Toothless Terriers were all bark and no bite in Brentford defeat

In Yorkshire, Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds side had just scored their seventh goal in just their second Premier League game, as they smoothly adjusted to life in the top division.

Nearly 200 miles away in West London, his former assistant, Carlos Corberan, wasn’t having quite the same success, as his Huddersfield team failed to score for the second consecutive game under his tutelage.

Admittedly, his first game was against recently relegated Norwich and today they faced Brentford, who had the second best defensive record in the league last season. And, to be fair to them, they actually played quite well in a 3-0 defeat to last season’s play-off finalists.

They kept the Bees electric frontline – which was still breathtaking even without Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahama – relatively quiet until Bryan Mbeumo scored and then assisted Marcus Forss, all after Josh Dasilva’s opener. They pressed well and played some tidy football, but their problem was in the final third.

57% possession against a team like Brentford is impressive, but perhaps less so when you consider the fact that only 58 of their 428 passes came in the final third. In terms of touches, the front three that started the game (Isaac Mbenza, Adama Diakhaby and Josh Koroma – a forward line that cost the club over £20 million, by the way) had just 74 of the Terriers’ 617 touches.

Stats are stats and they don’t always tell the full story but, from watching the game – the first in the league at Brentford’s new stadium – it’s clear that getting the ball into dangerous areas was a problem.

No Grant alternative

Karlan Grant, the club’s top goalscorer in the league last season with 20 goals, has been absent from both games this campaign, with a move away from the club looking more and more likely. Koroma, who was signed from Leyton Orient last year, has been tasked with filling Grant’s boots, but the 21-year-old was starved of service this afternoon, mustering just one shot throughout the game. Mbenza and Diakhaby also managed just one each.

Embed from Getty Images

As a team, they managed ten, with four of those landing on target. That’s not too bad on the face of things but, looking deeper into the numbers, four of those were long-range efforts from outside the box and four were from set pieces.

Carlos Corberan, Huddersfield head coach stated: “I think today the team took a step [forward]in terms of improving what we do with the ball and having more of the ball. The clear target that we have when we have the ball is creating chances. We are not creating many chances, but we think that having more of the ball and feeling more comfortable with the ball, will give us the access to create more chances. But, as many chances as you create, you have to score goals.”

Corners looked like the Terriers’ best route to goal, with their two best chances coming from that avenue, with Jonathan Hogg heading straight at the goalkeeper from inside the six-yard-box and Juninho Bacuna hitting the post from a well-worked routine. You need more than that to secure Championship survival, obviously.

The two chances that didn’t come from outside the area or a set-piece were the only times that Corberan’s side showed some glimpses of creativity. The first was a ball that was played over the top to Koroma who then had his shot blocked by a defender, and the second came through Alex Pritchard inside the Brentford box but, again, it was blocked.

‘F*cking move, man’

The frustration was clearly felt throughout the game by the players, especially Hogg who often picked the ball up inside his own half, looking to break the lines with a forward pass, but was unable to find an option ahead of him.

Embed from Getty Images

Pritchard was the tasked with the role just in front of the front three and he was usually the only player in the yellow strip donned by the away side open for a pass. He led the way for the Terriers in terms of key passes (three), but Brentford did a good job in forcing him deeper and preventing him from creating anything dangerous.

Hogg was heard screaming, “f*cking move, man” to his teammates, something which would’ve no doubt been echoed by the thousands of Huddersfield fans watching at home.

Moving forward

Pritchard was the only player that looked like creating something for Huddersfield today, which made it really easy for the Brentford midfield, Christian Norgaard in particular, to stop them from manufacturing any chances. The wingers were ineffective and the full-backs rarely got forward enough to provide anything either. Bacuna, who played in midfield alongside Pritchard and Hogg, looked good at times, but was too inconsistent throughout.

Despite only having one attempt, Koroma was unlucky due to the lack of service he got but, having watched Grant over the last few years, he would usually create something out of nothing – an aspect which would have definitely been beneficial today.

A focal point would have also come in handy this afternoon too; someone that could hold up the ball whilst Koroma, Mbenza or Diakhaby run off him into dangerous areas. That might be something that the club look to add to their squad before the transfer window closes.

A bad performance? No. There were postives signs for sure and, undoubtedly, signs of Bielsa’s Leeds too. But Corberan’s side have got a lot of work to do if they are to replicate what their Yorkshire rivals did last season – score a Championship goal…