What a clinical, composed performance and sounded like a passionate atmosphere. It’s such a relief to see an Ipswich side seemingly unaffected by nerves and able to play our way through matches. Bar the last ten minutes in the first half, our standards never really dropped and we dominated proceedings. And still top of the league! Bring on Sheffield Wednesday!
Another game won, always going to be a bit physical scrappy with Bristol, but well done all. Ball did well coming on too. Onwards and staying upwards
Another great game to watch. Absolutely dominant first thirty minutes with some really slick and quick moves. A second half professional performance of control and pressure as well as defensive solidity. Can I just say that this is starting to feel like Burley's promotion team. There are partnerships and coherent units throughout the pitch and a real togetherness and desire to do something special. Evans was awesome tonight, a proper midfield general, dictating play and available for the ball even in congested areas. The defensive line was solid and I'm starting to think that Burgess is better than Edmundson. Shame he took the knock, I hope he's ok. Dom Ball slotted in just fine, a defensive mid and a CB are not that different. It actually helped having the composure and passing ability of Ball in that area of the field at that stage of the game. Morsy and Evans are a balanced duo in midfield with both capable of breaking into an attacking position or breaking up play. Harness and Chaplin played well. Special mention for Walton, Davis and Donacien who were all excellent. Harness mentioned in an interview this week about learning so much football theory under McKenna. I've started seeing it in the games, the thought processes and movements of players is down to excellent coaching. It looks like they've been taught about things like momentum. When our players receive the ball with an opponent nearby, instead of trying to move in the same direction as the other player, they check back. The marker then ends up yards away and gives our player the time to make the next pass. It's simple stuff, but clearly evident now. I'm beginning to feel that we may actually be able to sustain this form throughout the season. The squad is big enough, competitive enough and skillful enough to carry us through. We don't need a first eleven, we have a team!
Great performance and an amazing start to the season. Some big tests ahead. Walton - 8 - outstanding goalkeeper, some superb saves and sweeping up. Small criticism could throw the ball out more, something I liked when Hladky played a couple of weeks ago was him throwing out quickly, a few times last night Walton had the opportunity to release Burns but held onto the ball and passed out to CBs. Donacien- 8 - I still can't believe I never knew how good this guy was defensively, he just never gets beaten 1 v 1. Wolfenden - 8 - a great defensively display but tinged with the odd bit of slackness that at some point is likely to get punished. Burgess - 8 - didn't really put a foot wrong Davis - 7 - decent performance although have to admit I wouldn't have him in the team if I picked it, not because he's played badly but everytime I see Leigh he's just superb a monster of a LB. Burns - 6 - hasn't quite hit the ground running yet this season. But it's good to see we're not relying on him anymore as we were last season. Still think having Chaplin in the 10 takes a bit of space away from him. Morsey - 8 - another great night from the skipper, driving the team forwards Evans - 8 - probably one of the best times ive seen him in a Town shirt Chaplin - 8 - picks up some great positions and tidy on the ball. Still a position he's working on as I think you can still see he's a striker playing in the 10 role Harness - 7 - decent hard working performance, looks a good player at this level though has a bit of a habit like the majority of players we've had playing in the wide forward or 10 role over the past couple of seasons to lose the ball running head down into trouble Ladapo - 7 - if I was a striker I don't think I'd like to play in this team, it's a selfless role (something not many strikers would be comfortable doing), worked hard and made some good runs which frequently weren't noticed. Definitely an upgrade in certain aspects on our forwards last season in that he is better with his back to goal however I still feel when the ball goes into the box he's positionally not as good as a Bonne or Norwood. I think Ahadme will take his position soon Ball - 7 - slotted in seamlessly, his first time passing is superb, such good awareness of what's around him. Not much to comment on the other subs other than Leigh should be in the team and I liked the little look we saw of Ahadme, think he could be the ideal striker to play in this team, mobile, intelligent and takes up good positions in the box getting across his marker (something I haven't seen too much from Ladapo) We go marching on but still a few things we could improve on. I thought at times we were quite sloppy in possession, passing to players who were under immense pressure when there were other options on the ball. Also a few occasions where we could've got the ball forwards earlier whether that be Walton throwing it out to release Burns or Davis or spotting one of the runs Ladapo was making and putting him through.
Agree SD it does feel like the Burley era. We have a strong team all with character and technical ability and a system which players can come in and do various roles. We also pretty much have 2 players for every position without the quality dropping too much. And it doesn't feel like rotation, a core of players remain but we tweak it, Burely used to do this all the time. It is probably the most balanced and arguably the best squad we've had in 20 years, we've had better players but not this much strength in depth and that's down to good strategic recruitment and the level of investment.
Very good summary SD, clearly a game we all enjoyed, and I stayed at home without travelling to Amsterdam! I am not too worried about Sheff Weds on Saturday, a draw would be a good result, but if we have a fully fit team (Burgess fractured cheekbone it looks like) then an away win would be excellent, and cement our ambitions. Last few years we have given games away like last night, lost the plot, but it was a very professional performance. And the best attendance in the EFL last night, not that that's too difficult! Suffolk and the world-wide Ipswich community is buzzing again!
Great feed-back, thanks TFC,and I wish I had your time & patience to write reports like that! I was asleep within 10 mins of game finishing, still recovering from my accident, but you make good points all over. I agree about Davis and Leigh, we have great back-ups all over the park, and a flourish of LWBs others would die for. Davis is always good, distributes well, but when Leigh comes, on a notch up! I tend to disagree abut the Lad. He knows and understands his amazing selfless running & positions he takes up, drawing defenders al over the place, leaves the space for others to dazzle and get goal scoring chances. If we had taken them last night, we would have been 6 up by half tme! He is doing what KM has asked him. If he begins to score a few, as he should, then so much the better. A very professional performance last night, my one big worry is we have no obvious replacement for Burns, and at times he is looking out of sorts, but that's maybe 'cause other teams have sussed him out.
Another great performance/comfortable win. Remember how quickly we got to where we are now from where we were when KMc joined.Plus we're still improving and adapting as a team.As others have said this is the best I've seen from a Town side since Burley's time. I know it's early days and we are in the third division but KMc's win ratio is 54.4%,only Sir Alf gets even close to that! (In the modern era). COYB!!!
It has been a brilliant start that has exceeded my expectations. Like a few others on here, I wasn't exactly enthused about a fourth year in the third division. However, it's an undeniable fact that since the Americans have come in, they've invested wisely both on and off the pitch and got the club on a much better, more competitive footing. Making the decision to sack Cook and bring in a younger, more progressive head coach that integrates better in the structure is also paying dividends. We haven't thrown a lot of money in the transfer window this summer (albeit more than most of our competitors), but the first team coaching - a bug bear of mine in the past, particularly during the Cook and Lambert years - has significantly improved. We actually look like a functioning team on the pitch that win games on merit and dominance, rather than just by having the better players on paper. We've got the best defensive record in the division, we've got the highest possession percentage in the division, we're the second highest scorers, and we are the most dominant team in the division with regards to possession in the opposition half. The main challenge now is our next three league games. We play Sheffield Wednesday away (4th), Plymouth away (3rd), and Portsmouth at home (2nd). What has been typical during our time in League One is an inability to beat teams in the top six. There were seasons under Lambert when we failed to win against any top six side. Last season, our record was also pretty poor with only a couple of wins. It's one of the main reasons why we haven't finished above ninth in the prior three seasons. So, if we are able to get six-to-nine points from those three games, it would be a massive statement of intent and a real sign that we're potentially here to stay at the summit of the league table.
It’s a hell of an achievement to pick up this many points, but we are yet to beat a top side so although we can’t put too much emphasis on one result if we can beat Sheffield Wednesday we’ll know we’re really on course for the autos. It’ll take a bit of pressure off the other two games too.
I agree with Mills' assessment after last night's match.It's for the teams below us to come out and beat us to catch us up.This will probably suit our game much more than teams that try to park the bus against us. I'd settle for two draws and a win from the next three, but hope for more to show our intent.
Part of me thinks we've actually come through some of the bigger tests in terms of dealing with teams physicality as BigAl suggests playing the top teams may actually suit us because they're not necessarily used to being the ones being dominated.
A good 3 points with some very nice passing football being played, in fact we would have won by a bigger margin but for their keeper making some sharp saves, i really like the look of Ahadmy, although he only had a few minutes he showed more mobility, anticipation. and urgency than Ladapo and personally i would start him in the next game.
