Thank God for that...OK, didn't get the correct score, but I was so confident we'd do them comfortably
I’m liking Kipre more each game same with Egali, a confident Philo contributes much more than Hutch did, Cajuste and Mati looking assured.
Still room for improvement but I don't really care. I thought Davis was my MOTM, looked decent going forwards and pretty good defensively. Kipre really solid at the back and after the past couple of performances shouldn't be dropped. O'Shea solid defensively, but gave the ball away a fair bit at the back. It's clear to me we cant do what we did in terms of building from the back the way we did a couple of years ago. I thought Matusiwa and Cajuste were generally decent but I do have concerns tactically about how risky we are in possession, with Cajuste in the team whilst he's tenacious we're very open with him in the team because he's more attack minded, we're pretty much playing with a single pivot in midfield. It also means there is a lot of space between the lines and we seem to play a lot of long balls on the floor which are at risk of being intercepted. Whilst I love Hirst I feel the team at the moment is far less about creating chances for the forwards more about them making their own goals or putting the striker through which means we need that quality upfront in terms of finishing, not sure he's that player. Still his movement was superb and brought others into play but his touch and finishing not great. Egeli certainly got potential but looks a bit naive. Still feel we haven't really got a convincing no.10,.Szmodics buzzes around but doesnt really do a lot and cant really play with his back to goal, is at his best getting in behind but he doesnt look the quickest or strongest.
Great result and great atmosphere at Portman Road. All in all, a good performance and a well deserved three points, especially after that dominant second half. Several big plus points. O’Shea and Kipre were solid in defence, particularly in the second half. Couple of ropey moments hanging onto the ball too long in our box. Davis is back to being an out and out overlapping full back, and looks all the better for it. Matusiwa’s second half performance was very impressive, constantly winning the ball back and first to second balls. Philogene had a great game, full of confidence, and scored a beauty. I’ll give a shout out to Szmodics - pressed throughout and constantly marshalling the front four. The subs also all came on and contributed well. If I had to nitpick, Hirst had another poor game. He’s struggling to hold up the ball with some bad first touches. His natural game isn’t a finisher, but he missed a couple of good chances again today - including a bizarre side pass to nobody in their penalty area. I thought Cajuste didn’t have his best game, got caught out a few times. When Nunez came on, he generally settled the midfield and put in a good ball leading to our third. I also don’t think we’ve quite figured out the right hand side. A lot of our attacking moves down the flank ended up going backwards or out of play. Need to see a bit more from Egeli. Seven points out of the last nine. Three consecutive home wins. A possible sign the team is starting to click and we’re racking up the points. And for all the concerns about this side in the first few weeks, they’ve done something we haven’t been able to do since 2009 and beat Norwich. Positive for them to get that monkey off our back and get the fans believing again.
I thought Hirst and Szmodics were both relatively poor. However they both press very well and their movement is generally very good getting in behind or creating the space for others. But I dont feel we are playing the same way as we were a couple of years ago with Hirst as the figure head with the other forwards popping up in space, they are more runners with the ball or in Szmodics case getting in behind, we're not creating chances in the same way as we were so probably more reliant on Hirst to take them. But I dont think it was an awful performance by him by any means, he did some very good things and even if he has a bad game he keeps the CBs busy and still creates space for others. I'm still not convinced we know where to play Szmodics, I dont think he gives enough on the ball and agree about the right hand side...infact probably except for some gold dust from Philogene the past few matches none of the forwards have really nailed their position for me. I'm not sure what to make of Egeli, clearly has some potential but was very naive and not sure I'm a fan of us having so many wingers who's first thought is to check inside rather than get down the line. Maybe he might be the answer to our 10 position eventually
As always I enjoy your commentaries and look frwrd to seeing it. Presently up a creek in Brittany without a paddle! It does sound as tho it is slowly all coming together but several areas we can improve. The right flank remains a concern. All said, the Suffolk crowd must have gone home deliriously happy to get a big donkey off our back.
