Corberan: We paid for our errors
TERRIERS head coach Carlos Corberan acknowledged that his side’s habit of making silly errors that end up gifting opponents goals must stop.
Three distinct mistakes from three different centrebacks led to three goals for Cardiff City on Tuesday evening - the latest in a long line of self-destructive goals Huddersfield Town have conceded in recent weeks.
Asked if his side’s short passing style might be playing a part or whether they are just straightforward errors, Corberan said: “You never know where the mistake comes from.
“But at the same time I think we are able to avoid these mistakes and I know that the Championship demands you have to avoid any mistakes you can avoid.
“For example, after we conceded the first goal in conditions we could have avoided, we were in [possession] and they scored the second goal in a situation we were in a perfect condition to avoid and to play better.
“[Cardiff] started to defend the result and up until that moment we might have been able to change the game and equalise, but after the second goal they were protecting more, they were making counter-attacks more difficult for us. And then we concede the third goal.”
Asked if he was concerned about the number of mistakes his side are conceding, he said: “I think always when you start to play from the back and you concede a goal you can say it was the playing that was the problem.
“For me the idea is that we need to solve all the situations.
“Could we solve the mistakes playing long? Maybe yes, but then we are going to lose many balls.
“It doesn’t mean that we need to take that action because for me in those moments we shouldn’t make the passback, we shouldn’t continue playing if with the pass we are going to invite the press.
“There are a lot of questions and things we need to improve. Sometimes it’s going to work and sometimes we need to be ready to find solutions to the problems we face.”
■■SO, a sometimes-toothless attack and an often-unreliable defence. Two wins in nine game suggests that something is not working. So what is Corberan to do?
It’s really boring and unsatisfying, but at this stage we think the answer is probably just...keep going, and work hard on getting better at doing the things they’re already trying to do.
The experiment with Hogg’s position shows that trying to fix one issue can cause one to pop up elsewhere.
In isolation we don’t think that change was a bad idea by any means, but you can only do it so much – being too reactive to every little flaw creates confusion and limits the players’ ability to learn from mistakes for next time, instead presenting them with a
different set of problems they have not previously encountered together.
For all Town’s attack was worryingly uninventive here, they have shown on enough occasions over the last few weeks that they are usually capable of getting at least one goal. This was only the second occasion in 13 games they’ve failed to do so.
They’re not going to go and storm the play-offs, but they’re good enough that they should be a comfortable mid-table side if they can cut out the daft errors at the other end.
I could probably be convinced otherwise but on balance I still feel that the style of play is less to blame for the frequency of the goals they’re conceding than just outright stupid
decisions and mishaps that no manager can legislate for. You can’t march onto the training ground and say “OK, Naby, next time you have the ball in your own penalty box, don’t fall over,” as if he doesn’t know.
But at the same time, they clearly need sharpening up somehow, and this is where managers earn their money.
The good news is that reinforcements are on the way.
Pipa, Alex Pritchard and Juninho Bacuna are all, hopefully, going to be able to make their return to the squad against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
The right-back has been sorely missed over the last few games and will be an extremely welcome addition to the starting line-up.