A look at the new tactics bringing excitement and results to the John Smiths Stadium

In recent years Huddersfield Town have commonly used a 4-2-3-1 however Carlos Corberan is changing that.

Since the arrival of the Spaniard, it is very clear to see the improvements in the Huddersfield Town squad not just through the transfers that have come in, or the drastic improvement of performance levels in players but tactically and visually Huddersfield Town are becoming one of the more entertaining sides in the Championship.

Corberan’s career has been filled with excellent mentors, ex-Manchester City and West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini, Unai Emery formerly of Arsenal and most recently Marcelo Bielsa. Corberan described his time working with Bielsa as a period of “amazing growth” for the coach when he spoke to Coaches Voice last year. These links to Bielsa remain very clear, the football on show from Huddersfield currently is fast, forward-minded and intricate but most of all, entertaining.

Since 2016, Huddersfield fans have become accustomed to a 4-2-3-1 lineup spreading across four different managers; Danny Cowley, Mark Hudson in spells as interim head coach, Jan Siewert and most noticeably, and the manager held in the highest regard amongst Huddersfield Town fans, David Wagner.

Whilst the styles are very much different, the atmosphere around the club feels very similar to that promotion season, the football is expressive, the pressing is terrier-like again, the players are playing for the club, the youth is coming through, the transfer strategy is smart and the style and tactics are stuck to.

The Terriers have commonly set up this season in a 4-3-3 however, which has also been able to change shape and develop into a 3-5-2 using the wingbacks to create the width pushing Huddersfield’s wingers, often Josh Koroma before his injury and Isaac Mbenza, inside meaning there are more bodies in the box to create scoring opportunities.

This wouldn’t be possible without Huddersfield’s arguably three most important players in this system. The more holding midfielder of the midfield three and the two fullbacks, often Jonathan Hogg, Harry Toffolo and Pipa. However, in the FA Cup this weekend these roles were taken by Jaden Brown, Alex Vallejo and a combination of Demeaco Duhaney and Aaron Rowe covered the right-back/right midfielder option and showed that although they may not be the first choice options these roles can still be very effective in the game.

Taking a look at the heatmaps through SofaScore.com, we can quite clearly define the roles that were played by the four players.

J Brown D Duhaney A Rowe A Vallejo heatmaps (left to right)

As you can see, Jaden Brown is very much down the flank and spent a large majority of his time in the game around to the halfway line area on the left-hand side of the pitch. Demeaco Duhaney played more at right back but progressively moved more into a midfield role into the bank of two with Josh Austerfield. Aaron Rowe however very much like Jaden Brown was very clearly up and down the right-hand side and was rewarded for his work ethic with one of the best goals of the FA Cup this weekend.

Rowe my goodness ?#EmiratesFACup @htafc pic.twitter.com/TYMiDqQuyq

— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) January 9, 2021

However, the most vital position of them is the holding midfielder and this role was covered excellently by Alex Vallejo. The 28-year-old was signed on a free in October but he has barely played due to the standout performances this season of Mr Huddersfield Town, Jonathan Hogg.

However, the Spaniard showed his ability to fluently transform Huddersfield’s formations throughout the game as suggested by his heat map. The former Mallorca midfielder was tasked with sitting just in front of ‘the D’ area outside the 18-yard box and playing as a Libero in the back three. This allowed Romoney Crichlow-Noble and Mustapha Olagunju to sit wider in the three.

Vallejo’s role demanded that he was able to play passes to the wider centre-halves or play the ball into the midfield to transition play through the pitch creating the forward-thinking football demanded by Corberan. There again are very clear links to Bielsa and his methodology which normally sees Kalvin Phillips in this role due to the English midfielders stellar range of passing allowing him to sit and create from deep. Whilst the kind of passes aren’t the same the positioning and roles are very similar and both demand the ability to transition play through their range of passing.

Whilst the result was not favourable for the West Yorkshire outlet it was very clear to see that it wasn’t just the first team’s identity being worked with through Corberan but rather the entire club. His imprint is being executed as Town’s academy and B team play the style of football required by the Spaniard.

Judging from certain performances against Plymouth it’s evident to see the work currently happening in the academy to create players that when needed will be able to make the step up into Carlos Corberan’s first team.