Ipswich Town played two friendly matches yesterday - one team losing 4-2 at Crystal Palace and another winning 3-0 at AFC Wimbledon. STUART WATSON reflects on the action.
SHOW OF RESILIENCE
Game number one of the day was a behind-closed-doors training ground affair against Crystal Palace.
The Premier League club are currently away on a pre-season tour of Singapore and Australia, but several key first teamers did not travel, reportedly due to vaccination status.
As a result, it was a very strong team Eagles side that lined up against the Blues in Beckenham.
Star man Wilfried Zaha, Belgian striker Christian Benteke, recently-capped England defender Marc Guehi, £22m summer signing Cheick Doucoure, plus the likes of Jeffrey Schlupp and Eberechi Eze all started.
You feared the worst when the hosts scored a quickfire double to go 2-0 up inside 11 minutes. Dom Ball was robbed in midfield and Corrie Ndaba subsequently slipped as Benteke teed up teenage striker Luke Plange. Town were sliced open moments later as the same duo combined in similar fashion again.
Ipswich refused to feel sorry for themselves though and went on to spend a large portion of the first half on the front foot. George Edmundson headed narrowly wide at a corner, while Cameron Humphreys went mightily close after a driving run.
Palace's clinical edge showed again as Benteke beat a high offside trap and finished one-on-one. Plange then made it 4-0 after the restart, completing his hat-trick following an excellent disguised pass by Zaha.
Again though, Ipswich refused to let their shoulders slump. And they got their rewards by pulling two goals back. Ball headed in a deep Sone Aluko free-kick delivery, then Aluko netted himself with a curling finish inside the area.
"I thought we played well for the large majority of the game if I'm honest, but the level of their forward players is so high that one little mistake is ruthlessly punished," said Blues boss Kieran McKenna.
"We've tried to build a pre-season fixture programme which was going to force us to build resilience. We've now played three or the top 12 in the Premier League (previously losing 5-1 at Arsenal and 2-1 at home to West Ham)."
CRUISE CONTROL
Game two, against AFC Wimbledon, was very different.
Town were in complete control from start to finish against the recently-relegated League Two hosts.
The first half summoned memories of some of last season's frustrations. McKenna's men dominated possession, kept the opposition far from their goal, but never really seemed to be knocking on the door.
Leading 1-0 at the break courtesy of Sam Morsy's crisp low finish from the edge of the box, McKenna urged his team to go up a gear in the sunshine. Thankfully, they obliged.
New Arsenal loanee Tyreece John-Jules netted after a direct run into the box by Conor Chaplin. Morsy added a third with a delightful 40-yard lob over stranded keeper Nik Tzanev.
The margin of victory could easily have been greater too, with Freddie Ladapo denied by the keeper's legs one-on-one.
SHAPE SHIFTERS
After Paul Cook's sacking last December, Town finished the season playing with a set system. Sometimes it was 3-4-2-1, sometimes it was 3-4-1-2, but always it was a back three.
McKenna labelled it a 'hybrid' formation that enabled in-form right wing-back Wes Burns to play very advanced.
Now, in the two games which Burns hasn't featured this pre-season, at Needham and AFC Wimbledon, it's looked very much like a traditional 4-2-3-1 formation.
The left-sided wide man (which was John-Jules at Plough Lane) often tucks inside to give it the look of dual No.10s. Powerful left-back Greg Leigh seemed to enjoy the space that created ahead of him.
On the other flank, Kane Vincent-Young operated as more of a traditional right-winger with Idris El Mizouni deployed behind him at right-back.
Different systems for different games? Maybe McKenna has this formation in mind for the days when the onus is on Ipswich to break down stubborn opposition in League One.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
It would have been easy for Ipswich to have taken their foot off the gas in the scorching heat at Plough Lane.
Sam Morsy was a big reason for that not happening.
The Blues skipper really led by example - and not just with his goals.
You could see that steely focus in his eyes. And while he didn't go smashing into any silly challenges, he did snap at heels and press with intensity.
The value of having someone set those standards within the dressing room cannot be underestimated.
STRENGTH IN DEPTH
Over the course of the two games, 29 different players were used. And there are more to come.
Versatile attacker Marcus Harness, whose arrival from Portsmouth was announced at 11pm the previous night, is likely to make his first outing for the Blues at Millwall on Saturday.
Kyle Edwards, who has missed the last two games with a 'small niggle', should be back and involved for that one too.
Ipswich, meanwhile, remain interested in Leeds left-back Leif Davis, former Dijon loanee Bersant Celina and Leicester striker George Hirst. There are others on their radar if those deals don't come off too.
“We’re still active," said McKenna. "We still have a few things that we want to do and we’re working very hard towards.
“Mark (Ashton), Luke (Werhun), the recruitment team and the coaching staff work very, very hard on identifying and speaking to players who we think can add to us and we’ve still hopefully got a couple of additions to make.”
BRIEF SCARE
In the 88th minute of the Palace game, George Edmundson was substituted.
As he left the field, the centre-back bent down and felt the right ankle which he'd injured so badly back in March.
Uh oh... But then a raised thumbs up from director of performance Andy Rolls towards the bench.
"He's fine," confirmed McKenna. "He got a little kick, but he was going to come off anyway."
Phew. One of the biggest positives of the day was that Town came through two games with no injuries.
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