Town still have to go to finishing school!
THERE is a big point to be made about Town’s failure to kill off games after going ahead.
It very, very nearly cost them two points against Blackburn on Tuesday night having already cost them three on Boxing Day.
The goalless first half against Rovers did, however, spell out that the issue is not confined to situations in which Town have the lead, as they put together several good moves either side of Naby Sarr’s opener but failed to finish any of them off.
When we say ‘finish’ there, we don’t mean purely that the final shot was lacking.
There were one or two occasions where that was true, sure enough, but there were far more moves where Town would produce some lovely stuff to get themselves into good positions only to come undone with their final pass.
There is an argument that Town could do with having a more clinical striker to bring on whose sole responsibility is to finish off any counter-attacking opportunities that might arise after going ahead.
Danny Ward could well be that striker when he is able to get himself back to full fitness.
But Town also need a bit of work on the communication between the players to make sure everyone knows what their team-mates’ intentions are going to be with those balls across the box and cut-backs from the byline. Just to drive that point home, Town have scored just one goal from inside the six-yard box all season, that being EdmondsGreen’s strike against Barnsley. Other than Millwall, no other side in the division has scored a lower proportion of their goals from within six yards than the Terriers.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing who cares whether your goals are coming from five yards or 50 as long as they go in? - but it’s not like Town aren’t trying to create those tap-ins.
It’s great to see them putting those moves together with greater frequency than at the start of the season, but quite simply there are too many occasions where the players in the box just aren’t on the same wavelength as the winger or full-back putting in the deliveries. Whether it’s down to the passer, the recipient, or a bit of both, getting those minds in better sync could make a huge difference to Town’s fortunes.