 6 out of 10
Following his poor short pass leading to a goal last week, he played it much safer with his kicking. While this was something many fans have been calling for, it meant we struggled to get time on the ball and couldn’t build up from the back.
He did make a great reflex save against Shaqiri just before half-time. But I think he went down too early for Diouf’s goal, making it easier for the Stoke man to score.
Malone – 5 out of 10
He spent a lot of time shouting and pointing at other players but didn’t contribute that much otherwise. He was regularly out of position but despite being too far up the pitch I don’t recall a good cross from him all game.
Schindler – 8 out of 10
Another game where he’s the obvious choice for Town’s man of the match. Despite the rest of the defence looking out of sorts he remained strong and made some great challenges. Stoke kicked him all over the place but he kept playing well anyway.
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Zanka – 4 out of 10
I’ve defended Zanka on this blog in the past but his performance was poor yesterday. His passing regularly missed the mark and he looked nervy every time a Stoke player ran at him. He admitted on Twitter that he needs to improve his game, so at least he’s aware that these kind of performances aren’t good enough.
Disappointing result, and performance today. Gotta improve personally …
— Mathias Zanka (@mzanka) January 20, 2018
Hadergjonaj – 6 out of 10
Like Malone, he was too far up the pitch when we lost position and our back line was badly exposed. Both goals came from Choupo-Moting breaking away down Flo’s wing after we’d pushed up. He did have a very good last fifteen minutes though and got into good areas and played some decent balls into the box. Too little, too late, but encouraging anyway.
Hogg – 7 out of 10
Did a lot of tidying up and closing down in front of the defence, as ever. He was one of the few players that pressed well when we didn’t have the ball. We need the rest of the team to show the same kind of fighting spirit.
Mooy – 5 out of 10
It was like watching an Aaron Mooy tribute act. He looked like Aaron Mooy and from the way he was playing you could see glimpses of the player he’s been earlier in the season but something was sorely missing. Whether it’s physical or mental tiredness, he just doesn’t look as sharp as he has been.
Mooy is the best player I’ve ever personally seen in a Town shirt. That doesn’t change after a few bad games, I just hope whatever is causing the problem can be worked out.
Ince – 5 out of 10
I thought his goal against Stoke in the home fixture would build up his confidence and he’d become our most threatening player. On current form, he’s about as threatening as a segment on the One Show about soft furnishings.
Like Mooy, Ince has proven that he’s got ability but we’ve not seen the best of him lately.
Pritchard – 6 out of 10
Stoke did a good job in not leaving any spaces for Pritchard to exploit in front of their defence. This meant he was only able to get onto the ball in wide areas, which limited his influence. He showed some nice touches and linked up play well. However, he wasn’t able to create enough and was subbed early in the second half.
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van La Parra – 6 out of 10
Marginally better than Ince, because he did manage to make forward runs and tried to get involved. He didn’t provide enough end product again though, so it’s hard to give him a good score. Not our worst player on the day, but far from our best.
Mounié – 4 out of 10
I think four is generous. The only positive I’ll say is that he’s saving the club money on washing detergent by not breaking a sweat during games. I’ve defended him in the past, but his body language was awful. The fans getting on his back from the stands is really not helping though. If he can’t hear the individual criticisms he certainly can hear the crowd singing our other striker’s name after every mistake he makes.
Substitutes
Sabiri – 6 out of 10
Had an opportunity to come on and make the difference. Didn’t take it. He looks like he wants more time and space on the ball than the Premier League allows him. Obviously, he’s a young lad and has time to improve, but a loan spell in the Championship might give him time to develop.
Quaner – 6 out of 10
Busy as ever, but wasn’t all that effective. He linked up well with Hadergjonaj and worked a couple of openings but didn’t cause Stoke too many problems otherwise.
Depoitre – N/A
Didn’t really get enough time on the pitch to make an impact. It was interesting to see him on the field at the same time as Mounié, but only because it proved that they aren’t all that good together. Neither seemed to be aware of the other’s position on the pitch and there were no signs of an understanding. It’s a reasonably tactical change when we’re chasing a game, but I doubt it’ll become our Plan A anytime soon.
Excellent Post. Really well written.