Opposition view
Stuart Watson, chief football writer at the East Anglian Daily Times
On Ipswich’s rise…
Ipswich Town – First Division winners in ’62, FA Cup winners in ’78 and UEFA Cup winners in ’81 – produced two of England’s greatest ever managers in Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson. There was a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League as recently as 2001.
A grand old club increasingly slipped off the football map over the last two decades, though. Then along came ambitious new American owners in April 2021, followed by the appointment of young Manchester United assistant manager Kieran McKenna in December that year.
Back-to-back automatic promotions have been achieved in style. A return of 98 points and 101 goals in League One was followed up by 96 points and 92 goals in the Championship. Remarkably, the squad has stayed largely the same throughout.
Portman Road is packed to its 29,000 capacity every week. Suffolk superstar Ed Sheeran sponsors the shirts. There’s feverish excitement about a return to the big time following a 22-year absence.
On their key players…
Leif Davis, a former Marcelo Bielsa favourite at Leeds United, has provided an incredible 32 assists from left-back over the last two seasons. Combative skipper Sam Morsy, who has reached the Premier League for the first time in his career at 32, is the beating heart of the team on and off the pitch. The likes of Ipswich-born defender Luke Woolfenden, goalscoring No.10 Conor Chaplin and direct-running winger Wes Burns have – to name just three more – also been key figures throughout the journey to this point.
So far this summer, six new players have arrived for combined transfer fees approaching £60m. Picking up young English talent with room to develop has largely been the focus.
A club-record £18m was forked out to make Omari Hutchinson’s loan from Chelsea permanent. The 20-year-old attacker is mesmerising to watch and made no secret of his desire to become world-class.
Powerful striker Liam Delap (from Manchester City) is under pressure to deliver from the off due to George Hirst having picked up a pre-season injury. Goalkeeper Aro Muric (from Burnley) will need to replicate the cool footwork of the departed Vaclav Hladky, while Ben Johnson (free from West Ham United) will add some athleticism at right-back.
McKenna has made no secret of the fact his squad is light on numbers – especially in attack. Subs played a massive role in promotion, but the bench looks light on game-changers going into the opener. It’s telling that squad numbers eight and 10 have been left vacant with the transfer window still open.
On McKenna’s style of play…
It’s been a 4-2-3-1 system with plenty of flex. The aforementioned Davis covers the entire left side, with the left-sided ‘winger’ tucking inside to become a second No.10. The right-back tends to be quite narrow, with the right winger staying right on the last line.
The playing style has been bold and brave. Build-up play starts from the goalkeeper. Town bait the press and try to find the spare man. Davis cutting the ball back to Chaplin has been the trademark goal. Whether the approach remains quite so attack-minded in the Premier League remains to be seen.
Likely XI: Muric, Tuanzebe, Edmundson, Burgess, Johnson, Morsy, Luongo, Davis, Chaplin, Hutchinson, Delap.
