Sheffield Wednesday v Huddersfield Town - Carlos Corberan braced for Owls attack

With their fourth manager of the season only into his fourth game at Hillsborough tonight, Huddersfield Town coach Carlos Corberan admits second-guessing Sheffield Wednesday will be difficult but he expects Darren Moore to revert to his tried and trusted methods.
Huddersfield's Carlos Corberan.   Picture Bruce RollinsonHuddersfield's Carlos Corberan.   Picture Bruce Rollinson
Huddersfield's Carlos Corberan. Picture Bruce Rollinson

The sides met earlier in the season but that was when Tony Pulis was in charge of the Owls, and the football they played was much more negative. Since then, after a lengthy caretaker spell under Neil Thompson, Moore has joined from Doncaster Rovers to bring a more attacking approach.

Seven points adrift of Championship safety, albeit with a game in hand on the teams such as Huddersfield the other side of the dotted line, Moore has little choice but to go for it tonight.

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“With Garry Monk they played more 3-5-2 with a low block and a counter-attack,” said Corberan, assessing the Owls. “With the next coach (Pulis), when we played them they were more defensive.

“With the interim coach (Thompson) they were a bit more attacking using the 3-5-2 again and now they’ve changed a little bit. It’s clear (Moore) is a more offensive coach. I faced him with West Bromwich (and Corberan was on Leeds United’s coaching staff) and this season he was doing a very good job in League One. At Doncaster he was playing 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 every game with a clear determination to play from the back and a clear attempt to have control of the game.

“They played 4-2-3-1 versus Rotherham (in Moore’s first match) and they deserved the three points because they did a very good job but they suffered a counter-attack in stoppage time. I can only analyse (Wednesday’s) first 30 minutes against Reading because after that they had a man sent off.

“Versus Norwich they changed their shape, which can be normal when you play Norwich, but I expect them to come back to the shape he feels more comfortable with.

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“They have many quality attacking players and they will be a very strong team, like they were against Norwich. I don’t think they deserved to lose that game but the quality of Norwich’s strikers was too high and they scored two unbelievable goals. The way (Wednesday) worked and competed will make them very difficult to face.

“For both the teams the three points are very important and it’s going to be a real battle.”

Moore talked after Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Norwich about “different opponents coming, and different systems,” and also about tiredness being a factor as they surrendered a 1-0 lead, so personnel changes could be possible regardless.

Corberan has also shown more flexibility recently. Throughout the season he has switched between 3-5-2 and 4-3-3 but in the last three, unbeaten, games, there has been an attempt to be more unpredictable by going direct occasionally.

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Although Huddersfield stood by their coach during a difficult run of five points from the first 33 available in 2021 (plus an FA Cup defeat to League One Plymouth Argyle), Corberan says all coaches are under the same pressure to win.

“We had a run of results that isn’t easy for any coach because we know the job of the coaches is getting results so to have the possibility to keep working is not easy to find in all clubs,” he said. “I appreciate the confidence of the chairman, the board, the club and the sporting director because we have a project together but I know in professional football when you are not getting the results you want, it is not easy to have the patience in coaches to continue with them.

“It’s why we always need to focus game by game. One of the positives of working here at Huddersfield is that there are not many people involved so we are all know the positions we have and are very clear on what we are doing and we all take responsibility for what we need to do.

“We need to go game by game. The job of any coach is always to win the next three points, that’s what we’re paid for, it’s not about how many hours you train the players or how long you spend at the training ground, it’s about getting the best results you can. This is our focus.

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“We know it’s a challenge, we know it’s not easy, but we have to try and forget the previous result when it’s positive and learn from the previous result when it’s negative to go into the next game in the best possible condition.”

Andre Green and Joost van Aken are back in training for the Owls, but it remains to be seen if tonight comes too soon for them, with 10 more games to be mindful of between now and May 8. Corberan picks from the same group of players which won 1-0 at Queens Park Rangers, Huddersfield’s third consecutive game unbeaten and second clean sheet.

Last six games: Sheffield Wednesday LLLLLL; Huddersfield Town WDDLLW.

Referee: D Coote (Nottinghamshire).

Last time: Sheffield Wednesday 0 Huddersfield Town 0, July 14, 2020, Championship.

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