Elias Kachunga was announced as Sheffield Wednesday’s latest signing today. Prior to his release last month, he had been a Huddersfield Town player for the last four seasons.
I thought it might be interesting to put forward a Huddersfield Town fan’s point of view on what kind of player Elias Kachunga is.
The best things about Elias Kachunga
My favourite thing about Kachunga is his work rate. He’s a player that puts maximum effort into every game. This means he closes down well, makes runs into the box when the other winger is attacking and generally puts himself about.
Kachunga is also a good character to have around the team. He’s always smiling, having a laugh and lifting the morale of his teammates. This is easy to do in good times but he showed real professionalism during spells when poor form or injury kept him out of the first team. He remained a positive influence on the squad when others were disrupting things and showed a genuine bond with the fans.
When it comes to attacking, Kachunga’s main strength is his ability to drift into good positions and get on the end of chances. Despite not being tall, he scored quite a few headed goals in our promotion season because he made smart runs and knew where the ball was going to be played.
He arrived in Huddersfield as a central striker but soon was converted into a right winger. He can play either position but looks best out on the wing, particularly when used as an inverted winger/inside forward, where he’s able to cut in and make runs into the box.
Things Elias Kachunga could improve upon
I can imagine some Wednesday fans will be concerned that Kachunga’s goalscoring stats aren’t superb. These concerns may be well founded but in his defence, Town haven’t played football that creates many chances for the last three seasons. In his debut season for Town, when he was on loan from Ingolstadt, he was our top scorer and showed he can finish chances when playing in a more creative lineup.
Kachunga was unlucky with injuries in Town’s two seasons in the Premier League and saw himself fall down the pecking order. Those injuries seem to have led to him losing some of his pace, so now he’s not got the burst of speed that he had available when he first arrived in West Yorkshire.
Don’t expect to Kachunga to be the kind of winger that takes his fullback on and beats him with silky skills. He’s comfortable on the ball and does try to get to the byline but will usually rely on clever movement, linking up with his fullback with short passes to open up space.
Why did he leave Huddersfield Town?
Kachunga was slightly unlucky to not have his contract renewed, as he played plenty of games for Town last season. Unfortunately, we have a bloated wage budget and the chairman is looking to change to a model where we bring through our academy kids more and rely less on high earners.
Kachunga’s relatively poor goal return last season was most likely the thing that stopped him being offered a new deal. It’s also likely that he needs a change of scenery after experiencing two tough seasons at Huddersfield Town.
How will Huddersfield Town fans react when Kachunga plays against us?
If Town fans are in the stands when Sheffield Wednesday come to the John Smith’s Stadium, Kachunga should receive a warm welcome. He’s a much loved figure around Huddersfield and we tend to be decent towards ex-players on the whole.
He was a key part of our promotion to the Premier League and will always be remembered fondly for that. His final few years at Town weren’t quite as memorable but even when his form dipped, he always gave his all for the club.
Is Kachunga a good signing for Sheffield Wednesday?
I think Kachunga is a good deal with potential to be incredibly good if he can recapture his form from three seasons ago. As a minimum he will be a hard working, disciplined winger that can use clever movement to get into the box.
He’s got plenty of Championship experience and has played quite a few Premier League games too. He’s not likely to be Wednesday’s star player but I think his work ethic and personality will win over fans.
All signings are a gamble but this one doesn’t seem that risky. At worst he’ll be a decent squad player that will chip in the odd goal. If he plays most games, stays fit and builds confidence then I could see him easily getting ten goals and a similar number of assists. Even if he doesn’t hit that sort of form, he’ll graft and diligently carry out whatever instructions he’s given.