The mistake, the assault, tedious tactics, murderball, commentary and transfer rumours – Notes on Watford away

Huddersfield Town were beaten 2-0 by Watford on Saturday in a game that turned on a silly mistake by Ryan Schofield. The opener came at an unfortunate moment in the game and gave Town a mountain to climb against a Watford team full of quality players. 

It’s one of those games that you can find negatives or positives, depending on your disposition. Some fans will despair at Town’s lack of attacking threat and inability to put pressure on the Watford goal. Other fans, the dangerously optimistic ones, would point to how Town mostly held their own against one of the league’s strongest teams despite having to field a team full of untested backup players. 

The mistake

This was a game that was light on incident or drama, so the first thing to talk about is Schofield’s nightmare moment when he misjudged the weight of Vallejo’s (poor but not that bad) backpass and allowed Cleverley too much time to latch onto the ball. I feel really sorry for Schofield in a way but I’m also a bit baffled about how it happened. Schofield was looking at the ball and could see Cleverley’s run but still seemed rooted to his spot when taking a step forward would have made it simple to blast the ball to safety. I suspect it might have been a moment of slipped concentration or over-confidence.

The mistake couldn’t have happened at a worse moment really, as we’ve just sold the only other decent keeper we had to Swansea. The fact Schofield looked to have injured his foot in the same incident compounded the fragility of our goalkeeping situation. Schofield looked visibly rattled by the mistake but thankfully didn’t come under much further pressure and didn’t make any further errors. 

All goalkeepers make mistakes, particularly at the start of their careers and when they’re playing in a system that relies on them playing the ball with their feet a lot. So I’m not going to dwell too much on this mistake. It’s also worth remembering that Schofield’s last few games have involved him making saves that looked like certain goals, so on balance he’s still doing well. It’s just important now that he learns from this and doesn’t make the same error again. 

Watford’s boring but effective style of play

Watford’s front four were obviously full of quality but I thought their gameplan was a bit dull to watch if I’m honest. Every time they got the ball they constantly looked to probe our defence to get one of their forwards in behind. We mostly managed well with this threat and it made their attacks a bit monotonous, just constantly playing balls forward without a lot of thought or skill put into them. 

This may sound like sour grapes, but I genuinely think a team full of such quality and threat would show a bit more creativity rather than just hoping individuals can latch onto hopeful balls. The fact their goals came from a silly mistake and a defensive lapse to let in a decent cross makes me think we did fairly well, even if Watford ran out comfortable winners.

Deeney should have seen red 

The late tackle from Deeney on Bacuna was an absolute shocker and deserved a straight red. It looked intentional and nasty so I don’t see why he only received a yellow card. 

I find complaining about refereeing decisions tedious, so I’m boring myself writing about it. But I can’t talk about this game from a Town perspective without mentioning it. With both teams having eleven players it was very likely Town would lose but if the ref made the right call then we’d have been in with a much better chance of getting something from the game. 

It seems mad that the Deeney incident received the same punishment as Frazier Campbell’s first-half tackle where he didn’t even make contact with the player. Campbell’s yellow may be justified in the Modern game as he jumped 8nto the tackle with his studs up but it feels very harsh when Deeney’s assault on Bacuna is deemed a broadly equivalent offence. 

Is the Murderball training regime murdering the fitness of our squad? 

I’m personally a big fan of Calros’ dedication to ridiculously intensive training methods to try and wring the most out of a thin and limited squad of players. Yet it’s hard to not look at the current injury list and wonder if we’re taking it a bit far. 

Some injuries are unavoidable but a lot of the current list are the “soft tissue” type which come from being overworked or under prepared. Those players that are managing to survive the current regime’s training sessions are likely to feel the benefit in games when they can run longer and harder but too many aren’t up to the physical demands being placed upon them. 

The strange seasons we’re having adds extra pressure, the shorter post-season break, shorter preseason and ridiculously intensive fixture schedule all contribute to the issue. But we have around ten first team players injured at the moment so it must go a bit deeper than just the unprecedented season we’re in the middle of right now. 

On a more positive note, the players that we keep into next season won’t find it such a shock to their system when they return, will get a full preseason if things progress as planned and we *should* be one of the fittest teams in the league. There was a similar trajectory at Leeds when Bielsa arrived, so hopefully we’re paying the price now to see the benefit down the line. 

Town’s commentary team did a decent job 

Following the BBC’s decision to not send their commentary team to away games, the club stepped in and provided their own commentators. Director of Communications, David Threlfall-Sykes, and Director of Football (or whatever we’re currently calling it), Leigh Bromby, did a good job of covering the game. Both showed they’ve got a deep knowledge of the players and shared a few insights which the usual commentary team wouldn’t know. 

I’ve seen a few negative comments from fans online about the commentary but I don’t think they were deserved. Commentating on football games is one of those things that people think is easy until they actually try it. If you disagree try doing it for five minutes of the next game you watch without getting something wrong or saying something silly. Oggy makes it look very easy but it’s actually a skill that has to be honed over many years. On that basis I think David Threlfall-Sykes deserves a lot of credit as it would have been much easier to just leave fans to listen to Watford’s local coverage which would have been far worse.

I was anticipating having to try pause the stream of the match long enough to get it to sync with the Radio Leeds commentary that was working behind the live footage because they were having to watch the stream from Leeds themselves. In the end I didn’t bother because I was enjoying the Town coverage. 

Transfer rumours suggest new/old faces will soon be arriving 

Most Town transfers are rumoured online and in the press long before the signings are announced (usually with hours of hype followed by a video telling you their favourite kind of pizza and what they watch on Netflix), so it seems like there could be some substance in the rumours linking Duane Holmes and Richard Keogh to Town. Izzy Brown is another Town old boy linked with us but those rumours have died down lately. 

I’d be quite keen to see Duane Holmes return to Town as I’ve always felt like he was one we should have kept hold of. While he won’t help us out much at defending high balls into the box, he’s the kind of skilful, attack-minded player we need in the middle of the park. 

Keogh I’m less excited about but he’s experienced and of a similar calibre to Stearman and Elphick. These kind of underwhelming signings can sometimes work out to be the ones that end up doing well though, so I’ll keep an open mind if he does sign. 

The other persistent rumour is that Izzy Brown may return. I’d be surprised to see him and Duane Holmes arrive as they occupy a similar area of the pitch. It’s also not clear if he’s available as a permanent signing, loan or a loan-to-buy deal. Whatever the terms I’d like to see him back at Town after he played such a pivotal role in our promotion season.