player ratings – Page 4 – Terrier Spirit

Mar52022 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

“The Chelsea loanee needs time to adjust” – Player ratings for Town’s 3-0 win over Peterborough

Matches

Huddersfield Town extended their unbeaten run with a comfortable victory over Peterborough United last night. While there were brief moments of fight from the visitors, it was an incredibly one sided game where Town dominated throughout. Incredibly, this win took Town into the automatic promotion places for the night. While Bournemouth’s games in hand mean it’s unlikely to stay that way it is still remarkable. Carlos shuffled the pack with his selection last night and once again managed to field a team that was more than up to the job of dismantling the opposition. I can’t think of a time in recent memory when Town have had as strong a squad available. Even in the promotion season we relied on a core of twelve or thirteen players and the rest were pretty average (sorry Harry Bunn fans)....

Feb272022 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

“He keeps playing well despite being shunted all over the pitch” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s win over Birmingham

Matches

Huddersfield Town achieved something incredibly rare yesterday: a straightforward victory. After putting in a defensive masterclass against Fulham and then coming from behind in the final moments of the Cardiff game, this game was far less dramatic with Town getting comfortably ahead in the game and then doing enough to keep their hosts at bay. It’s very rare for Town to win by more than a single goal so I feel like this result represents another step forward for this team. It was also another clean sheet to add to the tally, which the defence deserves credit for after withstanding a lot of Birmingham pressure in the second half. Here are my player ratings. Lee Nicholls - 8 out of 10 There’s a concept called the “hedonic treadmill” which states that whenever you hav...

Feb242022 by Terrier Spirit10 Comments

“His first touch just isn’t good enough for this level” Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s late, late win over Cardiff

Matches

Huddersfield Town left it late against Cardiff but eventually found a way to win a game that seemed destined to end in frustration for Town fans. Late, late goals from Koroma and Russell meant Town preserved their unbeaten run for another game and solidified their position in the playoffs, rising to fourth in the table. It was far from a perfect Town performance, with Cardiff setting up to defend and Town struggling to break them down and frequently giving the Welsh side opportunities to break against us. This is the kind of game we’ve regularly struggled to win, so even if the football was poor at times, it feels like a huge step forward to have won a game against a team that parked the bus. Here’s what I made of each player: Lee Nichols - 7 out of 10 Kept us in the game...

Feb202022 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

“Last season we had a tribute act and now we’ve got the real thing.” Player ratings for Town’s amazing win against Fulham

Matches

It seemed certain that Town's unbeaten run would come to an end at Fulham but after Town put in their best defensive performance of the season they extended the run to 15 games without defeat. Talk of a playoff push sounded fanciful around the New Year but Town now look like genuine contenders for the top six and have proven in the last two games that they can get results against the best teams in the league. The win against Fulham was a result of an all round team performance, where every player committed to the game plan and executed it with 100% energy. Every player deserves a good score after putting in such a massive shift so don't be surprised to see high numbers on these ratings. Lee Nicholls - 8 out 10 He made some decent saves but I most enjoyed his shenanigans when ru...

Feb132022 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

“It’s clear why he’s not starting many games” Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s draw with Sheffield United

Matches

Wednesday's 0-0 with Preston North End was a tedious affair but yesterday's goalless draw with Sheffield United was actually an entertaining game and both sides played some nice football. I think Sheffield United were just about the better of the two teams but Town had a perfectly good goal ruled out and a few penalty shouts waved away so both teams can be happy with the point. Even though Town didn't score, I thought we played some lovely football at times and the tactical tweaks made before the game meant Town were a different proposition and several players were able to put in excellent shifts. Lee Nicholls - 8 out of 10 Pulled off an unbelievable fingertip save to push the ball onto the post and then somehow cleared with his feet as he was falling to guide the ball...

Feb62022 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

“He may not play many more games for Town” – Player ratings for Town’s 1-0 cup win over Barnsley

Matches

Huddersfield Town qualified for the next round of the FA Cup by beating Barnsley 1-0 yesterday. It wasn’t vintage Town but they just about deserved the win and could actually have been more comfortable winners if they had been less wasteful in front of goal. It was a mixed bag in terms of individual performances, with some players really catching the eye and several not looking up to speed. Getting into the hat for the next round was the main objective and Town managed that, so there’s no use complaining too much. Here are my player ratings for the game. Jamal Blackman - 6 out of 10 Barnsley failed to register a single shot on target in the game, so there wasn’t much opportunity for Blackman to show off his shot stopping credentials. He looked good otherwise, with some decent...

Jan232022 by Terrier Spirit5 Comments

“Could be the missing piece of the puzzle” Player ratings from Town’s 4-3 win over Reading

Matches

Huddersfield Town came away victorious from a thrilling 4-3 encounter with Reading yesterday afternoon. The quality of football was mixed but the amount of action more than made up for occasional defensive lapses. Town gave away some truly horrendous goals but equally they attacked with verve and deserved to win despite frequent sloppiness at the back. I think this game was a bit of a one off, with the circumstances of the game lending themselves for Town taking an unusually bold, swashbuckling approach to the game. This season has been typified by a more cautious and defensive mindset but our recent inability to hold on to a lead and Reading’s obvious vulnerability meant it was sensible to have a really good go at them even though gifting them a way back into the game so frequently cle...

Oct312021 by Terrier Spirit11 Comments

“Gritty” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 win over Millwall

Matches

Huddersfield Town fought hard and came away with all three points in a fairly stale encounter with Millwall. Maybe it’s my blue and white tinted spectacles, but I think that Town genuinely deserved to win the game even though the ref missed a blatant penalty that could have seen Millwall equalise in the dying moments. Few players played badly yesterday even though the combination of their efforts wasn’t exactly sparkling football. In fact, Town were fairly ordinary for long spells but were organised enough to keep Millwall out and managed to score yet another set piece goal thanks to Sorba Thomas’ delivery. Here are my player ratings: Lee Nicholls - 6 out of 10 Had a horrible moment in the first half where he passed straight to a Millwall attacker but was bailed out by Colwill ...

Sep302021 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

“It’s impossible to not like him.” Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s win against Blackburn

Matches

I talked about Huddersfield Town being consistently inconsistent before Tuesday night’s game and that was how it proved, when they followed up two pretty dire defeats with a thrilling victory over a high-quality opponent. While it might not have been a perfect performance, there was plenty of effort and a fair amount of quality on display from the Terriers and that was what helped them secure the three points. It’s probably a bit late to be publishing a player ratings article two days after a game but a busy schedule and a desire to linger on a game that could prove significant to Town’s season made me write this article anyway. Lee Nicholls - 8 out of 10 He will have wanted to have done better with the penalty as he managed to get a glove to it but wasn’t able to get enough on th...

Aug292021 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

“Unplayable” Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 4-0 win over Reading

Matches

After a decent performance in the midweek defeat to Everton, I went into this game feeling positive about Town’s prospects but I didn’t see this result coming at all. Town dominated an admittedly poor Reading team from start to finish and fully deserved their emphatic victory. While Sorba Thomas stood out as the star man on the day, several other players were very good too and I can’t think of a single Town player that was under par. With that in mind, expect some high scores to follow… Lee Nicholls - 7 out of 10 Had very little work to do in terms of saving shots, with Reading limited to potshots from outside the box. However, he did come off his line confidently on several occasions, once cutting out a threatening attack with a clever header when he was outside his area. Calm an...