After Town fell to a punishing loss to local rivals, Bradford City, last weekend, we’ve now got to pick ourselves up and go again this weekend against Burton Albion. While the defeat to Bradford will leave a sour taste for a long time, this weekend’s game is a first opportunity to put things right on the pitch and to show how serious we are about achieving promotion this season.
Burton look like they shouldn’t be too difficult an opponent on paper but they took four points from us last season, including a 3-0 beating back in the dark days of April, when Town were in freefall. Hopefully we’re a better team this season but this is the kind of game that could easily catch us out. They’ve a canny manager in Gary Bowyer and aren’t likely to roll over and let us tickle their tummy in this match.
Here are a few of my prematch talking points…
Will we get a response from Huddersfield Town?
After a limp and passive performance against Bradford last weekend, it feels important that we see a noticeable response from Huddersfield Town this weekend. Winning this game is important in terms of picking up points but the way we play will be just as important. We’ve seen glimmers of what this team can achieve in patches so far this season but we’ve not yet seen a completely convincing 90 minutes yet.
I’d like to see Town really have a go at this game and to play like a team that wants to secure one of the two automatic promotion spots. Even though Town have lost three games so far this season, our lack of draws means that we’re still not far from the top of the table. The problem is we just haven’t looked like a dominant team so far. I’d like to see some signs of that in this game.
Burton Albion shouldn’t be underestimated but equally, we should go into most League One games intending to impose ourselves on the game. After last week’s no show in Bradford, I’m hoping this game will be the start of Town looking more like the team we’ve been promised.
What can we expect from Burton Albion?
It’s been a poor start to the season for Burton, with just four points collected from their opening six league games. After beating Mansfield on the opening day of the season, they’ve failed to win since in the league. They managed to draw 0-0 with Port Vale but have lost to Barnsley, Stockport, Lincoln and Luton. On paper, this suggests they’re not much of a team.
It looks like another season of struggle is ahead for Burton and survival is probably their main ambition. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be tricky opposition. Garry Bowyer, their manager, said in his pre-match press conference that he believes he has a team that are not far away from being a “really good team”, so it will be interesting to see if their league position and recent record doesn’t tell the whole story.
Bowyer also pointed out that his team have been performing better in terms of possession this season but it has hampered their ability to counter attack. If he watched Bradford pull us to pieces on the break last weekend, I suspect he may revert to a less possession focussed approach in this game.
Can we put in a good first half performance this time?
When the season is just a few games old, odd patterns can appear that will quickly disappear when there are more matches played and a bigger sample size of games to look at for trends. One of these early season trends that hasn’t gone away has been Town’s tendency to struggle in the first half and to improve in the second. Will we see that again in this game?
Sometimes it’s the tactics, other times the selection and occasionally it’s just good play by the opposition but whatever the reasons, we need to improve our first half performances. It doesn’t feel like a good strategy to hang in games for the first 45 minutes in the expectation that our strong bench and decent fitness levels will help us win games late on. Obviously, it’s good that we are tending to finish strongly in games but last weekend it was for nothing because we lost the first half 3-0.
If I was Lee Grant, I would think deeply about what is happening at half time in these games to swing the momentum back in our favour and look to make those changes during the first half, rather than waiting til half time. It’s so common these days for tactical injuries to occur so coaches can give a quick team talk. I think we should look to use this strategy to tweak things when issues and opportunities are spotted rather than waiting until the half time break.
Are Town on the brink of crisis?
Town are only two points off the top of the table and would be topping the league if they’d have beaten Bradford last weekend. However, the response to the defeat to Bradford online felt more like the sky was falling in. I can kind of see why.
Obviously, it hurt more because we lost to local rivals and a team that’s currently at the top end of the table too. But it was more the manner of the defeat and the expectation levels that have been set for Huddersfield Town this season. Town’s sloppy and lethargic play against Bradford was nothing like the “Northern Football” we’ve been promised.
The worrying thing was that it’s the third time we’ve taken a huge away following to a game and then the team have drastically underperformed. The fact Bradford, Barnsley and Blackpool all start with a B may just be a coincidence but we’ll see how we fare against Burton before conclusively ruling out that the letter B could be this team’s Kryptonite.
So I think crisis may be an exaggeration but I think there are hints that something isn’t clicking for Town at the moment. When you consider that the Peterborough game was one we could easily have lost due to a mostly poor showing, we’ve not looked good for a while now. That’s why I highlighted the need for this game to show a statement of intent from Town as much as needing a result too. Another faltering victory wouldn’t be enough to settle nerves and anything less than a win would hint that things aren’t quite right.
I might sound overwrought in this section but to put Town’s start to the season in context, Birmingham lost three games all season last campaign and we’ve matched that figure by mid September. If we’re serious about going up automatically we can’t afford to keep losing games. We also need to start playing like a team that is an automatic promotion contender.
TS – thanks again for the talking points – pertinent as usual.
Surely its the defence that needs sorting out? Four clean sheets earlier and now total collapse.
The defence the defence the defence. If you haven’t got a defence you will not et promoted. That is the platform form which all else follows.
As a contributor to FLW puts it :
” Cardiff owe much of their current double-figure goal difference to the performances of their rearguard, who have racked up five clean sheets in seven games, with Nathan Trott leading the individual way in terms of shutouts, save percentage and a remarkable xG prevented of 4.0.”
https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/the-big-huddersfield-town-red-flag-lee-grant-must-sort-it-could-decide-promotion-dream/
You want them to try to be dominant from the outset. But what does that mean – they seem to want to keep possession – but how does that work in the transition either way between defence and attack, – and when they are playing counterattacking sides or possession- based sides?
It’s hard to disagree with AndrewB about the defence, but when you’re playing at home against the likes of Burton Albion, the defence ought to be barely getting a kick!
For me it’s about central midfield and out wide. Get control and create. We now have proven goalscorers but they are barely getting a sniff. If needs be, don’t be too subtle and let Kasumu run at a defence and those around pick up the scraps he’ll create. Castledine can provide the subtlety.
Out wide, the left is easy – Alves. No place for Roosken. The right is more problematic but a combo of Harness and Sorensen, if they can work in tandem, ought to be a threat.
May starts and hopefully gets an early goal. 60 minutes, on comes Taylor and runs them ragged.
Easy game!
I’m sad to put a dampener on things but I don’t get this better in the second half issue. Bradford were 3-0 up and so will take it easy in the second half. I think this is the reality rather than us playing better and has been the case in other games.
Are our plans a little naive? Is team selection based on saving the best (players) until last ?
I think there are more problems than simply a half game issue. We also don’t always need to use every sub. Pick the best team and play them from the start. We have lots of players to choose from so those not picked need to shine more in training.
Thanks as always for your insight TS and of course your humour !