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Luton Town Conclusions

03/10/21

Corberan is only using a small pool of players.

Last season Corberan used a core squad of players and stuck religiously with it, this caused players such as Eiting, Koroma and Toffolo to pick up long term injuries from overuse. The issue then comes as the players that step up into their shoes to replace them are coming in cold and without being up to speed. The best teams rotate their squad to prevent this from happening. It feels like this season Town could be heading towards a similar predicament if they are not careful.
11 players have started at least 7 league games for Town this season, while 3 players have come off the bench at least 5 times. Corberan clearly picks players that he trusts, but that trust is hard to earn. If players such as Josh Ruffels and Rolando Aarons who are squad players, have only played a combined 2 minutes this season, how are they meant to earn that trust?

I actually thought Town played quite poor.

Luton had just come off the back of the 5-0 thumping of Coventry, so it is understandable that Town wanted to constrict them, but I think Luton should have won even with Town's decision to do this. Amari'i Bell hitting the woodwork from 2 yards out with an xG of 0.6 should have been good enough to win it for Luton and while Town would not have played the same way if they had gone behind, it was a huge let off. The fact that it was a Harry Toffolo shot that was blazed over the bar and a long shot from Danel Sinani that just went the wrong side of the post that were Town's best chances of the game, which had a combined xG of 0.07, should show that Town posed little threat to Luton.
It isn't just today either that Town have been poor away from home, the 1-0 loss at Swansea last week was the same, Town produced very little and gave Swansea a very good chance like this week, which that time they scored from. It is ok to say they defended well when because they kept a clean sheet, but at the same time it should be noted that Town were fortunate to get their fourth clean sheet of the season.

Town need to find a way to get Danel Sinani into the game more.

Danel Sinani's technique and skill when the ball is dead is probably only matched by Sorba Thomas at the club, but I am not sure about his ability in open play. So far he has two assists this season, but both of them coming from set pieces, he has not managed a goal contribution in open play in nearly 600 minutes of action. He had a really good chance to yesterday when he slipped the ball through to Josh Koroma, but the pass was behind him. If he had played it into his stride, I think Koroma scores. I wonder if it is because he is used to a slower pace of football, so because the Championship is high tempo, he is unable to get into the game. He had two moments today where he was given time, and a lot of it, by the Luton defenders, and he showed that he has got that natural ability and can do it when he has time. Town and more importantly Corberan need to find a way to increase his impact from just set pieces to having an impact from open play as well.
Looking at his statistics from this season as a whole, Danel has had 12 shots so far and is the only player in the top seven at Town who have had 7 or more shots this season not to have scored yet. He has made 4 key passes in 8 games which for a player signed as a creative midfielder is hardly justifiable, especially when Jonathan Hogg has 8 in just one more game. To defend him, he is the only player to have completed every dribble he has attempted (5/5), for comparison Sorba Thomas has completed 11/28, but again is 5 dribbles in his 8 appearances acceptable? Town and more importantly Corberan need to find a way to increase his impact from just set pieces to an impact from open play as well.

17 points from 11 games is a very good return.

To use the cliche phrase: at the start of the season, if someone said Town would be on 17 points from 11 games, most fans would have snapped their hands off at that. I think having seen Town play, arguably they should only have been beaten by Fulham and probably be on more points.
7th place, 1 point off the play-offs, 8 off top and 9 above the relegation zone is a brilliant transformation from last season. A positive goal difference and 4 clean sheets after having the leakiest defence last year is a great achievement - long may it continue.

It was a very important point to get.

As much as I have gone on for the previous 700 odd words that Town didn't deserve to leave Luton with a point, the old Town would not have seen the game out especially as they were not the better team. Picking up points when you are second best is one of the reason's why Manchester United was so dominant under Sir Alex Ferguson and the same logic applies here.
Mentally the point should also impact the players, it gives them the confidence that they can grind out results and they can go up against these physical sides. I feel that Town are just starting to lose the Premier League hangover of questioning their ability to see out a game or to stay in one. This is partly down to the squad turnover, but also from a long process of the club and the squad getting their confidence back.