Eight observations following Town’s 2-2 home draw against Aston Villa 

Eight observations following Town’s 2-2 home draw against Aston Villa.

Portman Road Forest “We always back ourselves at Portman Road,” exclaimed Blues boss Kieran McKenna following the match.

Ipswich Town has only lost twice in 51 home league games since a 1-0 League One setback to Cambridge United in April 2022.

Suffolk lost 1-0 against Lincoln on October 20, 2022. The Blues had 34 shots, 14 corners, and 76% of the game’s possession. That was kind of an unusual result, similar to Maidstone’s FA Cup loss.

Liverpool may have won 2-0 on opening day of the season, but they knew they were playing a game.

This is a place that no club will want to visit this season because of the ardent support of a full crowd.

NO ROOM FOR ERROR

At this level, mistakes that you could have gotten away with in the Championship are severely penalized. Town learned that at Man City over a frenzied five-minute period, and Villa’s equalization in the fifteenth minute served as a timely reminder of that.

When Morgan Rogers in a packed box received Jacob Greaves’ clearance, the visitors still had a lot of work ahead of them. Nevertheless, the England Under-21 player traded passes with Ollie Watkins and turned a pass into the lower corner.

“We’re going to make the mistake for the first goal.” McKenna remarked, “Everyone’s human, and everyone’s trying their best.” When you make a mistake at this level, the execution’s harshness towards you is extremely high.

“When we make those it’s important as a team that we collectively keep going. The pleasing thing is we managed to do that.”

Kieran McKenna watches on yesterday

PASSIVE TO PRESSING

I wrote that Town needed to improve its game management following their early-season losses to Man City and Liverpool. At this point, being compact rather than chasing it should be the first thing to consider after giving in. Simply continue playing the game.

The Blues may have gone too far in the other direction in this one. As the score reached 1-1, McKenna’s team started to settle into a low block more and more. The shape out of possession is best described as a 5-3-2.

Villa grew increasingly in charge of the possession. Eventually, it paid off when Watkins nodded Leon Bailey’s cross home to change the course of the game.

“First half we were compact in our shape, but a little bit passive in getting out to the ball and everybody stepping on,” said McKenna.

“Aston Villa were able to circulate the ball a little bit easier than we would want in a home game.”

It was something Town had to confront with the restart. There is still a learning curve involved in striking the right balance between maintaining organization and confronting the opposition.

Liam Delap celebrates after making it 2-2.

DELAP DELIGHT!

Liam Delap made 68 appearances in the Championship and scored 12 goals. In his six Premier League games for Town, he has already scored three goals.

With a deft move, the 21-year-old met Jack Clarke’s cut-back to fire inside the near post to score his first goal in the eighth minute.

His usual strong dash and stepover that confused Diego Carlos set up his second-half roof-raising equalizer.

He almost duplicated the feat against Carlos later in the game, exuding confidence. He also played the link play considerably better in this one.

McKenna remarked, “He and his family should be proud.””He’s not even that old. At his age, it’s a lot to be leading the line every week in the Premier League.

“There is more consistency to come in his game and I still think he can improve a lot physically, mentally, technically and tactically. There is still some real growth to come, so to do what he’s done in his first handful of Premier League games is great.”

Wes Burns sees a late chance blocked by Pau Torres.

COULD HAVE BEEN MORE

Are there enough goals in this team?

That was the key question following Town’s failure to acquire a new striker in the last hours of deadline day and their subsequent five-match losing streak in terms of shots on goal. But McKenna maintained that his team was not far away.

He was accurate. Town had two goals and could have easily scored more.

Leif Davis blasted into the side netting in the second half, and Pau Torres had to make a diving stop on Wes Burns as the Blues pressed for the win in the closing minutes. Like the Fulham home game, Ipswich appeared to be the team with a much higher chance of winning, forcing ten corners. Sam Morsy, the captain, received his fourth yellow card of the season from referee Stuart Atwell, who also had the option to send him out. barely before the break, Emiliano Martinez made two incredible stops to deny Kalvin Philips and Delap. Jack Clarke’s header went barely over at 1-0..

SAM TREADS TIGHTROPE

Sam Morsy walked a real disciplinary tightrope in this game.

The combative Town skipper gave away a couple of fouls in quick succession midway through the first half when snapping at the heels of Watkins and Youri Tielemans.

Eventually, during stoppage time in the first half, he was booked for shoving Morgan Rogers from behind. Already, he is one game away from a one-game suspension after four yellow cards in six games.

Early in the second half, after referee Stuart Attwell had let play to continue a few times, Morsy voiced his objections loudly and persistently. The captain of the Blues then awkwardly ran into Tielemans’ heels and stood on Jaden Philogene’s foot. He may have easily perceived red.

This game would have gone differently if the Blues had been cut to 10 with over 30 minutes remaining.

After four Premier League games, Ipswich Town is currently undefeated.

ANOTHER STEP FORWARDS

A first Premier League goal courtesy of Sammie Szmodics at Man City. Tick.

A first Premier League point courtesy of a 1-1 home draw against Fulham. Tick.

A first Premier League clean sheet and away point courtesy of a 0-0 at Brighton. Tick.

A first comeback point, courtesy of Sam Morsy’s last-gasp leveller at Southampton. Tick.

A first two-goal performance and point against a team who finished in the top-half of the Premier League last season. Tick.

All things considered, Town are building into this season very nicely indeed.

The next achievement to unlock is a victory. This next block of games – West Ham (a), Everton (h), Brentford (a) and Leicester (home) – represents a good opportunity to do so.

Stuart was impressed with Leif Davis

LEIF FOR ENGLAND?

Leif Davis was Town’s greatest player in this game, in my opinion.

He produced a lot of openings from set pieces and open play while playing solid defense against Leon Bailey. Highlights were a lovely cushioned pass into the direction of Jack Clarke (who looked really threatening on his whole Town/Premier League debut) and a defence-splitting assist for Delap’s one-v-one opportunity.

Can England, with their lack of options at left-back, afford to ignore him for much longer?

McKenna said, “Lee Carsley should judge that right now.” “Leif seems to have a lot of obvious advantages. I felt that today’s performance was the best that he had ever given. He was not pleased with his performance at Southampton the previous week.

He is an aggressive left-back with great talents that allow him to cover a lot of ground and pass well to forward attackers, both with crosses and with his feet.He’s becoming more adept at defense.

“At the moment, his career is going pretty nicely. This 24-year-old is learning a lot every week during his first season in the Premier League. There’s little question that he will prove himself during the season.

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