This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Jason Pearce put in a poor performance at the heart of Charlton Athletic’s defence as they lost 1-0 to Huddersfield Town.
On the chalkboard
It took the away side until the 92nd minute to finally get the ball in the back of the net, as Matty Daly swept Florent Hadergjonaj’s low cross past Dillon Phillips.
However, this does not mean that Charlton were necessarily solid in their play, as is concerningly embodied by their captain, Jason Pearce.
He was at the heart of their three-man defence, but was calamitous when dealing with a threat coming towards him.
To essentially have ten chances to win the ball back in a one-on-one situation, and then not come out on top once is a pretty damning indictment of the defender’s performance.
Highly concerning
There were some positives about the 32-year-old’s game, as he made four clearances, one interception and won four of his five aerial duels.
Calling all Premier League experts: Who do these unique statistics belong to? Find out below….
However, considering he is at the very centre of the team’s backline, it should be a concern to Lee Bowyer that Pearce showed an inability to get the better of his opposition when the ball is on the floor.
Hull City could choose to target him as somebody to run at when the two teams face off on Friday night based off the back of this performance.
If you consider the rampant nature of Jarrod Bowen, who has scored 14 times this season and recorded 2.1 dribbles per game, he could be in trouble.
Couple that with the creativity of Kamil Grosicki, a man who has managed 2 key passes on average each outing, and Pearce may be carved open on a regular basis.
In other news, the defender had spoken about the team’s performance against Middlesbrough before the match.
