Frustration Of Our Midfield

Huddersfield Towns midfield has, all season long, under performed and in some matches been non-existent. Kay, Arfield, Miller, Johnson, Gudjonsson, Gobern, Robinson, Roberts & Ward have all had poor seasons both under former manager Lee Clark and Simon Grayson. Either due to injuries or simply showing no passion when on the playing field, Towns midfield has been chopped and changed virtually every game which has frustrated both the fans and possibly the players a well.

However, who blames Clark & now Grayson for doing so? I certainly don't. If your playing for a promotion chasing club which backs you with big wage packets every week, then showing an inept performance when on the pitch is unacceptable and the players deserve to be dropped immediately. A midfield should be the heartbeat of any football club and if you can win the midfield battle against your opposition, your halfway there to getting all three points in my opinion. Huddersfield Town have not only failed to do that this season, they have also failed to find any sort of creativity/spark from the middle of the park. Let's have a closer look at some vital statistics from the 2011/12 season so far for Huddersfield.

Midfield Goals
Gary Roberts - 6
Danny Ward - 3
Scott Arfield - 2
Oscar Gobern - 2
Rest of midfield have just one or no goals

Midfield Assists
Danny Ward - 11
Gary Roberts - 8
Scott Arfield - 4
Damien Johnson - 2
Danny Cadamarteri - 2
Kallum Higginbotham - 2
Rest of midfield have just one or no assists

From the statistics above you can see that we attack down the wings and that is why both Danny Ward & Gary Roberts top both the midfield goals and assists lists. Huddersfield Town have relied on their wingers to perform too much this season due to the fact that our abundance of midfielders have been poor and have lacked the creativity needed to assist the strikers and score those much needed goals. Our highest scoring central midfielder only has two goals to his name and regardless of how many times the team has been changed around, it is still a very bad statistic for the terriers. Even Kallum Higginbotham who has only just been brought in to the squad after being bought and loaned out for the remainder of the season, is creeping up to our leading assisting central midfielder Scott Arfield.

Going into the play-offs with a midfield that's uncertain who is going to be starting or even on the bench is most certainly not a good thing to be doing. Simon Grayson has tried to determine who his midfield is going to be but i don't think even he knows yet who shall be playing against MK Dons in the play-off semi finals.

Everything looks to be against Huddersfield Town qualifying for the final down at Wembley and gaining promotion through the play-offs but in football you never know what is going to happen and thats why we love it. Come on Huddersfield !!

Play-Off Teams Current Form

Going into the play-offs with good form is crucial as you need all your players to be up for the big games as well as have confidence in each other and the clubs manager/staff. With two out of the four play-off places already decided in League 1, we look at the form of the six contenders for promotion through the play-offs this year.

Sheffield United

Last 5 games

Sheff Utd 2-2 Stevenage

Mk Dons 1-0 Sheff Utd

Sheff Utd 3-1 Leyton Orient

Rochdale 2-5 Sheff Utd

Sheff Utd 2-1 Bournemouth

FORM - WWWLD

10 points out of a possible 15

Sheffield Wednesday

Last 5 Games

Brentford 1-2 Sheff Wed

Sheff Wed 2-1 Carlisle

Colchester 1-1 Sheff Wed

Sheff Wed 3-0 Oldham

Huddersfield 0-2 Sheff Wed

FORM - WWDWW

13 points out of a possible 15

MK Dons

Last 5 Games

Rochdale 1-2 MK Dons

MK Dons 1-0 Sheff Utd

Scunthorpe 0-3 MK Dons

MK Dons 3-0 Tranmere

Preston 1-1 MK Dons

FORM - DWWWW

13 points out of a possible 15

Huddersfield Town

Last 5 Games

Walsall 1-1 Huddersfield

Huddersfield 1-0 Scunthorpe

Preston 1-0 Huddersfield

Bournemouth 2-0 Huddersfield

Huddersfield 0-2 Sheff Wed

FORM - LLLWD

4 points out of a possible 15

Stevenage

Last 5 Games

Sheff Utd 2-2 Stevenage

Stevenage 2-1 Brentford

Stevenage 1-0 Carlisle

Yeovil 0-6 Stevenage

Stevenage 1-1 Preston

FORM - DWWWD

11 points out of a possible 15

Notts County

Last 5 Games

Wycombe 3-4 Notts County

Notts County 2-4 Bury

Brentford 0-0 Notts County

Notts County 3-1 Yeovil

Leyton Orient 0-3 Notts County

FORM - WWDLW

10 points out of a possible 15

Carlisle United

Last 5 Games

Carlisle 4-1 Exeter

Sheff Wed 2-1 Carlisle

Stevenage 1-0 Carlisle

Carlisle 0-1 Charlton

Carlisle 0-0 Scunthorpe

FORM - DLLLW

4 points out of a possible 15

As you can see, Huddersfield Town are currently the most off-form team within the play-off positions in League 1. They have picked up less than a third of the amount of points that rival club Sheffield Wednesday have picked up in the last five games which is why they have slipped down the league table to fifth below MK Dons. All the other play-off promotion contenders seem to have peaked right towards the end of the season and so they shall all be going into the games on a massive high compared to Huddersfield Town who's last back to back win came in the middle of March. What may  become vital is that MK Dons shall take second leg home advantage in the semi-final tie against Huddersfield which is something you want your team to have.

If you was to go on form then Huddersfield Town would be the first team to be knocked out in the play-offs and fail to reach the final which this year is down at Wembley. However, football is full of surprises and a team which goes into the play-offs as slight underdogs tend to play with no fear which can bring the best out of the whole squad. Simon Grayson shall undoubtedly be trying to motivate his players come the play-offs time and his experience with both Blackpool & Leeds has seen him in these positions before. It could well be a stroke of genius by Dean Hoyle to employ a manager who will be able to cope with all the pressures that come with a team in the play-offs. Did he realise that Huddersfield Town was never going to achieve automatic promotion under Lee Clark and ultimately decided to just get a manager on board that has a good past record in the play-offs so that the club have got the best chance of promotion this year? No one shall know apart from Hoyle himself and as the play-offs loom ever closer, the question is...Does Huddersfield Town & Simon Grayson have it in them to defy current form and obtain promotion against all the odds?

Match Report: Walsall 1-1 Huddersfield Town

Another disappointing game for Simon Grayson and his men who had to leave the Banks's Stadium with just a point after once again letting a goal lead slip away. Going into the match it's a result which, under the circumstances ain't a hugely bad result at all. Just because Walsall are near the bottom of the league didn't mean that it would be an easy victory especially when playing away from home. Walsall battled hard and deservedly got something out of the game as they had the chances to take all three points in the second 45 minutes.

It all started off amazingly for Huddersfield Town as Lee Novak slotted home the first goal in just 1 minute and 32 seconds. The recalled Kallum Higginbotham played a major part in the goal as he played the ball to Scott Arfield who neatly lobbed it over into Novak's path who's first touch, followed by a neat finish meant the terriers were off to a flyer. A few half chances were then created by the home side who looked for an equalizer and thought they had got a penalty when Alex Nicholls went down in the area under a tackle from Jack Hunt. The referee however thought differently and waved play on as the terriers cleared their lines.

Lee Novak celebrates his early goal for Huddersfield Town

Injury then hit the terriers as Calum Woods had to be taken off by Simon Grayson to be replaced by Tom Clarke. This didn't slow down Huddersfield Town who were improving as the half went on and came close when Scott Arfield tried to curl one past Walsall's goalkeeper only for it to take a slight deflection and clip the upright. Ex Huddersfield Town defender Andy Butler was causing the terriers problems especially from set-pieces where twice he came close to scoring by beating his marker only to head agonizingly wide or straight into Bennett's hands.

As the teams emerged for the second half Danny Ward had been replaced by winger Gary Roberts and later  we have found it it is due to Danny Ward occurring an illness. Huddersfield Town started off the second half just like the first and looked dangerous from the off but Walsall were having none of it and turned the tables with their first attack which lead to the equalizer. Florent Cuvelier found the ball at his feet after a cross from Sadler and he made no mistake by smashing it past Ian Bennett after taking on two Huddersfield Town defenders. 

Things went downhill for Huddersfield Town after being pegged back and Damien Johnson had to be subbed after picking up a slight knock. He was replaced by Oscar Gobern with less than 30 minutes to play.  The remaining half an hour saw Huddersfield Town struggle to create any threatening chances but Walsall were bouncing forward and keeping the pressure on whilst looking for the winner. Walsall came close with a header from Olly Lancashire than narrowly missed the target. Huddersfield Town did manage to get themselves back into the game with a few minutes left on the clock and Gobern had a half chance to secure three points for the terriers when Walsall failed to clear Roberts cross. Then, deep into stoppage time, Ian Bennett heroically dived at the feet of Ledesma to deny the striker any sort of chance on goal.

All in all, a drew and a share of the spoils for both teams was a fair result in the end but the second half performance was extremely disappointing for Huddersfield Town especially since they played half decent in the first 45 minutes. Grayson rested Jordan Rhodes ahead of the play-off semi final against MK Dons but the starting line-up for Huddersfield Town is still a mystery as players seem to not be able to perform when given the opportunity. A lot of work still to be done by Grayson and his squad as time is running out as the season draws to a close.  

Simon Grayson expresses his frustration after the game
by stating Huddersfield Town need to be more consistent.