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Conclusions from Huddersfield's win at Burnley

08/01/2022

Keeping hold of Lewis O'Brien and Sorba Thomas beats any new signing.

Town might feel like rolling the dice and making a few signings in a promotion push, but keeping hold of O'Brien and Thomas would be their best business in my view.
Potentially another creative midfielder or striker would be what Town go for if they are to strengthen, but their main aim should be to keep their prized assets. Both players made the difference today when they came on, but you would expect if a £15 million bid from a Premier League club comes in, it would be hard to turn it down.

Ryan Schofield just needs to play.

There were clear improvements in his distribution, shot-stopping and gamesmanship, but the issues surrounding his confidence in coming for crosses remain. Some people might not agree, but he has the makings of a quality keeper if he manages to work on the side of the game that Nicholls does so well. A loan to League 2 would be a good move for him in my view. Sitting on the bench is no good for him and he just needs to get out of the club, refresh himself and get game time. The collision that forced him off was a huge shame as it will do nothing for his confidence that the first 50/50 punch he won he got wiped out. It is the indecision in his game that is his main issue, which I think with time and experience will come. At the moment more importantly, hopefully, Ryan isn't too badly injured.

Do not write this Town team off.

Town have now won 3 out of their last 4 away games, gone 7 games unbeaten, 3 out of their last 4 wins have come after Town went a goal down. Town looks like a Team that doesn't have a ceiling, the win against Burnley came as no surprise. Just because they are a Premier League side makes no difference, Town went toe to toe with Everton in August when Everton was performing well.
One quite prominent Championship based social media account that happens to also run a podcast thinks Huddersfield are going to slip down the table in the second half of the season into the bottom half. I don't disagree that Town are overachieving at the moment, but they are looking full of confidence and are beating the teams they need to beat, Forest, WBA and now Burnley. It is probably better to look at the team that Town were poor against. The Boro, Bournemouth and Fulham have been the only games this season where Town have been blown away. Town were written off in 2017 and we all know how that ended up...

Koroma's defensive side of the game is becoming one of his biggest strengths.

Josh Koroma was Town's top scorer last season even though he only managed to play in half of Town's games due to injury. He has not really taken off to the same level as last season. 3 goals and 2 assists so far and going from Town's undroppable star to an 'impact sub'. Whether the change in formation and shape has hindered him this season remains up for debate, his attacking output has reduced significantly, but his defensive side of the game has massively improved. He averages 1 tackle per 90 minutes, which is only 0.3 less than Duane Holmes.
Ironically he scored a poachers goal at the back post today, but apart from that goal, he hasn't scored a goal like that for Town. His most potent range is the edge of the 18 yard box.
With the improvement in his defensive side of the game, could potentially Carlos look at moving him into the centre of midfield? It would mean he is playing deeper, so it would play to his strength of shooting from further out, while also being the more attacking-minded midfielder. Potentially the only thing letting him down is that he hasn't got the stamina or the legs to do all the running, he has only managed an average of 79 minutes per 90 from his 14 starts this season, completing 6 90s.
I see Koroma as a similar type of player to Duane Holmes, and Holmes has been utilised in the midfield and on the wing and I would be intrigued to see if Koroma could follow suit.

Jon Russell was marvellous

There were a number of stand-out performances but Jon Russell is in the hat for being the pick of the bunch. He looked composed in the midfield alongside Hogg and O'Brien when he came on. I think there is definitely a player here and one which Carlos should start to give more time to. If his performance against Burnley was anything to go by, then Town's squad depth issue in the middle of the park should have been eased for the time being. There were occasions where his long balls didn't find their target and were poor, but for the most part, you wouldn't have realised that this was his first start for the club. He was so unlucky not to get on the scoresheet when his header hit the post.
It asks Carlos a difficult question now as he now has High, Hogg, Russell and O'Brien to choose from in his midfield two. O'Brien is a shoo-in, but with Town's steller form while Hogg has been out injured, does Town's club captain get in over High or Russell? I am not sure.