I’ll admit between the second and third international breaks, it's not been a great period for Huddersfield Town - picking up just one win, and four points, from five games.
But with a mixture of some tough fixtures ( Sheffield Wednesday’s experienced and talented squad and Preston’s current good form ) and poor performances ( Fulham in particular ), doubt could have easily spread through the minds of many fans; especially with the hoards of rival fans taunting our bubble has burst.
But their taunts fall on deaf ears- with most Town fans refusing to rise to playground chat. There was always going to be a blip and I’m sure there’ll be more to come.
As David Wagner has explained, on a number of occasions, this is a long term project: something most fans recognise and appreciate. And this has been apparent in the support we continue to give the team – the enthusiasm and backing that was given to the players throughout the 5-0 drubbing at Fulham was tremendous and, only a week after that unexpected and disappointing loss, we managed a 20,000 strong turnout for the Birmingham game.
However, a couple of things are becoming apparent. Firstly, although we are looking a lot more robust defensively (barring the thrashing at Fulham), we struggle to defend crosses.
Whether this is due to the recent changes of the centre back pairing or another more deep routed problem, I think that it’s time to give Michael Hefele and Christopher Schindler a run of games together , to develop that understanding and partnership, along with a focus of defending crosses as a unit.
Secondly, we need a ‘Plan B’ for when ‘Plan A’ isn’t working – this was most apparent against a very organised and disciplined Sheffield Wednesday who were happy to have two lines of four, making it difficult for Town to break them down and allowing The Owls to catch us on the counter.
Vital to having a ‘Plan B’, is having another option up upfront to allow us to approach the game differently. Perhaps part of the solution would be a striker who could offer another option to what we currently have, providing an alternative to our reliance on defender’s being pushed forward and acting as target men.
It could be argued that it’s for the players to take responsibility for both of these issues but, ultimately, it’s down to the manager to sort them out and really prove his worth.
Although it would have been nice to get another win under our belt before the international break (which would have been deserved given the performance against Birmingham) the break and the trip to Marbella might have come at the right time to continue the development of the team – both the camaraderie and the on field tactics – before a busy festive period with many, on paper, winnable games.
And with the team still firmly in the playoffs, and within touching distance of an automatic spot, it should be a tough but happy camp which, I’m sure, will see us back to our winning ways and mute the taunting chants of the opposition- for now at least!
Mark Habergham is a 31-year-old Online Acquisition Manager at The Yorkshire Building Society.
Mark first fell in love with Town when his Dad took him to Leeds Road at the age of eight-years-old and has been a dedicated season ticket holder ever since.
