Sanogo could still have a role to play with
IT’S looking likely Jordan Rhodes will be a summer arrival at Huddersfield Town and the club are likely to retain at least one of Fraizer Campbell, Oumar Niasse or Yaya Sanogo to compete with Danny Ward for a starting place.
The odd man out on that list is Sanogo, who offers something totally different to the others - and it’s hard to say whether or not that counts in his favour.
On the one hand, his aerial presence has been genuinely helpful in some games, particularly over his first few outings. Sanogo was a welcome addition to the squad at a time when Town desperately needed an alternative to the playing out approach that was getting them nowhere.
He has definitely helped Town to stop getting themselves into trouble. They have conceded just four goals in the 482 minutes he has played over nine games, or once every 121 minutes. In the 688 minutes they have played without Sanogo from the trip to Preston onwards (his debut), they have conceded 18 goals, or once every 39 minutes.
Given how woeful that defence has been and how badly Town needed a man up top to offer a target other than their own feet, that’s significant.
He can help more directly in defence too. Against Coventry on Saturday, his most notable contribution was taking up a position just in front of Ryan Schofield at corners, putting himself in the way of anything the Sky Blues fired directly at the keeper to try and force a repeat of his error against Blackburn.
Ironically, after Sanogo’s departure, Town scored their equaliser thanks to a similar mistake by the visiting keeper.
On the other hand, Sanogo has offered very little in attack, with Town’s