How Huddersfield Town can correct one key area to be even bigger threat in Championship

As Carlos Corberan is fond of pointing out, talking about the defensive and attacking sides of the game as separate entities is an inherently silly thing to do. What you do in one phase of play affects what happens in another; it is when you are able to find the best possible balance between the two that you start getting results.

For the most part last season, Town found that balance extremely well, and it led them to a massively unexpected third-place finish and a place in the play-off final. But that game in itself offered food for thought on where this side needs to improve next season if they are to go one step further and achieve promotion to the Premier League.

We’ve discussed why Town’s best chance to further success next season is probably to be found in improving their attacking output from open play, which improved over the second half of the season but still left them with a mid-table record at best based on chance creation, goals scored and expected goals.

Saying they need to find a way to do it is quite different from working out how to make it happen, though. That is the job facing Corberan and his staff this summer, and should inform the club’s thinking in their transfer dealings too.

It is probably only sensible for them to imagine life without Lewis O’Brien when making those plans. If the midfielder ends up staying, fantastic; those ideas would still work with him in the side. But if not, they will be as prepared as they can possibly be to cope with the loss of a key player.

Town’s defensive record last season offers another starting point. There should be caution over disrupting a system that was the bedrock of their excellent form last season. And the analysts will already know why that was.