Chippy_boy
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After my post above and hearing of possible team changes, I am now officially worried.
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Huddersfield (a) Pre-Match Thread
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After my post above and hearing of possible team changes, I am now officially worried.
Danny_Johnson4
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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.
Good post and very welcome insight,
Think tomorrow is sort of 'in the way' to a certain extent for both sides, with bigger challenges ahead in the next few weeks
We are often very, very strong in these matches in the FA Cup with our 'second' string, as our reserves are usually light years ahead of the fringe players other sides put out
If you do go full strength, bar Mooy (who you are right, is probably the best player in the Championship, and at a higher level than shelvey easily), then it will be a seriously good game
Expect us to get some blood into the legs of a few certain starters for tuesday for probably no longer than 45/60 mins, and hopefully be 2-0 up and in a situation where we can relax
Coin toss otherwise though,
Hope you go up!
bluetonium
Well-Known Member
Expecting a very tough game, but we should have enough to get the result here. Mooy can't play which is a bonus, I'd like yaya or silva in there to help us control and retain possession better, but also welcome the opportunity for Vinny, Delph, Fernando, Zaba, Kelechi, Navas and Nolito to get some game time. However, this is tougher than some people realise and we can't put too many second stringers in without damaging our playing style and therefore chances of winning,we just don't have a full squad of players capable of doing what we'd like to do - i.e. keep possession to draw players out of position and create one on ones and then use pace and a quick pass to get in on goal (and then put it away.. looking at you Navas...)
Our back four will comprise of the best solution to deal with their forward line, are they quick counter attackers or possession based? I think the latter from what I hear so could be interesting for us, Wagner strikes me as an all or nothing guy so could be a few goals here. Wearing them down won't work as well here as they are at home in a cup match, likely they'll find that extra yard, but maybe we can use their eagerness against them by controlling the game from the off and exploiting early on the one player who moves too far out of position to chase us down.
I except also that we'll be pressed from the off, so we need fast wide players as an outlet up front, as well as players able to find space , retain the ball and pass with one touch or none. That screams Yaya, KDB and Silva for me, which limits opportunities for the others. Maybe rest one of Silva or Kev and have Fernandinho or Delph step in with Zaba at full back, though I'm yet to be convinced that Delph can retain and then use the ball efficiently enough for a Pep side, but reading Pep's comments about Delph and how he offers something slightly different to what we have elsewhere, I can see him starting him in the cup.
Our back four will comprise of the best solution to deal with their forward line, are they quick counter attackers or possession based? I think the latter from what I hear so could be interesting for us, Wagner strikes me as an all or nothing guy so could be a few goals here. Wearing them down won't work as well here as they are at home in a cup match, likely they'll find that extra yard, but maybe we can use their eagerness against them by controlling the game from the off and exploiting early on the one player who moves too far out of position to chase us down.
I except also that we'll be pressed from the off, so we need fast wide players as an outlet up front, as well as players able to find space , retain the ball and pass with one touch or none. That screams Yaya, KDB and Silva for me, which limits opportunities for the others. Maybe rest one of Silva or Kev and have Fernandinho or Delph step in with Zaba at full back, though I'm yet to be convinced that Delph can retain and then use the ball efficiently enough for a Pep side, but reading Pep's comments about Delph and how he offers something slightly different to what we have elsewhere, I can see him starting him in the cup.
Charlesfarsbar
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You sound confident and I think it will be a close game based on the fact that I dont think we will play our best 11 given we have the Monaco game next weekAlright 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.
I really hope that you go for it and press us high up the pitch. We have looked really good this season against the more attacking teams in the premier league, usually individual mistakes by our defenders have lead to simple goals for the opposition which means we haven't always got the results we have deserved.
Otamendi's Beard
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I imagine Huddersfield will give a really good account of themselves with effort, aggression and spirit, but our quality will win over.
If we give Delph, Iheanacho, Nolito games alongside Toure, De Bruyne or Silva and Fernando then we'll have enough to dispatch them. I'd be tempted to give Sterling and Sane a half each too so that we have both pace and a goal threat from wide.
If we give Delph, Iheanacho, Nolito games alongside Toure, De Bruyne or Silva and Fernando then we'll have enough to dispatch them. I'd be tempted to give Sterling and Sane a half each too so that we have both pace and a goal threat from wide.
Smile Awhile Terrier
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Huddersfield Town fan and Club Partner in peace here
All I wanted to say was I hope that those on here who are coming have a fantastic afternoon with us and welcome to Huddersfield!
I am hoping for a good close match with lots of attacking football - I hope we impress you with our pressing style of play and fitness levels. You are sure to put us to the test
My son has Man City as his premier league faves but his first love is for Town so he is massively excited
Having read your board I am impressed with your honesty and kind comments about our club and the respect you appear to be showing us
Rest assured it is right back at you!
Good luck and, as I say, Welcome to Huddersfield!
All I wanted to say was I hope that those on here who are coming have a fantastic afternoon with us and welcome to Huddersfield!
I am hoping for a good close match with lots of attacking football - I hope we impress you with our pressing style of play and fitness levels. You are sure to put us to the test
My son has Man City as his premier league faves but his first love is for Town so he is massively excited
Having read your board I am impressed with your honesty and kind comments about our club and the respect you appear to be showing us
Rest assured it is right back at you!
Good luck and, as I say, Welcome to Huddersfield!
I think even if we play our best XI we will struggle. With rotation this will be a really hard match and I can see us going out. Huddersfield are that good.
Come on now, it would be a major upset regardless of how good a Championship side they are.
We get this same bullshit in every pre-match thread where seasoned City fans come in and collectively wet the bed with fears of our side losing to all kinds of lesser opposition and it's beyond ridiculous. I don't underestimate Huddersfield for a second, and they'll give us a good game, but let's be realistic here.
B
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BLUEMATT23
Guest
Why so many picks for Bravo?
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