Charlton Athletic 1
Huddersfield Town 0
Reported by Richard Holt
An ultra defensive line up with a back five as above, and a defensive
midfield line up of Smith.. left side, Phillips... Centre, Johnson right
side. In the back five Jenkins and Dyson were the man markers with Watts
playing a free role in the centre. A bit curious because Watts didn't sweep
in the conventional sense... just played level most of the time. Having said
that he played ok, won most things in the air, and Town rarely looked in
trouble.
I agree with the ultra defensive formation but was very suprised that
neither Dalton or Stewart played up alongside Allison on the break. The
pace of either one of them alongside Allison would have made Town much more
potent on the breakaway. With the current squad this is the only way Town
can play. We are not going to dominate teams or pass them off the pitch
without any offensive talent in midfield. We sorely missed Horne, he is not
much of a creative player ... but that is how much we missed him!
So we could have easily drawn this game and would have done so but for the
injury to Dyson which disrupted the marking at the back. We could have
nicked it when Barnes hit the post with a header in the first half and
would have deserved just as much as Charlton evenetually did.
Charlton were extremely dissapointing but a lot of this was down to Towns
defensive formation and tight marking, we gave them little room. The one
noticable difference was the amount of movement by the Charlton front three
who never stopped running , or making runs for each other. Whereas Town are
now a very static side with Allison ploughing a furrow down the middle with
no one appearing to play close to him or run off him . Barnes did ok as an
individual, even beat defenders at times. You can see why Jackson likes him
because he is a bit more of an obvious battler than Stewart or Dalton.
However, he has nowhere near their pace, class or vision.
Only option for Town for rest of season, is to play it very tight with a
lot of men battling behind the ball and hope for the breakaways as per WBA
and Birmingham games. Give nothing away and play for a break.
Time to think about tricky wingers and classy midfielders is at the end of
the season, whether we are in Div 1 or 2. This squad may just keep us in
Div 1but I don't think this squad would automatically get back out of Div2
... there is food for thought!
Harper ... very sound game ... no chance with the goal
Edwards ... looked the part in the first half playing against Newton who
has always been a problem for Town. I think Newton skinned him for the
cross for the goal ... probably one of the few times he got past him.
Jenkins ... played suprisingly well ... plays better here than fullback or
midfield where his pace is exposed.
Watts ... best I've seen him play ... won most things in air
Dyson ... sound as usual
Edmonson ... never looked comfortable either defensively or going forward
Smith ... not bad but probably the most one footed player I've ever seen.
Lost two good chances to shoot from just outside the box because he
couldn't use his right peg.
Phillips ... did ok but obviously well out of position. Whereas Horne can
put his foot on it and change the play ...all Phillips could do under
pressure was hoof it hopefully forward.
Johnson ... generally battled well. I'm not sure if he is 10 yeas ahead of
his time like Martin Peters. Struck some wonderfully perceptive looking
passes .... which either went nowhere or to a Charlton player. Worth
persevering with. A mid field of Horne, Johnson, Bullock and Makel all on
top of their games would do well in div 1 ... or 2!
Allison ... battled well as usual. No one seemed to be close enough to him
to make anything he did count.
Barnes ... not bad but I don't think the Charlton defenders were too
worried by him as an individual, and no link up with Wayne.