Argyle v Huddersfield: 5 things we learned

Keep scrolling for our weekly Argyle moodboard

Aug 10, 2023

Welcome to Ep. 9 of One Team In Devon.

The Championship season is underway, and it could barely have got off to a better start.

After the fretting and anticipation (just me?) ahead of the first game, Argyle showed their class and quality with a 3-1 win over Neil Warnock’s Huddersfield.

An electric atmosphere Home Park matched the occasion, and thanks to Huddersfield’s 1,600 fans, it finally felt like Championship football was back.

I’ve watched the game back, and without the emotions of the day, the game wasn’t a classic. Huddersfield looked like a team that could have problems this season. Argyle stuttered through the game, not quite clicking in large parts, and then did what they do best: found two moments of brilliance and blew Huddersfield away.

We’re not here to dissect the performance – but here are five things we learned from the first game of the season:

Mumba is the new Danny Mayor after all

Back in Ep.7 we speculated about whether Mumba had been signed to play a new role for Argyle. With the move to 4-3-3, it seemed implausible for us to play Mumba as a left back, even if we did give him the #2 shirt.

Well, that prediction aged very well.

Unsurprisingly, he took up the position as a left-sided forward, inhabiting the same grass as Danny would have last season. And what an upgrade he looks.

We don’t need to rake over Danny’s strengths and weaknesses – he’s one of the most gifted players we’ve had at Argyle.

But Mumba’s aggression, directness, speed, and single-minded threat make him the antithesis of three years of Danny Mayor.

And with Whittaker cutting onto his lethal left foot from the other flank, and Callum Wright (or Azaz/Cundle) swarming forward, is there any team in the Championship that would fancy playing against this 4-3-3 at Home Park?

We’re ready for the Championship

The most pleasing aspect of Saturday, once the initial buzz had died down, was that we registered our first points on the board. We will have to play better and make fewer mistakes for our next.

But there’s no doubt now that this squad has enough quality for the Championship. Under-the-radar performances from Edwards, Kesler-Hayden and Houghton offer reassurance that core players can thrive.

With the extra man in midfield, and less attacking work required by the full backs, this new system has the potential to unlock untapped potential in the squad.

This team could look dramatically different very soon

Possibly the most exciting aspect of Argyle right now, is that much of the team could look totally different come September.

We know that Schuey loves to rotate and keep the whole squad included – possibly to the detriment of cohesion at times. But what if only four of Saturday’s XI make our theoretical first team?

We’re being a little extreme, and putting colossal disrespect on Hardie who walks into the central center-forward position.

But with a new striker coming in, and impressive debuts from Pleguezuelo (who was handed the captaincy) and Cundle in the Carabao opener against Leyton Orient, it’s not too difficult to imagine the team looking something like this:

And just the fact that we have so many options should excite any Argyle fan.

But we have a mini-injury crisis and it’s August

It’s sort of going under the radar, but we have a genuine injury problem. If this was in the mid-season, it would get more scrutiny.

With Gillesphey, Miller and Galloway out, we look very thin on the left. Butcher played at LCB in the Carabao Cup, which is not ideal for the second game of the season. Could he do that in the Championship? Would we want him to? Gillesphey and Galloway also need to catch up on match fitness, once they do come back.

That’s knocking on to issues with distribution. I can’t help but feel that Hazard would be under less pressure if Gillesphey was starting the season over Gibson, who also looked unsure about playing out under pressure.