Huddersfield Town player verdicts as Gooch and Goodman stand out vs Burnley
The Premier League side claimed a 0-2 victory at the Accu Stadium with a pair of second-half goals in a predictably one-sided exercise
Owen Goodman — Impressive showing with a variety of different situations to deal with: tipped one onto the crossbar, stopped a one-v-one, stopped one to the bottom corner, saved with his feet. Capped it all off with a spectacular late save shortly before Burnley got their second — may have been able to do more there if he had reacted sooner but had good reason to believe Josh Feeney had it covered.
Lynden Gooch — Got his first outing in a Town shirt and made a great first impression, playing right-back as expected. Charged down a Quilindschy Harman shot in the early going. Lovely cross in for Joe Low on the second phase a first-half corner. Solid with his defending. Departed at the break in a planned sub.
Jack Whatmough — Let his man get away on one occasion in the first half, with Goodman making the save, but otherwise dependable and helped limit Burnley’s opportunities with some well-timed interventions, particularly early in the second half. Unclear whose man McDermott was as he got free to score his header — we had no access to replays in the ground — but seemed to be into his or Sorensen’s kind of territory.
Joe Low — Got his longest outing of the summer with a good hour under his belt. Unable to get his header from Gooch’s cross on target after making a decent run into space. Has a real knack for putting himself in the right place at the right times and making it look effortless.
Jay Sway — Continued in the hybrid left-back/centre-back role after impressing against Greuther Furth last weekend. Again did not look out of place.
David Kasumu — Good recovery in the first couple of minutes to stop Burnley getting into the box. A little loose with some of his passing in front of the Town box.
Herbie Kane — Had to do plenty inside his own box in the second half to help cut out crosses. Had fewer opportunities to be creative than he would like, which was to be expected given the standard of the opposition.
Marcus Harness — Worked tirelessly hard in all areas of the pitch and got a few ripples of appreciative applause from the Town fans for his efforts. Could have been more precise with is passing when trying to turn those efforts into a counter-attack, but was necessarily mobile when Town were in possession to try and get himself into space to receive the ball.
Ben Wiles — Spent the first half joining May in chasing Burnley down but had to drop back after the break as Burnley utterly dominated the territory.
Ruben Roosken — Got into attacking positions quickly and well on the rare occasions Town were able to get forward against their Premier League opponents, but unable to make them pay off. Kept Kyle Walker largely under control. Needs to be a bit more convincing with his dives if he’s going to do it. Moved to left-back on the hour and cut out a couple of dangerous through balls. Picked up a bit of a knock late on but seemed to go off OK.
Alfie May — Chased down the Burnley centre-backs practically every time they were in possession. Nothing in the way of chances to speak of — hopefully will see plenty of that in the season ahead though.
Substitutes
Lasse Sorensen (for Gooch 46) — Came on at the break and struggled to match Gooch’s standard with Burnley finding some success getting past him around the edges of the box. Would have been booked in a competitive game for a rash sliding challenge eight minutes into the second half. Would probably be more at home playing in the kind of high press Town showed off in the first half before dropping back considerably after the break. Better later in the game after Burnley introduced a fleet of younger players.
Josh Feeney (for Low 61) — Came on moments before Burnley went ahead. Unable to get in front of Westley as he poked home a knockdown for the visitors’ second.
Cameron Ashia (for Sway 61) — Went onto the left wing with Roosken dropping to left-back. Hard-working as ever.
Joe Taylor (for Harness 71) — Played in Harness’ right channel with Charles going to centre-forward — could be a viable role for Taylor if Town wanted him on the pitch alongside May.
Bojan Radulovic (for Wiles 71) — Mirrored Taylor’s number 10 role in the left channel.
Dion Charles (for May 71) — What you’d expect in this kind of game: lots of chasing, tried to help in the build-up.
Radinio Balker (for Whatmough 71) — One over-extravagant touch aside, gave Town a different dimension on the ball.
Ryan Ledson (for Kasumu 76)
Dan Vost (for Kane 76)
Freddie Ladapo (for Roosken 83)
Unused subs: Lee Nicholls, Francis Hurl.