Ipswich

Norman_Conquest

Norman_Conquest

Well-known member
Ipswich went top of the league last night with another tough win at Watford. That is two good wins on the road, which opened up a 10 point gap to Leeds who got beat by Sunderland. I didn't think Ipswich looked anything special and would have liked to see how they faired if we had somewhere near our starting eleven out. These wins can't be a flook though and all of us have been looking thinking they will blow up sooner or later but haven't.

Ipswich play Norwich next and we all know these games can go anyway, Leeds away which will be difficult, Leicester at home and then QPR on the 29th which could prove a tricky fixture over the festive season but the easiest on paper.

They must have looked at the fixtures from us and wondered how many points they would get. Beating us and Watford is a good start to a tricky run.
 
Linny said:
Apparently they will be found out and aren’t that good. Even after beating us comfortably.
Click to expand...
Even if their form totally capitulates, they still have a very good chance of automatic promotion from here.

51 points from 21 matches to date = 2.43 points/game

39 points required from 25 matches to hit the magic 90 points = 1.56 points/game
 
They are definitely shaping up to be the fmttm new ‘model’ club.

I expect to see a lot of analysis on here over the coming months talking about their recruitment/tactics/training methods/diversity policy etc etc.

The overriding thing I noticed last Saturday is that Sam Morsy apart they are quite a big team in terms of tall and wide players.
 
Linny said:
Apparently they will be found out and aren’t that good. Even after beating us comfortably.
Click to expand...
Did they beat us comfortably and were you really that impressed with them? I know I wasn't.

Last season, when we played teams like Coventry, Sheff Utd, Burnley and Luton, you knew you had played a good side and picked players out of each team that could have complimented the Boro team. Other than their keeper, I didn't think they had any standout players and were a team that worked hard for each other.

I wonder how hey would have coped with our best eleven.

Edit: Given the teams in the top 6, I would rather play Ipswich over two legs.
 
One factor in their success is that they have had very few injuries and ten of their players have appeared in at least nineteen or more of their twenty one games to date. If they get injuries or if they run out of steam by playing every game their form may well dip for they have a thin squad.
 
Gramsci said:
One factor in their success is that they have had very few injuries and ten of their players have appeared in at least nineteen or more of their twenty one games to date. If they get injuries or if they run out of steam by playing every game their form may well dip for they have a thin squad.
Click to expand...
That was our issue last season and it told leading up to and in the play-offs.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
Did they beat us comfortably and were you really that impressed with them? I know I wasn't.

Last season, when we played teams like Coventry, Sheff Utd, Burnley and Luton, you knew you had played a good side and picked players out of each team that could have complimented the Boro team. Other than their keeper, I didn't think they had any standout players and were a team that worked hard for each other.

I wonder how hey would have coped with our best eleven.

Edit: Given the teams in the top 6, I would rather play Ipswich over two legs.
Click to expand...
You don't fluke a start like that. They also had players missing against us, we aren't the only team with injuries/suspensions.

They are clearly a very good team at this level and a sum more than their parts. All credit to their manager and coaching team. I hope we do scrape into the playoffs this season but I doubt we'd be playing Ipswich. As highlighted above, they are in such a position now where their form can blow up and they still make the automatics.
 
They are on an incredible run, fair play to them. Can't see any reason why they won't go up. Would much rather they did it than Leeds. If we did sneak into the play offs I wouldn't want to play them.
I know we are crippled with injuries but we barely laid a glove on them.
 
Alzi said:
You don't fluke a start like that. They also had players missing against us, we aren't the only team with injuries/suspensions.

They are clearly a very good team at this level and a sum more than their parts. All credit to their manager and coaching team. I hope we do scrape into the playoffs this season but I doubt we'd be playing Ipswich. As highlighted above, they are in such a position now where their form can blow up and they still make the automatics.
Click to expand...
I haven't said they have fluked a start, they are your words, not mine, I just wasn't impressed by them.

On Saturday they had a couple of players missing and we had two thirds of our starting eleven missing and fatigue caught up with the players we could field. I honestly feel the outcome would have been different if we could have included the following in our squad - McNair, Lenihan, Smith, Djsteel, Jones, McGree, Hackney, Forss, O'Brien and you could even add Coburn to that list.
 
As an amateur fan there’s so much I don’t notice about teams and how they play. So I might watch a team and think they’re a bit ordinary but in reality they’re very good. The league table is a much better gauge than my novice opinion. They are obviously very good at this level.
 
Every year there’s a team that people say can’t keep it going and will inevitably fall away.

But they never do.

Ipswich are where they are deservedly, no reason whatsoever to think they can’t carry on in the same way.
 
Maybe their manager is the new Brian Clough making silk purses out of sows ears.

I thought Ipswich looked very ordinary on Saturday but as others have said you can’t argue when they keep winning matches.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
I haven't said they have fluked a start, they are your words, not mine, I just wasn't impressed by them.

On Saturday they had a couple of players missing and we had two thirds of our starting eleven missing and fatigue caught up with the players we could field. I honestly feel the outcome would have been different if we could have included the following in our squad - McNair, Lenihan, Smith, Djsteel, Jones, McGree, Hackney, Forss, O'Brien and you could even add Coburn to that list.
Click to expand...
They did enough to beat us pretty comfortably. That's two good away wins against teams wanting to be in the playoffs this week alone.

Even if we had our best 11 fit all season (do we even know who that is?) it's highly unlikely we'd be anywhere near them in the league table so they'd still be favourites to beat us again, in my opinion. We are of course a good team on our day and can beat anyone, but are no where near consistent enough.
 
I dont think they’ll blow up, they don’t play a really high intensity game, they’re just well organised and disciplined, they’re not really relying on one or two ‘star players’. I just think they’ve got it right for this league. Fair play to them.
 
Ipswich demonstrate perfectly how important consistency and momentum are.

Because it's such a low scoring game luck also plays a part, of course it does. But you also have to put in a level of performance to give you the best chance of getting lucky. You need to find that level week after week and keep players fit.

Credit to their players and management they are without question maximising their ability. They have a prefect storm. Other teams have done it before and will do it again I'm sure.

You get on a run, and suddenly everything goes for you. Look at their game against us. We were already decimated by injury, then picked up two further suspensions just in time to play them . And then they still got a lucky deflection to break the deadlock with the match very level and in the balance. That's how it goes when you're in a purple patch.

It's why football is brilliant, it can suddenly just click. Almost defies logic at times.

Take nothing away from Ipswich, but stick most of their players in any other side and I suspect most wouldnt look like anything as special.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top