English Premier League: Huddersfield Season Review – Terriers live for another season
Huddersfield Town avoided relegation in a very successful season for the club. The Terriers live to see another day.
Huddersfield Season Review
Going into 2017-18 as Championship playoff winners, little Huddersfield Town were not expected to escape promotion. Manager David Wagner became one of the Premier League‘s most loved figures with his quirky remarks and bubbly personality, almost mirroring Jurgen Klopp. The permanent signing of loanee Aaron Mooy proved to be crucial, as did the signing of goalkeeper Jonas Lossl.
Huddersfield finished in 16th position, which came as a surprise to the majority of fans, who expected them to be relegated. They had an up and down season, finishing with nine wins, ten draws, and 19 losses. Although they were the joint-lowest scoring side, they produced some excellent football on occasion and their spine was fantastic throughout the season.
Best Player: Christopher Schindler
Before this season, not many Premier League fans will have heard the name, Christopher Schindler. He was brought in by David Wagner, who has extensive connections to German football, in 2016, and has played a crucial part in their success over the past 2 seasons.
Aaron Mooy and Jonas Lossl both could have been considered for this, but Schindler’s consistency throughout the season was impressive, and it would come as no surprise if he was linked with some bigger clubs in the future. His best performance of the season was certainly in Huddersfield’s 1-0 win over Newcastle United in matchweek two.
Worst Player: Tom Ince
Long gone are the days where Tom Ince was one of the hottest young properties in world football, being linked with Inter Milan and other huge clubs. His career has dwindled down to irrelevancy, but he was offered a window into Premier League football with Huddersfield this season.
The now-26-year-old scored just two goals and assisted zero despite being trusted with a key attacking position with Huddersfield. For someone who was rated so highly just five years ago, you would expect much, much better.
Biggest Win: 2-1 vs Manchester United
Coming off two straight losses and three straight matches without a goal, most would have given Huddersfield no chance against red-hot Manchester United in late October. This proved to be wrong, as Huddersfield exploded with two first-half goals to stun the Red Devils.
They did concede to Rashford near the end of the match, but Huddersfield somehow held on to their lead to seal one of the biggest wins in the clubs recent history. The second goal from Laurent Depoitre was assisted by goalkeeper Jonas Lossl, who caught Manchester United’s backline fast asleep.
Best Goal: Aaron Mooy vs Manchester United
Huddersfield didn’t score many goals this season, but the goal that meant the most was Mooy’s goal vs Manchester United which set up their historic win. Huddersfield took advantage of a poor giveaway from Juan Mata, and their talismanic midfielder Aaron Mooy put home a De Gea rebound.
Worst Loss: 0-5 vs Arsenal
Despite defeating Manchester United in October, the Terriers did not have a great time in many of their matches against top-six clubs. Their 5-0 demolition to Arsenal in November exposed many of their flaws, as Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, and Alexis Sanchez ran Huddersfield ragged.