Huddersfield Town came away from the south coast with a point after drawing 1-1 with Brighton. It could have been a victory for the Terriers after Brighton had a man sent off around the 75-minute mark. But Brighton missed some big chances so it could have been a defeat.
Here are a few of my thoughts on the game.
A much better performance from Town
Last week’s defeat against Newcastle was disappointing because of the way Town played more than the result. We sat deep and invited the opposition onto us. Against Brighton Town were back to their aggressive pressing football and it made a difference.
Town played more like the home team, dominating the game with 59% possession and notching up over 500 passes in the game. There were a lot more chances in the game too. We managed to get players forward and with better finishing, we could have won the game.
A victory would have been good to settle the nerves, but it was a relief to see Town go back to playing positive football and it makes me feel optimistic about our upcoming games, even though it won’t be easy.
The high-press forced the mistake for our goal
Town’s only goal will be remembered for Shane Duffy’s misjudged back-pass going straight to Mounié, but it was our pressing game that forced the error. Alex Pritchard’s tenacity made Duffy panic, leading to the error. This relentless closing down was something Pritchard did consistently all afternoon and it helped Town win possession back.
It’s also worth commending Mounié for making the most of the gift he was presented. He was only in the position to receive the dodgy back pass because he was working hard to close down the opposition. Then he took a cool touch to get past the keeper and showed balance and composure to slot the ball home.
This was the kind of goal that Mounié wouldn’t have scored during his poor form following his injury. His attitude and work rate on the pitch has improved immeasurably and he seems like a happier player these days.
Did Wagner get the subs right?
Against Bournemouth the game was level at 2-2 when they went down to ten men. Then we made several attacking substitutes, threw everything at them, and lost the game 4-2. I think this bitter experience will have been fresh in Wagner’s mind when Town played against the ten men of Brighton.
At the time of the sending off, Town were on top and the players on the pitch were capable of creating the chances we needed to win the game. It was only very late on when Depoitre and Quaner were thrown on, to add a physical presence for set pieces.
I’ve seen some Town fans criticise Wagner for not changing things earlier on, but I think he made the right choice against Brighton. It’s easy to think the answer to all our problems is warming up on the touchline waiting to be given a chance, but sometimes it’s better to trust the eleven players already on the pitch.
The sending off incident
I’m a bit surprised that Hughton suggested the red card for Pröpper was harsh, it looked like a straightforward studs-up challenge that was an obvious sending off. It was the second time in two weeks that Town have had a player injured by a reckless opposition challenge, following Kenedy’s unpunished stamp on Kachunga’s ankle in the Newcastle game.
I wanted to talk about the sending off mostly because of the pass that led to the challenge. The whole incident only took place because of a terrible pass from Zanka to Hogg, giving Pröpper the opportunity to fly in with his studs.
I’ve defended Zanka’s distribution in the past this season, but to be effective in Town’s system he needs to improve his passing. He regularly gives the ball away or puts his teammates under pressure with wayward balls. He’s otherwise a great defender, with pace, strength and character but his passing is an area for improvement.
Something to build on
David Wagner mentioned in his post-match press conference that this match gives us something to build upon, which I’d completely agree with. We’re going to need to get more points on the board before the end of the season if we’re going to stay up, so we’ll need to keep performance levels high.
We might not have been perfect against Brighton but there was plenty of fighting spirit and little bursts of quality too. If we play like this for the rest of the season then I’ll be happy whether we stay up or go down because we’ve shown some fight. That’s all any Town fan can ask for at this stage of the season.