Huddersfield (a) Pre-Match Thread

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No sign of Vinny in any of the training pics or video from today. Spotted all the other players but not him. Hopefully a good reason for it or I've missed him somehow and not another injury.
 
i think this could be a very close game. they been playing well recently. make sure to get them red roses seen by the yorkshires !
 
If this goes to a replay I can't see a free slot til April, with mid week Championship games for them, Champs Lg for us and international break. Would be taking place after the quarter finals!
 
Anything like his Chelsea performance would in my opinion warrant a pitch invasion from all City fans present.
 
He needs to give Nolito a game tomorrow, maybe play him up front with Itchy for this one, I hope Pep plays a strongish team as I think we can win it this year.. Monaco obviously taking precedence with selection but we have the depth to be strong for this one despite Injuries...
 
If this goes to a replay I can't see a free slot til April, with mid week Championship games for them, Champs Lg for us and international break. Would be taking place after the quarter finals!

I wonder who our nominated own goal scorer is.

During the recent debate over FA Cup replays, after MacLaren's claim that neither Leicester or Derby wanted a replay, it did occur to me that there should be an option so that if both clubs agree that they dont want a replay they can play the tie to a conclusion, with extra time and pens. That way the minnows still get to keep the "glamorous" replays but we get rid of the ones nobody wants.
 
Alright lads, another Town fan here. Hope you don't mind me contributing.

This is a bit of a weird one for us. Any other season and it would be our biggest game of the season...yet all of a sudden it's now the least critical one this week! But actually, in some ways that's exactly what we need right now, a "free" game where fans and players can just enjoy the moment. Because the next 15 games afterwards are going to be all out war.

I don't know if you've seen how we play at all, but it's really set to be a cracking match. We high press (as well as anyone I've seen), built on a platform of being fitter than the opposition and being better on the ball. We average about 60-70% possession in games, partly because Aaron Mooy (more on him later) just doesn't lose it, but mainly because when the opposition does get it we win it back in the first 3-5 seconds (the essence of 'gegenpressing'). Obviously tomorrow is a completely different standard of opposition to what we're used to, so I'm fascinated to see how we cope and whether we can play our game at the usual levels. I'm also fascinated to see how our style copes with your possession/build. The last time I saw you guys play this season I was with a mate in the Leicester end at the King power stadium... quick attack won the day there, maybe we have a chance?

There' s been a lot of debate about the right team to play tomorrow, there's been loads of people not very familiar with this year's Town saying "oh they'll play reserves, the premier league is more important"...nope. Purely because we don't have reserves. You can't have if you want to be successful playing high intensity football in the Championship. Instead we have a team of 22 players (2 for each position) that all play their part - Wagner always picks the best team for the game, which is a combination of the right skill set and the right level of fitness for how we are going to approach it. This is how we've been so successful this season in a league where 3 games a week is standard.

A little bit on the GOD that is David Wagner. Make no mistake, this guy will be leading a top European side in the next few years. Our song states that "he's better than Klopp", but seriously... they have the same footballing mentality (they created it together at Mainz), Wagner is less of a 'front man' (but in my opinion comes across as more genuine for this), but the big difference is that Wagner really understand the physical side of the game as well as anyone. After finishing his playing career, instead of doing what the hundreds of shitey ex-pros in England do and jumping straight onto the coaching badges courses, he instead went to university and did a Masters degree in Biology and Sports Science. This is why we appear so much fitter than everyone else (we've scored 23% of our points this season in the last 10 minuets!), it's because we're really good at using our players within their performance limits. Added to that, he's just a really flippin' nice guy. And in this modern game of mercenaries, he actually has a bit of loyalty to him. He's said that this is only the beginning of our journey together, he's set about changing the entire fabric of the club and that takes years not months; I really really really hope he's true to his word, cos if he is then I can see us becoming established in the league above (did I just say that out loud... :O)

Quick bit on the players to watch. Unfortunately Aaron Mooy has been ruled out of the game, which is a shame for all parties. He's been astonishing this season, and has really developed under Wagner's watch (a theme that you'll see repeated..). When he first came to us he was clearly excellent on the ball, but way off in terms of fitness and aggression. All that's changed now, Tuesday night away at Rotherham, Mooy charged down a defender in the 92nd minute to win the ball back and pass it off to Jack Payne, who pinged it across the box to captain Tommy Smith (ex City), whi drileld it into the bottom corner from the edge of the box for a 2-3 winner. Cue, scenes and belief that this might actually be our season.

Other notable players, that might actually play tomorrow. Tommy Smith, as above, is our stand-in captain (Mark Hudson is the club captain but barely plays now and is transitioning into a coaching role). 18 months ago Smith was chastised as not good enough. Solid, but sod all going forwards...everything has changed. Smith now has the highest number of assists int he Championship this season, and has even chipped in with 3 goals himself. He's the best fullback in the second tier and will be playing in the Premier League next season, with us or without us.

Izzy Brown and Kasy Palmer (unfortunately injured), are a couple of very exciting Chelsea loanees that drift from #10 to wide left or right. Elias Kachunga is an absolute warrior of a front line player, can play in any of the front 4 positions. Nahki Wells is Nahki Wells, has been frustrating at times, but always pops up with a goal and has improved his link up play 10000% in the past 6 months (probably through playing around better players).

Our defence is full of kraut captains: Schindler (former 1860 captain), Hefele (former Dynamo Dresden captain) Chris Loewe (former Kaiserslautern captain), they took a bit of time to gel but are really solid now. And are all winners, having each been promoted previously with the side they captained.

Our biggest weakness tomorrow, unfortunately, will be the area that we are actually usually strongest - the midfield. As previously said, Mooy is out, but possibly even worse than that is that Jonny Hogg is also out injured for a couple of weeks. He is our Kante, unassuming rapier missile in the middle of the park that wins everything. It's a huge loss not having him, but then also a huge opportunity for Billing and Whitehead to step in and prove their worth. If I were to boil down the key success factor for the rest of our season it will be whether these two can keep up the same levels of Hogg and Mooy, who have honestly been the best midfield pairing I've ever seen play in blue and white.

Right, anyway. Apologies if that's a bit rambly and long, but hopefully it was at least a bit informative. Feel free to chuck any question my way, I'll keep having a peek on here over the next day or so :)

Here's to a good game, but most of all, enjoy your day out. There's reet good suppin' in Huddersfield, so get some decent ale down ya sens.
 
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Any chance this could be a "typical City" banana skin? Huddersfield have won their last 6, we've got Monaco on Tuesday and Pep has got form in the "underestimated the opponents" department. That said, he has played strong teams in the FA Cup so far, so I don't know. I just hope we put in a solid performance and get the job done.
 
With Monaco next week we need to rotate a little bit I think

Bravo

Zaba Komapany Otamendi Clichy

Fernnado

Delph De Bruyne

Navas Ihenacho Nolito

Should be enough to get the job done, big guns on the bench if we are struggling
 
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