“Superb” Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 4-1 victory over Swansea (better late than never!)

Where did that come from?! Huddersfield Town managed their first victory of 2021 in their best performance of the season at a time when they seemed to be in terminal decline. While the three points are incredibly useful, the win could mean even more in the context of this season, as this result should help boost the Terrier’s badly dented confidence and provide a template for them to follow in future games. 

While some of the ongoing problems at Town were evident in the first half, a breathtaking 10-minute spell at the start of the second half led to Town being comfortable winners even before an unlucky injury reduced the Swans to 10 men for the closing stages.

Here are my ratings for Town’s players. 

Ryan Schofield – 5 out of 10 

He was lucky to be bailed out by Sarr’s headed clearance off the line in the first half but probably should have done better for the free kick. Having Inch High Private Eye and Penfold from Danger Mouse as the wall didn’t help matters, and the target on Schofield’s near post was too tempting and he didn’t position himself for a near post shot despite the tiny wall making that the most obvious destination for the free kick. More generally, Schofield doesn’t inspire confidence and looks like he’s feeling the pressure. I’m hoping what we’re seeing is the process of him adjusting to goalkeeping at this level and there will be a gradual improvement. If that improvement is too slow then he may find himself losing his starting position. 

Pipa – 6 out of 10 

While he wasn’t bad, he wasn’t one of the stand out performers on the day. His pass to pick out Campbell’s clever movement for the opening goal was admittedly very good. I’d like to see a bit more end product like that from him as his runs often end with him getting crowded out and failing to break through the lines. 

Alex Vallejo – 8 out of 10 

This was the best game yet at Town for Vallejo and he took a lot of work off Sarr by showing for the ball and playing some intelligent long passes to start off attacks. He’s so comfortable on the ball and this helps us a lot when the opposition press high as he can cope with the pressure. I prefer him in this centre back role rather than defensive midfield and hope we’ll see more of him as the right side of a back three. 

Keogh – 6 out of 10 

Steady without being spectacular, which is just what we need from him. There’s nothing much more to say but that’s fine because he did his job without any fuss. 

Sarr – 6 out of 10 

As mentioned, he had a bit less work to do with the ball at his feet because Vallejo brought the ball out of defence often too. His goal line clearance stopped the game going in a different direction and he was very strong in the air. I don’t remember any huge blunders, which suggests he might be overcoming the nasty habit he had of messing something up in every game. 

Rowe – 8 out if 10 

Despite being on the fringes of the squad for a few seasons, these last two games have established Rowe as a genuine option in the first team and its unexpectedly come in he left wingback role. While he’s obviously more comfortable on his right foot, I’ve been pleased to see him willing to have a go with his left. I think his left-footed cross to Pipa in the build up to Campbell’s goal was most likely accidentally overhit, the fact he put that ball in ultimately led to a goal. His through ball for Holmes’ first goal was exceptional, dissecting the defence and perfectly into the path of his teammate’s run. We hoped that some of the youngsters would break into the squad and make an impression this season and it seems so far that Rowe could be one of those players. 

Jonathan Hogg – 7 out of 10 

I liked seeing him a bit further forward and more in the heat of the midfield battle rather than hanging back and dropping between the centre backs. He read the game well and provided a platform for Bacuna and O’Brien to get forward and attack by doing the dirty work for them. 

Lewis O’Brien – 9 out if 10 

My pick for man of the match in a game where there were plenty of contenders. This season it’s felt like watching a Lewis O’Brien tribute act but in this game we saw the real deal. Early on he made one do his customary misplaced 5-yard passes but after that he barely put a foot wrong. He seemed fired up and covered every balde of grass. He was unlucky to not get an assist when he was given offside for being off the pitch but he was involved on the build up to most of our quality attacks. His goal involved a fortunate deflection but Frank Lampard made a career out of scoring similar deflected goals. O’Brien’s celebration was the most intense one I’ve seen since Kachunga broke his dry spell last season, he looked incredibly happy to have scored and I hope this might give him the confidence to go on a bit of a scoring run now. Besides the goal, he was the driving forces behind our forward play and still managed to be a pest when Swansea attacked with his endless running. This should be the level he attempts to achieve in every game. 

Juninho Bacuna – 7 out of 10 

He came close to scoring on several occasions and used his swagger in the right areas for the right reasons. While his performances fluctuate from game to game the overall trend has been upwards over the last few months and he seems to be playing for the team more than for himself (barring the odd abberation here and there). Bacuna always seems to be a better player in games where we play well, which is a compliment and an insult at the same time. Against Swansea he combined nicely with the other attacking midfielders and forwards and looked a real threat. When we play poorly he often dissappears from the game but in this game he looked sharp. 

Duane Holmes – 9 out of 10 

After a few underwhelming games he really showed what he is capable of in this game. The second goal seems likely to win our goal of the season award unless something more spectacular happens between now and May. There have been signs of him linking up nicely in the left hand channel in previous games and that was the area he looked most dangerous, when interchanging with Rowe and O’Brien. I would have preferred to see Keiran Phillips playing alongside Campbell but Holmes playing in a deeper, number ten role was superb and improved the players around him as well as grabbing some glory for himself. 

Fraizer Campbell – 8 out of 10

After becoming a whipping boy during his recent slump in form he is now showing his worth to the team once more. He stabbed home the disallowed goal well and his goal might have been a scruffy shot but the cleverness of his movement to open up the passing lane for Pipa deserved to be rewarded with a goal. He also created chances for his teammates by moving around defenders by drifting into spaces and making smart passes. 

Substitutes – 6 out of 10 

I’m not going to give individual scores for the subs becuase they came on at a time when Town were 4-1 up and Swansea were down to ten men. Despite the three goal cushion and the man advantage, the message from the bench was clearly to kill the game off rather than try to score more goals. 

This abundance of caution was probably the right move as the fragile confidence of the team could have been shattered by a couple of quick counter attacks by Swansea. It’s possible we could have blown the lead if we’d been too open given how commonplace defensive collapses have been for Town this season. So the substitutes jobs were to allow some of the starting eleven a rest and to keep the closing stages uneventful, which they all contributed to effectively.