Pope John XXIII
Vital Football Legend
Huddersfield will always bring three things to mind for me. Firstly, my old history teacher was a Huddersfield fan; back in the very late 90's, I bet him a fiver that Forest would get back in the PL before Huddersfield. To my 16 year old brain, that was a pretty safe bet, albeit one I have since lost. Thankfully, it took so long for the bet to conclude that simple inflation softened the blow.
I will also struggle to ever forgive them for 2017, when they threw their game with Birmingham by playing their reserves, thus totally screwing the last day relegation battle (against us, although Blackburn were the eventual losers).
But more than anything, it's their spaceship in the middle of what feels like fairly rural Yorkshire, and lots of memories of away games there that I will remember.
We start today's game several hours early out of respect for a funeral that no one will watch or give a toss about; the effect being to basically chop in half the first Saturday for months where any of us have been able to frequent any kind of shop or pub.
Huddersfield are crap. Let's get that out of the way. That doesn't lesson the shiteness of Forest, but they are crap.
They score far more goals than we do (43-34) but who doesn't? However, they also concede far more than us; more than almost anyone in fact. Their 62 conceded (to our 39) is second only to Wycombe and both of those clubs are miles out of sync with everyone else (Even Wednesday have only conceded 54).
They are a possession side; impressively so (55% average to our 49%); their passing is miles better than ours in completion averages (79% puts them one of the higher averages in the division). They score more than a goal a game and they take an average of 10 shots a game, which is reasonable (compared to our 11).
But they have significant weaknesses, and these are all in defending;
This is a team who, on their day and against a team playing like idiots, will be able to take you apart with strong attacking play. But they are also another QPR; utterly incompetent in defence, so any team having a half decent day in attack and who know how to shut a game out can have real fun. Make no mistake, our template against QPR needs to be much the same for this game; we just need to make sure we can get that first goal.
Carlos Corberan (no, me neither) chops and changes between various attacking formations over the season, and that has brought very little joy recently. Their most common formation is a straight 4-3-3 (used 20 times) but recently they have been toying with this;
Yes, that is THE Richard Keogh in there.
That Huddersfield are a highly attacking team can be seen in their player stats, where a huge number of players have contributed goals and assists across the season. When they get this right, they get comfortable wins. When they get this wrong, Norwich thump them 7-0.
Frazier Campbell, who I always think is crap, is top scorer with a measly 7 goals (which any of our players could only dream of). But loads have chipped in with 2, 3 or 4 goals.
Key attackers are Mbenza, a Belgian winger who will play either side; he is their direct free kick taker and is strong at those. His 5 goals and 7 assists make him a real threat.
Josh Koroma is their young (22) left winger who has had a had a real impact, with 6 goals and 2 assist in just 15 starts; however, he is recovering from a long hamstring injury and just started in the reserves; they hope to have him back before the end of the season so even a bench appearance against us looks unlikely.
We've all heard the name Bacuna before; a Dutch right back/ centre midfielder, he has four goals and three assists and is strong at the through balls. Pipa is a winger who is another converted fullback. He has high ratings and 4 assists to his name.
Less of a threat is Duane Holmes, the 26 year old American who rarely scores and isn't even especially tall. Never seen the appeal really, but in the last game he started up front.
Compare their players to ours in terms of goals and assists and you'll see such a vast difference. Their team is littered with goals and assists throughout the squad, whereas ours is mostly... Blank.
They even have a defender, Harry Toffolo, with two goals and FIVE assists. He is injured and won't play, but most of their defenders have plenty of assists to their name; suggesting we are going to have to be very switched on at corners and set pieces.
This is a team with loads of team-attacking potential. If their manager can actually sort a defence out, you would see them climbing the table toward the promotion positions.
But, because of their defensive frailties (and lack of attempt to address these), they have had an awful run of just one win in the last ten games - against the only team who are probably crapper in the defence-attack balance than they are.
That said, Huddersfield aren't losing many games; they have only lost to Bournemouth (narrowly) and Norwich (not narrowly) in recent weeks. They are a team that can draw with Brentford one week and Wednesday another; truly bizarre. But, one game aside, they have not been conceding at a huge rate. And to be honest, our form in that time isn't much better.
Our historic recent form against these is not strong; in the last 9 games stretching back to the 2014-15 season we have won only 2 (when fighting relegation in 2017 and then last season after lockdown) and lost six. Our last away win was also my last away match, a 3-0 win in which both Abdoun and Djebour played.
In conclusion, this is anybody's. We are vastly better in defence, they are largely better in attack. They have plenty of injuries, but we need to watch set pieces and through balls. If we score first I reckon we can shut them out ok; I think our defence will probably be better than their attack if we have something to defend. But given their recent form, a draw wouldn't be a shock at all.
Weather will be a sunny but chilly 9°c
I will also struggle to ever forgive them for 2017, when they threw their game with Birmingham by playing their reserves, thus totally screwing the last day relegation battle (against us, although Blackburn were the eventual losers).
But more than anything, it's their spaceship in the middle of what feels like fairly rural Yorkshire, and lots of memories of away games there that I will remember.
We start today's game several hours early out of respect for a funeral that no one will watch or give a toss about; the effect being to basically chop in half the first Saturday for months where any of us have been able to frequent any kind of shop or pub.
Huddersfield are crap. Let's get that out of the way. That doesn't lesson the shiteness of Forest, but they are crap.
They score far more goals than we do (43-34) but who doesn't? However, they also concede far more than us; more than almost anyone in fact. Their 62 conceded (to our 39) is second only to Wycombe and both of those clubs are miles out of sync with everyone else (Even Wednesday have only conceded 54).
They are a possession side; impressively so (55% average to our 49%); their passing is miles better than ours in completion averages (79% puts them one of the higher averages in the division). They score more than a goal a game and they take an average of 10 shots a game, which is reasonable (compared to our 11).
But they have significant weaknesses, and these are all in defending;
This is a team who, on their day and against a team playing like idiots, will be able to take you apart with strong attacking play. But they are also another QPR; utterly incompetent in defence, so any team having a half decent day in attack and who know how to shut a game out can have real fun. Make no mistake, our template against QPR needs to be much the same for this game; we just need to make sure we can get that first goal.
Carlos Corberan (no, me neither) chops and changes between various attacking formations over the season, and that has brought very little joy recently. Their most common formation is a straight 4-3-3 (used 20 times) but recently they have been toying with this;
Yes, that is THE Richard Keogh in there.
That Huddersfield are a highly attacking team can be seen in their player stats, where a huge number of players have contributed goals and assists across the season. When they get this right, they get comfortable wins. When they get this wrong, Norwich thump them 7-0.
Frazier Campbell, who I always think is crap, is top scorer with a measly 7 goals (which any of our players could only dream of). But loads have chipped in with 2, 3 or 4 goals.
Key attackers are Mbenza, a Belgian winger who will play either side; he is their direct free kick taker and is strong at those. His 5 goals and 7 assists make him a real threat.
Josh Koroma is their young (22) left winger who has had a had a real impact, with 6 goals and 2 assist in just 15 starts; however, he is recovering from a long hamstring injury and just started in the reserves; they hope to have him back before the end of the season so even a bench appearance against us looks unlikely.
We've all heard the name Bacuna before; a Dutch right back/ centre midfielder, he has four goals and three assists and is strong at the through balls. Pipa is a winger who is another converted fullback. He has high ratings and 4 assists to his name.
Less of a threat is Duane Holmes, the 26 year old American who rarely scores and isn't even especially tall. Never seen the appeal really, but in the last game he started up front.
Compare their players to ours in terms of goals and assists and you'll see such a vast difference. Their team is littered with goals and assists throughout the squad, whereas ours is mostly... Blank.
They even have a defender, Harry Toffolo, with two goals and FIVE assists. He is injured and won't play, but most of their defenders have plenty of assists to their name; suggesting we are going to have to be very switched on at corners and set pieces.
This is a team with loads of team-attacking potential. If their manager can actually sort a defence out, you would see them climbing the table toward the promotion positions.
But, because of their defensive frailties (and lack of attempt to address these), they have had an awful run of just one win in the last ten games - against the only team who are probably crapper in the defence-attack balance than they are.
That said, Huddersfield aren't losing many games; they have only lost to Bournemouth (narrowly) and Norwich (not narrowly) in recent weeks. They are a team that can draw with Brentford one week and Wednesday another; truly bizarre. But, one game aside, they have not been conceding at a huge rate. And to be honest, our form in that time isn't much better.
Our historic recent form against these is not strong; in the last 9 games stretching back to the 2014-15 season we have won only 2 (when fighting relegation in 2017 and then last season after lockdown) and lost six. Our last away win was also my last away match, a 3-0 win in which both Abdoun and Djebour played.
In conclusion, this is anybody's. We are vastly better in defence, they are largely better in attack. They have plenty of injuries, but we need to watch set pieces and through balls. If we score first I reckon we can shut them out ok; I think our defence will probably be better than their attack if we have something to defend. But given their recent form, a draw wouldn't be a shock at all.
Weather will be a sunny but chilly 9°c
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