Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna on art of maximising squad potential

Among the favourites to be demoted from the Premier League this season by the bookies is Ipswich Town. Manager Kieran McKenna has been discussing his plans to attempt to overcome those odds.

Four points on the board after seven games played. Although there are many encouraging things to consider, Ipswich Town has yet to win the Premier League in more than 22 years.

When questioned about his over £100 million summer spending last month, Blues manager Kieran McKenna responded, “I would imagine we still have the lowest wage budget in the league by a long way and the lowest squad value in the league by a long way.”Therefore, investing money on players won’t guarantee that we have a successful season.

So what is going to prove the difference if Ipswich, a third-tier club from 2019-2023, are to beat the odds and retain their place at the top table?

When questioned about the secret to motivating a team to outperform, McKenna replied, “I think there’s a lot of different things.”

“The most crucial thing is to establish a personal relationship with a player. To try to develop athletes and help them reach their full potential, you first need to establish that bond and trust.

Not just in football, but possibly in all facets of life as well, we’re not always giving our work our best. Therefore, the goal is to work with them every day in a supportive environment to help them become the best versions of themselves by helping them develop the aspects of their game that they find most challenging and to build on their strengths.

“Being in a good group helps. Having the confidence that, okay, you’re going to a higher level and facing a big challenge, but you have trust and faith in your team-mates and know that they have your back. It’s about building that mindset and belief that we’re all part of a group and the group is the strongest thing. If everyone plays their part and contributes then we’ll each help each other do better than what each individual maybe thought was possible.”

Asked if he believed everyone has the potential to be a star, the Blues boss thought for a second and replied: “No, I don’t think so. I don’t think star is the word. I think everyone has the potential to improve and potential to develop though.

“Not many people are operating at their maximum capacity every game – whether that’s physical reasons, technical reasons, mental reasons, tactical reasons. So it’s trying to help each player in each of those areas. We’ve created an environment that has been built to support them.

“On top of that, I believe in building a system that brings out the strengths of the players and limits their weaknesses, to a certain extent. I think we’ve done that with the group we’ve had here over the last couple of years. I think those who’ve watched us enough see players playing in really specific roles that suit their profiles really, really well.

“Wes Burns is a good example of a player who has played a variety of positions throughout his career; he has played wing, striker, and right back. However, we have looked for a role that highlights his best qualities, which are wide on the touchline and able to run into space behind the defence without being overly responsible for creative passing in the build-up and other things of that nature. In the process, he left Fleetwood Town, where he was a signing worth 50,000 pounds, and went on to play brilliantly in the Premier League against players like Andy Robertson of Liverpool.

“That’s just one example. You can go through the rest of the group. It’s about trying to build a system that brings out the best attributes in your players and maybe masks some of the things they’re not so good at. At the same time you still acknowledge and work on the things they can maybe do better.”

Those home games against teams that are probably in the scrap for relegation seem crucial. When the games conclude, more than 25% of the season will have been played.

“We want to be as competitive as we can every week, so I think we’re on track in that regard because we’ve been competitive for the majority of our games,” McKenna stated.

We’ve experienced draws where you may win or lose on a different day. However, you give yourself a better chance of finding a means to earn a result if you can compete in as many matches as you can. It’s impossible to ignore the fact that Town’s next three games are crucial: Everton (h), Brentford (a), and Leicester (h).

Ipswich Town will be looking to bounce back from a 4-1 defeat at West Ham when they host Everton at Portman Road this weekend.

We are aware that we won’t win by four or five points every week, so our focus now needs to be on becoming a better team by competing well and finding ways to go above and beyond in order to win games.

Point totals, league rankings, and other such things don’t really interest me, as I’ve stated numerous times, especially at this point in the season. While accumulating as many points as possible is undoubtedly our ultimate objective, our first priority must be to remain as competitive as possible in the division while we work to further our team’s development. I believe we’ve accomplished that overall.

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