David not happy with all aspects of the performance
- David Wagner reviews win over Preston
- Head Coach unhappy with first half display
- Wagner looks ahead to QPR game
Huddersfield Town Head Coach David Wagner has given his thoughts on today’s 3-1 Boxing Day win over Preston North End at the John Smith’s Stadium.
“This was my first Boxing Day game and I enjoyed it; any day where you get three points is great!
“To be honest, our first half wasn’t the best we have played. I know that the weather conditions were very difficult, especially for the team playing against the wind as we did in the first half.
“Maybe this was one reason, but it isn’t an excuse for me because we didn’t play on the pitch like we normally do and we didn’t show our usual reaction pressure. The game was a little bit slow and boring; not what I expected.
“We still scored a very good goal, but the opponent had two good chances.
“The reaction in the second half was good. The wind was on our back and that made it easier. We created great chances and scored very good goals. We should have had more than our three goals.
“I think most of the key situations in the game went in our direction today. We had good saves in the right moment from Jed (Steer) and the central midfielders and centre backs showed good concentration.
“We also looked dangerous for our goals, plus we got more positivity from the bench; I thought Harry (Bunn) looked very dangerous. That’s the fourth game that has happened now.”
Wagner made a particular point of praising the Town back-line; in particular Captain Mark Hudson:
“It was never in my mind that Mark Hudson would not start today, if he was fit. That was a question this week, as he missed two days because of his ankle. He was with us since Thursday.
“I didn’t see a big problem in his position against Brentford. The team performed very badly in the first half, which wasn’t down to one individual; as a team, we did not bring to the pitch what we expected from ourselves.
“For us, ‘Huddy’ is a very important man. He is important in the dressing room and, more importantly, on the pitch. You can be sure you will get consistency from him.”
The German was also pleased with his midfield pairing of Emyr Huws and Jonathan Hogg; both of whom returned from recent injuries.
“I think everybody could see today that the central midfield of Hogg and Emyr (Huws) was very stable. We were good in ball possession and had a good balance between offence and defence. They were the part of the team I was satisfied with in the first half.”
Nahki Wells grabbed the ‘Man of the Match’ award after an impressive brace, but Wagner explained he will never be 100% satisfied with his Bermudian striker!
“Nahki knows that I always expect hard work and that I will never be satisfied with him! He has an unbelievably big talent, so I will be the man who will stay behind him and kick in the right moment, when he thinks he’s done enough!
“He’s a good guy – I like him – and I liked his goals today. He could have scored a third one, but if he scores one on Monday and we win this game it’ll be OK.”
The win keeps up the recent ‘boom or bust’ run of results for the Terriers and the Head Coach admitted the next step is for his side to record back-to-back wins:
“Now we’d like to make sure we get more consistent; at the moment it is ‘win, loss, win, loss.’ Our target is to win every game; Middlesbrough at home, Sheffield Wednesday away or Birmingham away.
“It doesn’t make a difference if we are at home or away, who the opponent is or which competition it’s in. If we are on the pitch, we’d like to win. Sometimes you have to accept a draw or defeat, but we always go on the pitch with the target of winning.”
Town soon has a chance to do just that, with Monday’s game against QPR coming just 48 hours after today’s victory!
David concluded: “To be honest, I think this is crazy; unbelievable. I know it is normal in England and I respect English football culture, but from the Sports Science and health side it is dangerous and crazy to play two games in three days.
“We now have training in this moment with the group that hasn’t played or only played a few minutes, whilst the recovery group is using the sauna, swimming pool and massage. We will meet tomorrow for lunch and travel to London.
“We’ll work without the ball tomorrow, because the ball isn’t the problem; it’s being physically and mentally ready for another game. It is hard on both sides to prepare, with new information about a new team. You have to be a really good professional to switch like this from one second to another. It will be very interesting for me to see how they react.
“We will make good decisions and put a squad on the pitch who are able to beat Queens Park Rangers. They have the same problem as we do and each game is a new one.”
