Carlos Corberan changes Huddersfield Town's tune - 'We don't want to be a very predictable team'

When the Spaniard was appointed as coach, Terriers life was all philosophies and fantasy football, but that appears to have gone out of the window, as Tuesday's dour 1-1 draw demonstrated.

Corberan was pleased with the effort his side put in, but quality on the ball was painfully absent from both sides.

I was watching a lot of effort, a lot of solidarity and a very good competitive level to get the point we got,” he reflected.

“Of course the idea was to try and win the game. Especially when you are winning the game you feel like you are close to the three points so I am happy with the competitive level of the team but our feeling is a point is not enough.

“Sometimes we need to know how to manage the moment because if you attack more you are going to take risks and you are going suffer counter-attacks and we had to stop that. The three goals we conceded against Preston were counter-attacking situations. Sometimes you need to find a balance.

“We wanted to play short but if playing out is going to create a problem, we are going to play long.

“I think it's important for us to learn how to create chances without losing control and maybe be a little bit more solid. It's important for the players to understand the moment we are in and to do things they feel comfortable with but also do the things that are going to help us to win the game.

“We have the option to play out from the back and this is very positive for us but we don't want to be a very predictable team.

“It's better for us to use the options we have to play in behind. When the team is more comfortable being a little bit bit more direct we need to adapt.”

Asked if this might become a theme, Corberan, whose club recently signed targetman centre-forward Yaya Sanogo replied: “Yes. I think so. We need the players to be focused to increase the competitive level of the team.”

The reluctance to pass the ball and the wariness of counter-attacks sound like symptoms of the sort of shortage of confidence one might expect of a team with only one win in 12 games, but Corberan insists not.

“I was watching a team with a lot of effort,” he said. “I can't see a lack of confidence when I watched the team play today.”

Equally, he said this is not a team which has gone from tika-taka to route one.

“We're not going to change a lot of things, it's just the game and the situation,” he commented.

“For me it's finding where we are stronger than the opponent because if we have more of the ball but we are not not creating many chances and the opponent feels they can use our playing out to create more chances, it is not going to work, so we need to adapt to different situations and adapt to the game.

“Everything depends on the pressing, the moment and how we feel most comfortable.”

Things, though, have definitely changed at Huddersfield Town Time will tell if it is for the better.

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