22-11-2015, 12:36
This game showed how a bit of quality can win you points even when the overall performance barely warrants it. For 70 minutes, we deserved nothing from this match. We started without the injured Bannan & suspended Hutchinson but CC also left Joao & Hooper on the bench.
We lacked any cohesion or intensity in a boring first half with just one FF header going wide as neither keeper was tested. Hunt played one great ball in but no-one reacted in the box.
CC brought on Joao for Helan at half time, switching to a 433, playing more narrow, using the full backs for width. This helped but we still weren't creating anything and the task got bigger when Pudil was left with two men at the far post and we went behind.
CC reacted by bringing on McGugan for Semedo, who had looked poor all afternoon. That didn't seem to change things although McGugan put himself about more than usual. The key change though came in the 72nd minute when Hooper replaced the ineffective Nuhiu. This seemed to be the final piece in the jigsaw and things changed immediately.
Up to this point, the Huddersfield defence had been able to snuff out Joao by weight of numbers while allowing Nuhiu to flick the ball to them. Also our midfield players were rarely supporting our front players so there was little threat. As soon as Hooper entered the fray, there was suddenly an additional threat and while his three efforts all hardly threatened, his presence created more space for FF & Joao.
Wallace was the first to have a shot blocked on the line. FF was next but the ball broke kindly for Joao, who tapped home from close range and the atmosphere changed. Lees & McGugan both had shots blocked before FF tricked his way into the left side of the box forcing a good save. However, he coolly picked out Lee from the rebound, who had a simple task from six yards.
In stoppage time, FF broke into the opposition half with Joao & Hooper giving him great options left & right. He picked out Joao, who curled the ball beautifully into the far corner and it was game over.
A brilliant final 15 minutes but before that it was boring football with Huddersfield dominating possession although largely in their own half with neither team creating anything worthwhile. Huddersfield pressed us quickly which meant that players who weren't comfortable in possession were quickly exposed.
Semedo was particularly culpable, losing the ball several times in our half. In fact McGugan was also easily dispossessed a few times when he took over from Semedo. Hutchinson was sorely missed.
The midfield lacked energy & creation. Nuhiu won a few flicks but they only went to Huddersfield defenders. Only FF offered any kind of threat but with minimal support, we never looked like scoring.
The introduction of Joao & Hooper meant we had potential match winners on the pitch and the Huddersfield defenders went from comfortable to nervous in seconds and we must have created more chances with Hooper on the pitch for 20 minutes than we did with Nuhiu on the pitch for 70 minutes.
"The referee was inconsistent and identical challenges were yellow cards one minute, just fouls the next and not even fouls the one after that. It was poor refereeing that left the players frustrated and the crowd baying for blood as Mr Boyeson seemed to make decisions by flipping a coin." That was what I said about this referee five years ago after he refereed our 2-2 draw with Charlton and he hasn't changed. He gave Whitehead two final warnings after giving him a yellow card yet carded Pudil for an identical challenge 15 seconds later. He allowed four rugby tackles go without cards (three by Huddersfield players, one by Semedo) so players knew they could break up play whenever under pressure. He ruined the game as a spectacle.
Rating the players is tricky because for 70 minutes, no-one was good enough but in the final 15 minutes, we excelled.
Westwood - 6 - one big save when needed
Hunt - 6 - bright going forward
Lees - 6 - solid
Loovens - 6 - won everything in the air
Pudil - 6 - good attacking option in final quarter
Semedo - 4 - struggled in possession
Lee - 5 - not the same player without Hutchinson & Bannan alongside him
Wallace - 6 - bright in spells
FF - 7 - touch of class, set up all three goals
Helan - 5 - not involved enough
Nuhiu - 5 - no goal threat
.........................................................
Joao - 7 - quality, could score at any moment
McGugan - 6 - tried hard, good sub option but no Hutchinson
Hooper - 6 - caused problems, goals will come
Stat Attack:
Goals:
Joao - 2
Lee - 1
Assists:
FF - 3
Tackles:
FF - 6
Hunt - 5
Pudil - 3
Loovens - 2
Lees - 2
Wallace - 2
Lee - 2
McGugan - 2
Helan - 1
Interceptions:
Pudil - 6
Hunt - 3
Lees - 3
Loovens - 3
Semedo - 3
Nuhiu - 3
Lee - 2
FF - 2
McGugan - 2
Westwood - 1
Joao - 1
Clearances:
Pudil - 5
Lees - 4
Nuhiu - 3
Westwood - 2
Loovens - 2
Attempts:
FF - 4
Joao - 3
Hooper - 3
Wallace - 2
Lees - 1
Lee - 1
McGugan - 1
Attempts On Target:
FF - 3
Wallace - 2
Joao - 2
Lees - 1
Lee - 1
Hooper - 1
Key Passes:
Wallace - 5
FF - 2
Hunt - 1
Lees - 1
Pudil - 1
Nuhiu - 1
Joao - 1
Dribbles:
Hunt - 4
FF - 3
Lees - 1
Lee - 1
McGugan - 1
Dispossessed:
Nuhiu - 4
Joao - 4
FF - 2
McGugan - 2
Hunt - 1
Lees - 1
Wallace - 1
Semedo - 1
Helan - 1
Bad Control:
Joao - 3
Wallace - 2
Lee - 2
FF - 2
Hunt - 1
Lees - 1
Helan - 1
Nuhiu - 1
Hooper - 1
Crosses:
Wallace - 10 (4 accurate)
Hunt - 2 (1 accurate)
Pudil - 1 (1 accurate)
Helan - 1 (0 accurate)
Passing Accuracy (Total Passes in Brackets)
FF - 91% (21)
Joao - 86% (14)
McGugan - 83% (12)
Lee - 82% (22)
Loovens - 77% (31)
Semedo - 74% (23)
Lees - 69% (39)
Wallace - 69% (26)
Pudil - 66% (35)
Hooper - 60% (5)
Nuhiu - 48% (23)
Hunt - 41% (22)
Helan - 40% (10)
Westwood - 39% (28)
Passing accuracy of under 60% is not acceptable for an outfield player. Nuhiu is regularly at these levels but when you have three outfield players giving it away more often than they find a team mate then it is little surprise that we struggle as a team.
When we have Joao, FF & Hooper all on the pitch then we possess a serious goal threat. CC has to find a way to have our most dangerous players on the pitch for most of the match. You could argue that CC got it right yesterday by staying in the game for 70 minutes before attacking them with our best available team.
Next week will be tough without Hutchinson & probably Bannan again. Blackburn will put us under pressure so CC will have to decide whether to go with Semedo again or whether to go with a more attacking option.
We lacked any cohesion or intensity in a boring first half with just one FF header going wide as neither keeper was tested. Hunt played one great ball in but no-one reacted in the box.
CC brought on Joao for Helan at half time, switching to a 433, playing more narrow, using the full backs for width. This helped but we still weren't creating anything and the task got bigger when Pudil was left with two men at the far post and we went behind.
CC reacted by bringing on McGugan for Semedo, who had looked poor all afternoon. That didn't seem to change things although McGugan put himself about more than usual. The key change though came in the 72nd minute when Hooper replaced the ineffective Nuhiu. This seemed to be the final piece in the jigsaw and things changed immediately.
Up to this point, the Huddersfield defence had been able to snuff out Joao by weight of numbers while allowing Nuhiu to flick the ball to them. Also our midfield players were rarely supporting our front players so there was little threat. As soon as Hooper entered the fray, there was suddenly an additional threat and while his three efforts all hardly threatened, his presence created more space for FF & Joao.
Wallace was the first to have a shot blocked on the line. FF was next but the ball broke kindly for Joao, who tapped home from close range and the atmosphere changed. Lees & McGugan both had shots blocked before FF tricked his way into the left side of the box forcing a good save. However, he coolly picked out Lee from the rebound, who had a simple task from six yards.
In stoppage time, FF broke into the opposition half with Joao & Hooper giving him great options left & right. He picked out Joao, who curled the ball beautifully into the far corner and it was game over.
A brilliant final 15 minutes but before that it was boring football with Huddersfield dominating possession although largely in their own half with neither team creating anything worthwhile. Huddersfield pressed us quickly which meant that players who weren't comfortable in possession were quickly exposed.
Semedo was particularly culpable, losing the ball several times in our half. In fact McGugan was also easily dispossessed a few times when he took over from Semedo. Hutchinson was sorely missed.
The midfield lacked energy & creation. Nuhiu won a few flicks but they only went to Huddersfield defenders. Only FF offered any kind of threat but with minimal support, we never looked like scoring.
The introduction of Joao & Hooper meant we had potential match winners on the pitch and the Huddersfield defenders went from comfortable to nervous in seconds and we must have created more chances with Hooper on the pitch for 20 minutes than we did with Nuhiu on the pitch for 70 minutes.
"The referee was inconsistent and identical challenges were yellow cards one minute, just fouls the next and not even fouls the one after that. It was poor refereeing that left the players frustrated and the crowd baying for blood as Mr Boyeson seemed to make decisions by flipping a coin." That was what I said about this referee five years ago after he refereed our 2-2 draw with Charlton and he hasn't changed. He gave Whitehead two final warnings after giving him a yellow card yet carded Pudil for an identical challenge 15 seconds later. He allowed four rugby tackles go without cards (three by Huddersfield players, one by Semedo) so players knew they could break up play whenever under pressure. He ruined the game as a spectacle.
Rating the players is tricky because for 70 minutes, no-one was good enough but in the final 15 minutes, we excelled.
Westwood - 6 - one big save when needed
Hunt - 6 - bright going forward
Lees - 6 - solid
Loovens - 6 - won everything in the air
Pudil - 6 - good attacking option in final quarter
Semedo - 4 - struggled in possession
Lee - 5 - not the same player without Hutchinson & Bannan alongside him
Wallace - 6 - bright in spells
FF - 7 - touch of class, set up all three goals
Helan - 5 - not involved enough
Nuhiu - 5 - no goal threat
.........................................................
Joao - 7 - quality, could score at any moment
McGugan - 6 - tried hard, good sub option but no Hutchinson
Hooper - 6 - caused problems, goals will come
Stat Attack:
Goals:
Joao - 2
Lee - 1
Assists:
FF - 3
Tackles:
FF - 6
Hunt - 5
Pudil - 3
Loovens - 2
Lees - 2
Wallace - 2
Lee - 2
McGugan - 2
Helan - 1
Interceptions:
Pudil - 6
Hunt - 3
Lees - 3
Loovens - 3
Semedo - 3
Nuhiu - 3
Lee - 2
FF - 2
McGugan - 2
Westwood - 1
Joao - 1
Clearances:
Pudil - 5
Lees - 4
Nuhiu - 3
Westwood - 2
Loovens - 2
Attempts:
FF - 4
Joao - 3
Hooper - 3
Wallace - 2
Lees - 1
Lee - 1
McGugan - 1
Attempts On Target:
FF - 3
Wallace - 2
Joao - 2
Lees - 1
Lee - 1
Hooper - 1
Key Passes:
Wallace - 5
FF - 2
Hunt - 1
Lees - 1
Pudil - 1
Nuhiu - 1
Joao - 1
Dribbles:
Hunt - 4
FF - 3
Lees - 1
Lee - 1
McGugan - 1
Dispossessed:
Nuhiu - 4
Joao - 4
FF - 2
McGugan - 2
Hunt - 1
Lees - 1
Wallace - 1
Semedo - 1
Helan - 1
Bad Control:
Joao - 3
Wallace - 2
Lee - 2
FF - 2
Hunt - 1
Lees - 1
Helan - 1
Nuhiu - 1
Hooper - 1
Crosses:
Wallace - 10 (4 accurate)
Hunt - 2 (1 accurate)
Pudil - 1 (1 accurate)
Helan - 1 (0 accurate)
Passing Accuracy (Total Passes in Brackets)
FF - 91% (21)
Joao - 86% (14)
McGugan - 83% (12)
Lee - 82% (22)
Loovens - 77% (31)
Semedo - 74% (23)
Lees - 69% (39)
Wallace - 69% (26)
Pudil - 66% (35)
Hooper - 60% (5)
Nuhiu - 48% (23)
Hunt - 41% (22)
Helan - 40% (10)
Westwood - 39% (28)
Passing accuracy of under 60% is not acceptable for an outfield player. Nuhiu is regularly at these levels but when you have three outfield players giving it away more often than they find a team mate then it is little surprise that we struggle as a team.
When we have Joao, FF & Hooper all on the pitch then we possess a serious goal threat. CC has to find a way to have our most dangerous players on the pitch for most of the match. You could argue that CC got it right yesterday by staying in the game for 70 minutes before attacking them with our best available team.
Next week will be tough without Hutchinson & probably Bannan again. Blackburn will put us under pressure so CC will have to decide whether to go with Semedo again or whether to go with a more attacking option.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.