Defensive flaws continue to pay a heavy price

There may have been mitigating circumstances to factor in, not least that this was something of a makeshift backline, but there were simply no excuses to be had from a first-half display where Town's defence looked every bit as porous as it proved in 2014/15.

Chris Powell's primary goal over the summer months was to rid this team of the deficiencies that undermined them in his debut season as manager but, on this evidence, plenty of work still needs to be done.

Focus will turn to the training ground but with two matches in the next seven days, time is not on Town's side and there will be a further examination of their defensive credentials against two very different opponents in first Deportivo de La Coruna and then Barnsley.

Three of the four goals shipped at Rochdale were eminently avoidable and were ultimately the reason Town fell to a second defeat on the spin in pre-season with every member of the rearguard culpable for at least one of the goals.

In that respect, new addition Martin Cranie may well have emerged with the most credit, but Tommy Smith once more looked as if he would rather be playing on the right as he filled in for Jason Davidson at left-back, while Mark Hudson and Joel Lynch failed to offer the authority and organisation Town fans crave at the back.

Huddersfield Town's Joe Lolley breaks past Rochdale AFC's Michael Rose Pre season friendly Rochdale AFC v Huddersfield Town 25/07/15 (Pic by John Rushworth)

Signs the 4-2-3-1 formation may and may not work

The increasingly-fashionable 4-2-3-1 setup is clearly interesting Powell, and the fact he used this system once more yesterday offered a suggestion he will press ahead with it in 2015/16.

It solves one big dilemma in where to include Joe Lolley, the player who has impressed most during pre-season, but presents others, with Jacob Butterfield forced to sit deeper and dictate play from the base rather than the peak of midfield and just one attacking spearhead to call upon.

In the first half, it felt as if there was an imbalance in the middle of the park, with Lolley's penchant for drifting wide giving Rochdale the chance to exploit gaping holes in midfield, with two-goal Callum Camps the clearest beneficiary.

The central midfield trio felt more compact after the interval, with Butterfield proving more tigerish in his pressing and the introduction of Kyle Dempsey helped facilitate that tactical change too, with the trio becoming more fluid in their movements and positioning as a result.

Two weeks remain before the season gets underway at Hull City and there is time to find the formula which allows Town to function in this formation, because it felt like one of the key factors behind such a transition from one poor half to a very encouraging one.

Huddersfield Town's Manager Chris Powell Pre season friendly Rochdale AFC v Huddersfield Town 25/07/15 (Pic by John Rushworth)

Powell's 'choice words' at least have the desired effect

Watching such a pitiful defensive showing in the opening 45 minutes so swiftly followed by a performance in the second half featuring a more resilient, combative and determined edge, it was difficult not to suspect Powell had lost his cool in the dressing room at half-time.

That was later confirmed by the manager, who urged his side to essentially turn up for the second half having labelled the opening exchanges as a performance not befitting of one his his sides, or Huddersfield Town.

The match may have been relatively meaningless from a competitive perspective, but that did not stop the manager from delivering such a damning assessment to his players on what he had witnessed and it proved the impetus Town needed to impose themselves on the game.

They had enough chances to walk away with what would have been a thrilling win by the end of the second half, which would have altered the narrative dramatically.

Powell appeared bemused as much as anything by the final whistle having seen the very good, the very bad and the downright ugly from his charges.

Huddersfield Town's Jacob Butterfield and Rochdale AFC's Callum Camps Pre season friendly Rochdale AFC v Huddersfield Town 25/07/15 (Pic by John Rushworth)

Butterfield's star quality shines through

At the nadir of Town's first-half efforts, one midfielder could still be seen standing above the rest to help drive on players around him who looked stunned by the home side's potency and their own charitable defending.

And this isn't the first time, because Jacob Butterfield's excellent first season at the club - embellished with his Player of the Year award - was built on performances such as this.

The 3-1 win at Millwall springs to mind immediately, as does the 3-0 home win over Reading and the 2-2 draw with Norwich City, when it felt at times as if he was single-handedly pulling his side through and offering the injection of added quality when it mattered most.

His performance at Spotland was full of the usual invention, craft and technique but also the tenacity which was replicated by Whitehead and then Dempsey, with the game threatening to boil over at one point in the second half with the tackles flying in all over the field.

He also played his part in both of the first-half goals and, while this was not a faultless performance, there was enough evidence to indicate he is raring to go ahead of the new campaign.

Huddersfield Town's Nahki Wells scores his sides third goal Pre season friendly Rochdale AFC v Huddersfield Town 25/07/15 (Pic by John Rushworth)

There are positives to be had up front

Some supporters expressed surprise at Lolley being deployed in an attacking quadrant involving Sean Scannell, Harry Bunn and Nahki Wells.

Powell suggested afterwards that his decision was born more out of necessity than anything else, with Jonathan Hogg having only just stepped up his return from injury.

Town's problems last season did not arrive in the attacking third of the field and they certainly won't suffer in that regard this time around either if this was anything to go by, having posed problems to the home side on several occasions.

It underlined the attacking riches Powell has at his disposal and Wells' second-half performance was one rare pleasing aspect for the manager on an otherwise regrettable afternoon, describing him as "almost unplayable" after the break as he came within a lick of paint from sealing a hat-trick.

Scannell was also on the scoresheet and Lolley should have been too, but for his impudent chip bending away from goal, and there were promising cameos too for Dempsey and Jordy Hiwula in an attacking sense, let alone the upcoming returns of James Vaughan and Ishmael Miller.