First Half Disappoints Wagner

Head coach David Wagner was a very disappointed man at half time in the game last weekend against Brentford.

Finding ourselves three nil down at the half time break, a second half rally saw us find the net twice but it wasn’t enough as the hosts came out with a four two victory.

Speaking to the Official Site in his post game press duties, the gaffer explained that it was a very poor half and undoubtedly the worst 45 minute showing since he came into the club and the major problem for him was the players didn’t seem to trust themselves or each other.

‘The first half was the worst we have played together. We had no control over the game in the first 45 minutes. We were not able to keep the ball, especially in the centre of the game. We had a first touch and were bad at passing. The pressure got higher and higher from the opponent as they scored very early and our self-confidence wasn`t the best. We had a lot of problems in the first half, but the biggest was that we didn`t trust in ourselves and our game enough.’

With a far improved second half showing resulting in two goals, even if it didn’t really make much of a difference to the final result and the outcome, Wagner said he had to be pleased with the response because it was all he could then ask of the players at the break.

‘The only thing I asked of my squad at half time was to show character. The second half had nothing to do with the first and we needed to show we were able to bring our game to the pitch. The first half was over – we couldn`t change that – but we were able to change the second, and that is what the squad did. The opponent also had a couple of chances in the second half, but I think we could have scored two or three goals more in the second half; no problem, as we had very good chances. In the end though, we lost this game because of the very bad first half. I was pleased with the reaction in the second half, but the first was not good enough.’

With controversy over the penalty award for their fourth which killed any real hope of a fightback following Joe Lolley’s quick second half strike, Wagner said he didn’t know at the time of speaking if it was a penalty, but he more than accepted many thought it was harsh.

For him though the final result meant we had to blame ourselves for the loss and the penalty decision becomes irrelevant.

‘I am too far away to recognise if it was a penalty or not, although everyone was surprised. To be honest though, the first half wasn`t good enough to allow us to get some points today. I knew this could be an interesting game and it was, but I didn`t get the performance I expected from our team. In the end, if two teams like this play a game against each other it is the team that is more aggressive that is able to win. In the first half this was not my team. Before the game, we knew exactly what we had to do to be successful in this game against a similar style opponent, but we were not able to bring it on the pitch in the first half. I didn`t expect this and I am disappointed. It is the first time I have seen our team play like this. We have to trust ourselves; that is what the game showed us today.’

He also spoke about the injury situation in midfield, but again wasn’t going to use that as an excuse for the result.

‘Everybody knows we have a problem in the midfield position at the moment as we`ve lost Dean Whitehead and Emyr Huws, as well as ‘Hoggy` and Phil Billing. We tried to find a solution. However, we were also unable to close the wings or to pressure them with our offensive players in the way we have in the past. I am not the man who likes to pick out one or two players and give them the responsibility for what happened in the first half. We didn`t see the best game from anyone. Why we had so many problems is a good question. A better question is why we were able to do it in the second half. This is what we have to think about. A big point is that the squad has to trust in itself and believe that they have the quality to bring our game on the pitch. In the first half, this wasn`t the squad I have seen in the past.’

With Kyle Dempsey notching his first goal for the club late on in the game to give the scoreline a slightly more respectable look, he was also interviewed at the final whistle and whilst he was pleased to open his account, he knew it counted for little given the result.

The 20 year old explained that sadly with the first half showing we had given ourselves a mountain to climb.

‘It felt brilliant to score my first goal, but that kind of got killed off as the game had already gone at 4-1 down. It`s only worth a bit of personal pride, but I didn`t take it as an achievement in today`s game. Later, it will have been a massive thing for me to score my first goal in the Championship. I wrote a tweet after I missed a few chances against Rotherham – two good chances – saying that my time at Huddersfield wasn`t quite right yet, as I was missing chances that I shouldn`t. I promised myself I would put that right and I got an opportunity, had a chance and put it away. To do that backs up what I said and hopefully proves what I am about.’