Huddersfield Town dramatically improved on their 20th-place finish in 2020-21 by finishing third last season and qualifying for the playoffs. They were extremely unlucky to lose in the final at Wembley to Nottingham Forest. Having come so close last campaign, the Terriers’ aim this season will be to once again challenge for promotion. To do that, they will need to strengthen their squad this summer. They have already strengthened their backline with the addition of Will Boyle. However, a lot more is needed in other areas. One winger who has been linked to joining the Terriers for the past few days is Connor Mahoney.
Mahoney made only eight appearances for Millwall last season in the EFL Championship where he played for only 203 minutes. He failed to score or assist even once. He attempted less than 0.75 shots per 90. He registered 2.23 touches in the penalty box per 90, which placed him in the upper 21%. The Englishman attempted a ridiculous 9.67 dribbles per 90, putting him in the top 2%, and his success rate was 69.23%. He participated in more than 12 offensive duels per 90 and 17 attacking actions per 90, coming out successful in 54.55% and 57.45% of them, respectively.
Mahoney may have failed to provide an assist, but he generated an xA per 90 value of 0.28 which ranked him in the 97th percentile among midfielders. But with less than 25 passes per 90 at a low accuracy of 71.21%, he was near or in the bottom quintile. It is a similar story in ball progression as he was, once again, put in the bottom quintile for passes into the final third and its accuracy. However, the Englishman did make 2.6 progressive runs per 90 and delivered 6.69 crosses per 90, placing him in the top 14% and top 1%, respectively. His 2.23 shot assists per 90 were also good enough to be in the 99th percentile.
During his limited game-time on the pitch, Maloney was mostly active on the right wing, though occasionally, he did play on the left. As a traditional winger, he rarely cut inside and opted to stay out wide. He used his dribbling and crossing abilities to generate threats for the team, as shown by the high xA per 90 of 0.28.
As displayed in the above visual, most of the passes received by Mahoney were in the attacking third. The majority of these came on the right flank, though some did come on the left as well. He made quite a few touches in the central areas but not as much as in the wings.
While Connor Mahoney might be a good addition to Huddersfield Town’s attacking department, he might not necessarily be granted a starting spot. At best, he could be a useful option from the bench.
