22/23 Squad building - The middle of the park
(Image: Hoggwarts lake)
Matt Shaw, Founder.
Twitter: @TTCMatt
Ah, the old engine room, the linkmen, the middle third, the hod carriers. In our season review podcast Steven Chicken asked the question of what people would do if Lewis left. It was a deliberate question and one that in private we’ve been discussing for several months. Firstly, though let’s cover off the pre-amble. The midfield last season felt like Town’s weakest spot. For several months we saw Town unsuccessfully sit on leads and struggle to gain a foothold in midfield against teams that kept the ball well, think Coventry and Swansea at home. The reason we believed this to be at the time was Town’s lack of a ball playing midfielder but like buses (or my wife’s complaints at me) two came along at once. Jon Russell elevated from the B Team which in turn stopped the momentum of the exciting signing of Eiting. Russell’s presence and ability on the ball gave Town the new dimension they were looking for and was a huge part of Town’s incredible run during the second part of the season. What Steven, Dave and I felt though was that the midfield of Hogg, O’Brien and Russell still didn’t quite have the balance right going forward and the scales were tipped more towards a defensive structure. O’Brien can go box to box but his best work like Hogg and Russell comes in the defensive and middle thirds and not the final third which left Town a little light in quality support in central areas. If you want me to throw some meaningful stats to substantiate that then I guess you could look at Town’s 9 goals from central midfielders last season (and one of them was scored by Hogg playing as a centre back). Duane Holmes got 6 but played mainly on the flank. Town’s defence chipped in with 20 goals and only 6 assists came from central midfield with half of those coming from O’Brien - Town’s job going forward will be to get more out this area.
Lewis O’Brien offers adaptability and (DON’T SAY IT MATT!) another Swiss army option having played at left back, wing back, left mid, up front, 10 and midfield. If rumours are to be believed we might be losing that, and although I sincerely hope not, I go back to Steven’s question, if Lewis were to leave what would you do? The answer I gave was to reshape the midfield to get more attacking quality through the middle. It doesn’t always come cheap but it should be doable. Then there’s another thing and it’s perhaps difficult to talk about because the guy is a legend and if he ever reads this would be likely to lamp me should he ever see me walking down Leeds Road:
The Great Hoggcession
If Town are to bring in some money this summer, then I would suggest that some is set aside to try and find the Hoggcessor to the Hoggmaster general, a player to come in and challenge the great man, offer competition and eventually a player who will take the DM slot when Hoggy decides he’d like to spend more time at Hoggwarts lake OR if Carlos sees Hogg’s future in that Hoggscherano role of spare centre back. It’s sad to think of but with Hoggy turning 34 this coming season it would be wise of the club to think about succession planning. On the positive side, Hoggy showed little sign of degradation last season and in fact in terms of fitness he’s playing more games than what he did in his mid-20’s and could have his Town career prolonged with the move to defence. Please don’t lamp me, Hoggy.
The systems of Carlos Corberan
The experience matrix shows that if you classify Duane as a wide-man and Hoggy moved to centre back as he did on several occasions last season then there is a lack of experience in the area, and that could be exacerbated further if Lewis O’Brien leaves this window. Jon Russell (36) and Scott High (28) are the most prominent midfielders after this with only 64 starts between them, so maybe Town have work to do in this area.
OUTS
Tino Anjorin - Returned to parent club
Reece Brown - Released
Luke Billam - Released
Carel Eiting - Released
Alex Vallejo - Released
Josh Austerfield - Loan to Harrogate
Up to press, Town have lost some first team depth over the summer. Tino Anjorin returns to Chelsea after 8 appearances, Alex Vallejo’s injury hit season saw him make only 6 Town appearances last term but 23 overall and Carel Eiting made 7 appearances this season and 30 overall in the colours of Huddersfield Town. All three departures are tinged with a little disappointment; Anjorin and Vallejo for their injury and fitness issues and Carel Eiting for perhaps not playing as much as the incoming fanfare suggested he would. We will need to assess the cover for each different role in the current midfield and I’ll do that below.
Jonathan Hogg
Age: 33
Contract: Expiring 2023
Verdict: Locate a replacement.
The Hoggwarts Express has been steaming around the Huddersfield Town midfield for coming up to 10 years. It won’t be long before a testimonial is on the way, although I think he’d maybe prefer a fishing trip than a game of football. Hoggy will continue to be an important cog in the Town midfield and defence going forward but his defensive duties leave a gap that someone else will need to fill. Soccernomics, a book often seen in the hand of Nigel Clibbens around the stadium ten years ago indicates that the best replacements are generally already in the building, if Hoggy is at the back then who better to look forward and tell the next person how to do the role that he’s vacated.
Lewis O’Brien
Age: 23
Contract: Expiring 2025
Verdict: Brace yourselves.
My player of the year but unfortunately, he couldn’t do it under the radar. Some of Lewis’s figures have been off the scale over the last 12 months compared to his peers so when Southampton, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Brentford and Bournemouth are all credited with an interest at various points it doesn’t come as a surprise. The problem I think that Town have with Lewis is the release clause (rumoured to be 12m). This means that another club can trigger this at any point during the window which raises the possibility of him leaving late in the window without chance to replace and that Town may not completely get wind of this as early as they would ordinarily with a player without a clause. If Lewis doesn’t leave, I’ll be delighted but as you would expect this would impact on Town’s ability to reshape the rest of the middle.
Scott High
Age: 21
Contract: Expiring 2025 (1 year option)
Verdict: Increase physicality and lay off the poor lad.
A young lad that a section of Town fans seems to have taken a very bizarre disliking to and seem to love to hate him. Good tune that by the way. Scott High chipped in last season with some steady performances. High is a midfielder who can slot in at 6, 8 or 10 without much degradation of performance and is useful for Carlos in that he can adapt to different formations. Maybe where High suffers is that he is not the most physical player but at 21 has plenty of time to build on that. In terms of attributes, High is quite passable at most things and his lack of a specific skill and his broad functionality is perhaps why he is targeted, but that silliness really needs to stop.
Duane Holmes
Age: 27
Contract: Expiring 2024 (1 year option)
Verdict: Useful. Carry on
Don’t do the Swiss army knife analogy AGAIN for heaven’s sake!!! So, Duane’s flexibility, right…. Ok, ok I’ve done that to death but it is a key component of the tactical make up of Carlos’s side. Duane is likely to play higher than in the centre of midfield but his rotation and adaptability gives Carlos so many options on the field so is a key component of the side. Duane is unlikely to be found at 6 or in a double pivot but can offer options to play as an 8 and across all attacking midfield slots. Useful.
Jon Russell
Age: 21
Contract: Expiring 2023 (1 year option)
Verdict: New contract
Give this man a new deal! After Sorba Thomas, big Jon Russell was the biggest break out star of the season. Russell was initially intended to play wide or at 10 but The FA Cup gave the big man an opportunity in midfield and it was an opportunity he took with both of his massive hands. Russell would not look back and was so impressive in the calmness and control that he brought to midfield, not to mention the strength. Going forward it would be wise to build around the big man and any players to come in would need to help cover some of Russell’s lesser qualities such as his lack of acceleration.
Etienne Camara
Age: 19
Contract: Expiring 2023 (1 year option)
Verdict: Breakthrough and new contract
If I was pushed to pick a breakthrough star for next season prior to pre-season it would be Etienne Camara. Camara spent the last few months of last season training with the first team and by all accounts impressed. The number of released players from last season has opened up a window of opportunity and the sought-after Frenchman now has the chance to stake a claim. An aggressive left footer, Camara tends to play at 6 but his attributes could see him fit in higher up the pitch if Town wished for him to play him there. Keep an eye on this one and hopefully Town tie him down for longer if he shows the promise that I think he will.
Brahima Diarra
Age: 18
Contract: Expiring 2024
Verdict: Pre season assessment
Then I saw his face, and he’s a Brahima! There’s not a trace of doubt in my mind that Brahima Diarra will at some stage be involved with the first team. When and where that will take place is open to discussion.
Diarra spent the second half of last season out on loan at Harrogate Town and despite only playing 13 games became a firm crowd favourite. Whether he can make the jump from the middle of League 2 to the Championship I’m not so sure at this present time. Pre-season will afford Carlos and the gang time to check over the Frenchman and to see if he could force his way in to the reckoning. As it stands, I would lean towards finding Diarra a loan spell out in League 1 but if he was to stay, he could potentially put pressure on players like Duane Holmes and look to slot into the wide areas or if Town employ an attacking 8 or a no10.
Best of the rest
Josh Austerfield has gone back to Harrogate Town where he will hope to play a full season in midfield. This should be a good test for Austerfield and if he plays 30 games or so this season then it will stand him in good stead moving forward. He will be joined at Harrogate by Matty Daly who for me now needs to start showing a little bit more. At 18 Daly looked like a midfielder who was on his way to the top of the game; playing for England u18’s and playing twice for Town in The Premier League, life looked like it was going to be exciting for the Mancunian. In truth, if we fast forward 3 years to now, he’s not really kicked on as many would have expected, but that’s ok there is still time. But with his contract expiring next summer when he’ll be 22, Daly now needs to grab a few headlines and push on. I hope that he does.
The B Team should see plenty of Ernaldo Krasniqi, Ben Midgley and Connor Shanks. All 3 could do with a mix of B Team minutes and short loans. Krasniqi a tall, powerful 6 has had a little taste of first team football at Falkirk and so have Midgley and Shanks at Nuneaton Borough. All three will be expected to make a step up this season.
Sonny Whittingham and Michael Stone will both step up to the Town u19’s this season.
Central Midfield Verdict
I think before we get going it would be good to have a look at the midfield positions and how they’re covered:
The 6
Carlos Corberan flitters between two and three central midfielders in his system but two of them will always have familiar roles. Carlos always employs a pivot in front of the defence (or a no6 as it is called now thanks to the likes of Klopp and Wagner), this pivot will sit deep, organise, pick up second balls, be first receiver for the pass into the middle third and sometimes drop into the back 4 when Town are out of possession to make a 5 in defence. This role has been the property of The General Jonathan Lee Hogg since 2015 when David Wagner first highlighted the then box to box midfielder for the role. However, last season saw Hoggy share some of these duties with Jon Russell. Russell brings different strengths to the role; he has height and skill on the ball but has mostly performed this role in front of a back 3 where he doesn’t have to drop into the backline whilst in defensive transition. Russell also brings more composure on the ball with his ability to pick forward passes. This leads nicely onto the next part…
The Great Hoggcession
The Hoggcessor to the crown may already be in the building. The Nigel Clibbens Soccernomics legacy lives on! When you think of Hoggy, you think of a warrior ready to go into combat with anyone in the league, you think of strength, leadership, someone who cajoles the troops and leaves Harry Arter in a crumpled heap on the floor in his wake. Whereas Hoggy does a lot of the no6 role well, I actually don’t think he is the archetypal 6 that Carlos Corberan prefers, hence his redeployment into defence. Carlos, I think would prefer a deeper lying playmaker, a player who can dictate possession from deep but also someone lucky enough to have half the ferocity of Town favourite Jonathan Hogg. Town have been linked with MK Dons midfielder David Kasumu and I’m led to believe that there is a good chance that he signs for us this summer (by the time this article comes out no doubt he will have signed and this becomes redundant :-) ). Kasumu reminds me a little of a young Hogg, he’s aggressive, he’s box to box, wins a huge share of defensive duels and loves a booking. Over time I would imagine Kasumu would do a lot of the defensive work that Jonathan Hogg has done but I don’t necessarily see him coming in immediately to this role and is more than likely someone to replace or compete with Lewis O’Brien. So, who are the inhouse future anglers catching whoppers at Hoggwarts Lake? Well, I’ve already mentioned Jon Russell. Russell as mentioned cuts an imposing figure and is slowly improving in the defensive side of the game. BJR, we forget is relatively fresh to first team football and I expect he’ll come on leaps and bounds in the not-too-distant future. Pretender number 2 is Etienne Camara. Camara like Russell has size but with added aggression, sometimes a little too much aggression. Camara has good energy and can pick passes with his favoured left foot, but is of course only 19 and yet to make his league debut, so is a little green. Looking ahead to the future and a combination of 6,4 Russell and 6,3 Camara at the base of our midfield would strike fear into any Championship midfield and they can both play as well! The final heir apparent is Josh Austerfield, and much will depend on how his loan at Harrogate Town goes. Austerfield forced his way into the Harrogate side in the last four or five games of last season and impressed in front of a back 4. The former Drig junior has filled out over the last 12 months and the skinny boy who made his debut in 2020 against Rochdale in the EFL cup now also has an improved frame. Not everything is about strength of course, but it does help in the role - ask Hoggy, I mean look at him! He looks like he’s been hand carved in a myprotein.co.uk lab by Schwarzenegger and Ronnie Coleman. Who goes on to replace Hoggy is open to competition but they’ll know one thing, Hoggy will never just hand this role over, they’ll have to fight him for it every single day in training, and that’s the way it should be?
Transfers for the 6 role
If Town wanted to look externally for a new 6 then they could do a lot worse than Conor Coventry. The 22-year-old West Ham player has spent time out on loan in League 1 with MK Dons and Lincoln and played 12 times for Peterborough last season. Coventry improved over the 2nd half of last season and sitting in defensive midfield he provided a great platform for players like Scott Twine to excel.
The 8
The 8 in a Carlos Corberan system is typically a box-to-box central midfielder who is expected to support both defence and midfield and link with players in the final third or force entry points into that area. Jon Russell, Lewis O’Brien, Scott High and Carel Eiting have all done the role this season. Town though having shed Eiting would be light in this area should Lewis O’Brien depart and Jon Russell revert to no6. David Kasumu sounds likely to join but there are a number of players out there who would suit Huddersfield Town if that was not to happen, or if Carlos wanted to play with two 8’s in a 433 or 352. Tommy Doyle was set to sign for Huddersfield on loan last August but for a late move from Hamburger SV; wasn’t that the guy who used to nick Ronald McDonald’s dinner? Anyway, Doyle spent the second part of the season at Cardiff and looked assured on the ball and impressed as the heartbeat of The Bluebirds. Will Smallbone is a player that I’ve liked for a while. He has great movement through the midfield, supports both attack and defence and is on the comeback from a serious knee injury, a spell out on loan could be on the cards. I have already mentioned David Kasumu and in truth if he signs then Town should be covered in this position with Scott High and Lewis O’Brien still on the books.
As previously mentioned, Town do lack experience in midfield if Jonathan Hogg is to move to the backline. If Town were wanting to add some experience into midfield then Conor Hourihane and Romain Sawyers are both available and would offer some form of control in midfield, but how they would work next to Jon Russell is a quandry with neither really possessing the mobility that they had a couple of years ago, but as a rotation option for the big man one of them could be a smart move.
The attacking 8
This is the role that is the most interesting and perhaps pertinent to Carlos’s planning. As I’ve already covered, Town don’t create and score many through the middle of the park and solving this riddle will be quite high on Carlos’s tactical evolution for next season. Corberan typically doesn’t seem to like playing with a midfielder as a 10, hence me using the term ‘attacking 8’. Carlos still prefers all players to contribute to all phases of play so we’re much more likely to see an attacking midfielder rather than a specialist 10. After all, Carlos doesn’t really do specialism, he does functionality instead and focuses on players who work around the structure than the other way round like you get with a lot of 10’s.
In terms of our option for this role, Lewis O’Brien has been playing it and has done ok, but as mentioned his natural defensive abilities trump his attacking senses so I would prefer to see him at 8 if he stays with the club. Duane Holmes is suited to the role but is often deployed wide in order to get him into specific half spaces and Scott High like O’Brien doesn’t offer much threat in the final third so Town need to invest a little bit in this area if indeed they are to tactically evolve and become more rounded. But Matt, who can they sign? Well, I’m pleased you asked! I have a number of sensible suggestions but without exactly knowing Town’s budget it’s probably safe to err with caution. SPIT IT OUT MAN, WHO’VE YOU GOT!? Well, I did have ZIan Flemming originally but you know, slow writer. Here’s what I have now:
Jack Rudoni from Wimbledon has been linked over the summer and his 12 goals for a struggling team last season is impressive. Rudoni strikes me as a possible replacement for Danel Sinani in that he can drift out to both flanks or go through the middle. Rudoni is a natural left footer and Town are casting admiring glances.
Panutche Camara of Plymouth Argyle has sprung to prominence this season through his skilful and buccaneering runs which have seen him labelled as one of the most exciting players in the 3rd tier. Camara would provide a little bit of unpredictability that Town don’t have through the middle
Ben Wiles. Wiles was also linked earlier in the window but Town may find his increasing stock levels will take a fee out of their grasp. Ben Wiles scored an impressive goal against us back behind closed doors in 2020 and scored an impressive 8 goals last season with 7 assists. A strong running and tenacious midfielder as well, Wiles would provide a deep running threat from deep and a strike from distance.
Lewis Ferguson. I’ve kept my eye on the nephew of Barry Ferguson for a while now and think he’s ready to try his hand away from Aberdeen. Whether Huddersfield Town provide a big enough step up is indeed debateable but what isn’t debateable is that Ferguson is a fine goalscoring midfielder. Sixteen goals last term for the Scotsman and offers will surely come in before too long.
Tino Anjorin’s loan didn’t really go to plan, but I would love to see what a fully fit Tino could bring to Huddersfield Town given a run in the side.
James McAtee has been linked for a while but it sounds like his loan may be difficult to do with a long list of suitors and a parent club wanting to keep the midfielder as close to Pep Guardiola as possible. Fingers crossed that the reported interest comes off as the skilful McAtee can play in the middle or wide and would provide much excitement for the Terriers faithful.
