What is the continued obsession with one up? It’s a recipe for disaster. We would be better to play Roberts or Edwards up front, especially in this division. I would play Dobra behind the forwards ahead of Judge.
I believe it’s the ideal formation and if we have creative midfield players that can score, which I think we do at this level, then it should mitigate the endless long ball style of football we’ve been seeing. I’ve got no issue with two up front, if Norwood and Jackson are both fit and on form. But take out best striker, Norwood, out and why should we accommodate Jackson and a half fit Keane for the better midfield options we have on the bench?
The reverse should be true. A struggling forward up front on their own is going to get absolutely nowhere as we found all of last season. The only player at the club who could make a success of that role is Norwood.
Last season was a team devoid of confidence, with the top five goalscorers ripped out of the team and not adequately replaced with proven Championship experience. The defence was clearly not cut out for the Championship level either. This season offers a brilliant chance for an identity and a new approach to attack built from easier games. I believe if we just try and get promoted by relying on a better standard of squad and sticking with 4-4-2, we’ll get found out against Championship opposition and the aimless long ball style of play will get dealt with by better opposition. Ultimately though, I admit that getting out of this division at the first attempt is imperative. As poor as the standard of play has been at times, we are unbeaten.
If we played a front three with Sears and Edwards down the wings we would clean up. If we play a midfield five with the likes of Skuse, Downes, Judge, Dozzell, Bish in that five we will struggle even at this level. So it’s a bit about interpretation but any club that makes a success of one striker up has got plenty of riches in attack that I just don’t believe Town have in the squad.
Just the sort of result we need to get us out of this League!Bit hairy second half but I’ll settle for that!
I think Dobra and Georgiou would provide plenty of penetration out wide. I’d also be tempted to play Jackson down there and see how good he’d be as an inside forward. This division is not as hard as we’ve feared. We should be looking ahead to building a competitive team in the Championship next season. Evans will have to provide further investment in this squad to make up for the several seasons of underinvestment in this playing squad. We’ve got plenty of options for three in central midfield that can provide creativity and goals, but that’s my opinion.
Hellovan effort from the lads today. Holy MOM for me. Will Keane must do better after bigging himself up in the press, offered nothing today.
Playing 1 upfront with lots of good attacking support players in theory sounds good to me, however in my 25+ years of following Ipswich I've only ever seen us play well with 2 formations and that's 442 or 532. I've never seen us use 1 upfront effectively and I'm not convinced by it. Sounds like the formation today worked well with plenty of options on the ball and players adapting to the situation. Until somewhat inevitably we ran out of steam which is hardly surprising considering we had 4 players on the pitch lacking match fitness. Good result, shame for the last minute Coventry winner but looks like a tight league. We shouldn't be looking too far ahead building a team for next season in the Championship, there will be lots of bumps ahead and it's certainly not a forgone conclusion. There are a few teams who have some serious fire power for this division who have yet to get up to full speed and if we have a serious injury to Norwood we could find life alot harder. Our squad isn't as strong as people make out. It has potential but these players need to prove they can perform week in week out or stay injury free. The one positive is it feels like we have a few more gears to go up. I do have a slight concern though that because we've had so many players injured alot of our first team haven't had a great pre-season and going on seasons past this often can mean they are very hit and miss. Very impressed with Lambert, given our injury situation, inexperienced squad and lack of money spent we couldn't have wished for a better start.
You lads are obviously starting to enjoy life in L1. I must say that apart from last season it's the one I enjoyed most in recent years. I was keeping an eye on scores online and it was only a late winner by Coventry that deprived you of top spot. I must admit that, as I live in Wenhaston, I'm a bit tempted to come and watch.
Just because we haven’t been able to use the one up / three forwards system before, doesn’t mean we should be completely adverse to it for the future. Successful clubs in football these days typically play with three forwards and three central midfielders, or some variation on it. With two centre forwards, your midfield will typically struggle against teams lining up with more numbers in midfield. Two strikers up top also encourages a long ball style of football, something which we are still seeing quite a lot of, despite the success in results. To me, it isn’t sustainable and it isn’t ideal when / if we get promoted into the Championship. If Norwood is out long term, or even for the next match, it doesn’t make sense to me to replace him with a half fit Keane - when we’ve got better options out wide and in midfield.