Ipswich Town vs Leicester City Match Analysis

StriderHiryu · 4 November 2024

Better late than never, it's time for the post match analysis of yet another huge six pointer at the bottom of the table. We came away with a point, but were lucky to do so.

^ Here was our lineup. Quite an interesting selection, with Vestergaard and Kristiansen returning go the team, and Okoli and Justin dropping to the bench. Despite injury worries with Fatawu, he was fit to play the entire match.

^ Some of Ipswich Town's injury problems eased up, so Delap and Hutchinson were fit to start from the begining of the match, and Morsy was fit to play in midfield.

THe first half began and Leicester started very well. From the very start, Jannik Vestergaard really stood out, with his range of passing on show, leading to the Mavididi chance. I've broken down a nice sequence into two gifs because of the length of the attack. Vestergaard finds long diagonal passes, as well as showing composure and control to dictate the game like a CDM but from the CB position.

^ This allows us to drag Ipswich from left to right, compact them down one side and then play out and interchange to unleash Vardy and Mavididi.

^ This is Vestergaard at his best. Sitting on the halfway line, controlling the tempo, shifting the opposition block.

^ A chance for Fatawu. A good example of dragging Ipswich around the pitch, finding a free man, advancing up the pitch as a collective and then creating a shooting opportunity at the end of the sequence.

^ And here is a great chance for Buonanotte. This time Ipswich deal with a diagonal switch pass, but only in the first phase of play. Ndidi picks up the scraps to play in Facundo. I think he was a little greedy and should have passed to Mavididi, but given that he beat so many men by himself and Mavididi missed a chance earlier, you can't blame him for trying.

^ So what really stood out to me in this first 15 minutes was our ability to bait Ipswich into trying to press us, and then playing in the spaces those players vacated. And it was working beautifully.

^ But then over time we started to lose control of the half? Why There were two reasons, one Ipswich started to be more succesful in pressing us high up the pitch, and our response was a bit panicked, we kicked it long too often rather than trying to control the game and be brave in our build-up.

^ Ipswich start pressing higher up the pitch and win the ball from Vestergaard high up the pitch. This is the risk when playing out from the back. They don't score, but it was notable that after this we started going long from goal kick more and more often.

^ I could find MANY examples, but I got very frustated as the first half went on. We kept pumping the ball long, allowing Ipswich to easily win the ball back and start their own attacks. Here I feel winks or Vestergaard needed to have a word with Hermansen and tell him to calm down and start playing it out on the ground. However, I fear it might have been a coaching instruction to go long.

^ And this is represented in the match momentum. After it being all Leicester for the first 15 minutes, the rest of the half belonged to the Tractor Boys.

^ A chance for Omari Hutchinson. At this point in the game, Ipswich are getting control of it. They are playing out from the back, which we've stopped doing. Faes seemingly frustrated, tries to win the ball back high up against Delap but loses out and puts the team in trouble. Kristiansen does well here defensively and whilst I don't think he should be in the team, he overall handled Omari Hutchinson well throughout the game.

^ A chance for Connor Chaplin. Again this one stems from kicking the ball long and losing an aerial duel, giving Ipswich initiative.

So we go into the second half and how would we respond?

^ Sadly it was a bit more of the same, with a real lack of threat, and looking like we had run out of ideas. But why?

^ Here's how our system works. When we defend, we defend in a 442 shape. Ricardo moves to right back, and Ndidi sits next to Winks. A lot of fans were confused ast to Ndidi's position in the game, but this is the reason why. We were changing between these shapes far too often, because we were guilty of trying to go back to front too quickly.

^ Once we get the ball, our players start moving to form a new shape...

^ And this is that shape. Now we are in a 3421, with Ricardo joining Winks as a double pivot, and having five men forwards. This is where our best moves come from, as our wingers stretch play, creating room for the 8's and Vardy.

^ You can see the video at the top of the post, but the biggest difference between Enzo and Cooper is that under Cooper we try to go forwards with the ball too quickly. This means we can't settle into our 3421 shape for long enough. Ipswich to their credit turned the game into a basketball match, going end to end and this suited them more than it did us. What we needed to do is to try and take control of the game by just keeping the ball for a few minutes, allowing Vestergaard to get on the ball and move up to the halfway line. It's from there that we can start being more aggressive. Otherwise this leads to players often being out of position or getting tired covering a lot of ground, and this meant there was room for one of Ipswich's star players...

^ Leif Davis has been a revelation for Ipswich. It's hard to believe he was playing in league one for them! He scored an absolutely incredible goal we must say:

^ Leif Davis' sensational goal. Marco van Basten eat your heart out!

^ Here's an alternate angle. Could we have done better defensively? Given that Davis has hit it first time, I think it's harsh to say so. Ricardo is in a good defensive position, Fatawu perhaps could get back faster, but 95% of the time Davis either hits that wide, ot has to take a touch to do something with the ball, which would mean Fatawu and Ricardo were 2 on 1 against him. So for me this is just a top finish. But as per my poitn above, because we could not control the game, we see that Fatawu is slightly out of position as he is two minds about attacking or defending.

^ After that Ipswich goal we looked out of ideas and it seemed inevitable Ipswich would win the game, but the game swung on a wild 30 seconds where so much happened, with the referee taking centre stage.

^ Ipswich should have had a penalty and could have been 2-0 up, but instead get a man sent off and hand Leicester a lifeline in the match.

^ A close up of the penalty incident. Very lucky to get away with this one. The refereen said it was a collision rahter than a bad challenge, which might have some merit, but I think if this was at the other end of the pitch, I would be fuming.

^ And here's a replay of Phillip's second yellow card. Pretty clear cut this one. A high boot that is late on Ricardo. I think Phillips reaction shows you that he knows it's a booking, and a pointless challenge to make when on a yellow.

So with just 13 minutes left of regular time, Cooper started making some changes. To be fair to him in recent games he has been making more subs and making them sooner. Honestly I think at 11 v 11 he was out of ideas and it would have ended in defeat for the Foxes, but he smelt blood and took off both Kristiansen and Ricardo to commit more attacking players who changed the game. Soumare has been the butt of many jokes between fans for years, but you have to say in this game, he was brilliant.

^ But for me despite only being on for 12 minutes, my man of the match was Jordan Ayew. For the price paid, I think he's already proved to be worth the money.

^ Ayew almost scores just seconds after coming on. Soumare plays a great sliding line-breaking pass, Buonaotte drives with the ball, even riding a challenge. Only a great block on the line stops a sure fire goal.

^ But Ayew does score in stoppage tine. I've got the whole move here, where we see brilliant play from Soumare who runs back, wins the ball, drives up the line and feeds Ayew. Are we sure that's really Soumare!?

^ And we almost won it again with Ayew right at the death. If the game went another 5 minutes I think we would have won it. But let's be honest we were lucky to get a point!

^ So here are my overall thoughts. After a wonderful first 15 minutes, we lost control of the game. Something similar happened against Forest too. Does Cooper understand what is going on, and if so can he tweak the team to stop it from happening? For me we have to be brave on the ball and play out more often. Kristiansen playing at LCB gives you a natural left footer, but he's poor at playing out under pressure and often gives the ball away. We really should have signed a left footed centre back in the summer, but failing that, I would try Okoli there, who in previous analysis videos has not been too bad playing out under pressure, Man United cup game aside. Vestergaard whould keep his place for me, his control and ability to dictate the tempo is really good and improves the team.

I think the big question still remains not just around the manager but the system. I believe Enzo Maresca with this group of players would have sorted it out and got us playing with the same fluency but more control. Control is the key word that we are lacking, and have been lacking all season long. It is very hard to maintain it in the Premier League, as even the top teams struggle with it. But for me it appears that once we lose control, we can never get it back again. I accept there will be passages of play where we are on the back foot, but I want to see us try and more proactive when under the kosh to give us some breathing room. I think we have shown we are good enough to do it, if we keep our concentration.

Edited 4 November 2024 by StriderHiryu

ClaphamFox · 4 November 2024

10 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

Better late than never, it's time for the post match analysis of yet another huge six pointer at the bottom of the table. We came away with a point, but were lucky to do so.

^ Here was our lineup. Quite an interesting selection, with Vestergaard and Kristiansen returning go the team, and Okoli and Justin dropping to the bench. Despite injury worries with Fatawu, he was fit to play the entire match.

^ Some of Ipswich Town's injury problems eased up, so Delap and Hutchinson were fit to start from the begining of the match, and Morsy was fit to play in midfield.

THe first half began and Leicester started very well. From the very start, Jannik Vestergaard really stood out, with his range of passing on show, leading to the Mavididi chance. I've broken down a nice sequence into two gifs because of the length of the attack. Vestergaard finds long diagonal passes, as well as showing composure and control to dictate the game like a CDM but from the CB position.

^ This allows us to drag Ipswich from left to right, compact them down one side and then play out and interchange to unleash Vardy and Mavididi.

^ This is Vestergaard at his best. Sitting on the halfway line, controlling the tempo, shifting the opposition block.

^ A chance for Fatawu. A good example of dragging Ipswich around the pitch, finding a free man, advancing up the pitch as a collective and then creating a shooting opportunity at the end of the sequence.

^ And here is a great chance for Buonanotte. This time Ipswich deal with a diagonal switch pass, but only in the first phase of play. Ndidi picks up the scraps to play in Facundo. I think he was a little greedy and should have passed to Mavididi, but given that he beat so many men by himself and Mavididi missed a chance earlier, you can't blame him for trying.

^ So what really stood out to me in this first 15 minutes was our ability to bait Ipswich into trying to press us, and then playing in the spaces those players vacated. And it was working beautifully.

^ But then over time we started to lose control of the half? Why There were two reasons, one Ipswich started to be more succesful in pressing us high up the pitch, and our response was a bit panicked, we kicked it long too often rather than trying to control the game and be brave in our build-up.

^ Ipswich start pressing higher up the pitch and win the ball from Vestergaard high up the pitch. This is the risk when playing out from the back. They don't score, but it was notable that after this we started going long from goal kick more and more often.

^ I could find MANY examples, but I got very frustated as the first half went on. We kept pumping the ball long, allowing Ipswich to easily win the ball back and start their own attacks. Here I feel winks or Vestergaard needed to have a word with Hermansen and tell him to calm down and start playing it out on the ground. However, I fear it might have been a coaching instruction to go long.

^ And this is represented in the match momentum. After it being all Leicester for the first 15 minutes, the rest of the half belonged to the Tractor Boys.

^ A chance for Omari Hutchinson. At this point in the game, Ipswich are getting control of it. They are playing out from the back, which we've stopped doing. Faes seemingly frustrated, tries to win the ball back high up against Delap but loses out and puts the team in trouble. Kristiansen does well here defensively and whilst I don't think he should be in the team, he overall handled Omari Hutchinson well throughout the game.

^ A chance for Connor Chaplin. Again this one stems from kicking the ball long and losing an aerial duel, giving Ipswich initiative.

So we go into the second half and how would we respond?

^ Sadly it was a bit more of the same, with a real lack of threat, and looking like we had run out of ideas. But why?

^ Here's how our system works. When we defend, we defend in a 442 shape. Ricardo moves to right back, and Ndidi sits next to Winks. A lot of fans were confused ast to Ndidi's position in the game, but this is the reason why. We were changing between these shapes far too often, because we were guilty of trying to go back to front too quickly.

^ Once we get the ball, our players start moving to form a new shape...

^ And this is that shape. Now we are in a 3421, with Ricardo joining Winks as a double pivot, and having five men forwards. This is where our best moves come from, as our wingers stretch play, creating room for the 8's and Vardy.

^ You can see the video at the top of the post, but the biggest difference between Enzo and Cooper is that under Cooper we try to go forwards with the ball too quickly. This means we can't settle into our 3421 shape for long enough. Ipswich to their credit turned the game into a basketball match, going end to end and this suited them more than it did us. What we needed to do is to try and take control of the game by just keeping the ball for a few minutes, allowing Vestergaard to get on the ball and move up to the halfway line. It's from there that we can start being more aggressive. Otherwise this leads to players often being out of position or getting tired covering a lot of ground, and this meant there was room for one of Ipswich's star players...

^ Leif Davis has been a revelation for Ipswich. It's hard to believe he was playing in league one for them! He scored an absolutely incredible goal we must say:

^ Leif Davis' sensational goal. Marco van Basten eat your heart out!

^ Here's an alternate angle. Could we have done better defensively? Given that Davis has hit it first time, I think it's harsh to say so. Ricardo is in a good defensive position, Fatawu perhaps could get back faster, but 95% of the time Davis either hits that wide, ot has to take a touch to do something with the ball, which would mean Fatawu and Ricardo were 2 on 1 against him. So for me this is just a top finish. But as per my poitn above, because we could not control the game, we see that Fatawu is slightly out of position as he is two minds about attacking or defending.

^ After that Ipswich goal we looked out of ideas and it seemed inevitable Ipswich would win the game, but the game swung on a wild 30 seconds where so much happened, with the referee taking centre stage.

^ Ipswich should have had a penalty and could have been 2-0 up, but instead get a man sent off and hand Leicester a lifeline in the match.

^ A close up of the penalty incident. Very lucky to get away with this one. The refereen said it was a collision rahter than a bad challenge, which might have some merit, but I think if this was at the other end of the pitch, I would be fuming.

^ And here's a replay of Phillip's second yellow card. Pretty clear cut this one. A high boot that is late on Ricardo. I think Phillips reaction shows you that he knows it's a booking, and a pointless challenge to make when on a yellow.

So with just 13 minutes left of regular time, Cooper started making some changes. To be fair to him in recent games he has been making more subs and making them sooner. Honestly I think at 11 v 11 he was out of ideas and it would have ended in defeat for the Foxes, but he smelt blood and took off both Kristiansen and Ricardo to commit more attacking players who changed the game. Soumare has been the butt of many jokes between fans for years, but you have to say in this game, he was brilliant.

^ But for me despite only being on for 12 minutes, my man of the match was Jordan Ayew. For the price paid, I think he's already proved to be worth the money.

^ Ayew almost scores just seconds after coming on. Soumare plays a great sliding line-breaking pass, Buonaotte drives with the ball, even riding a challenge. Only a great block on the line stops a sure fire goal.

^ But Ayew does score in stoppage tine. I've got the whole move here, where we see brilliant play from Soumare who runs back, wins the ball, drives up the line and feeds Ayew. Are we sure that's really Soumare!?

^ And we almost won it again with Ayew right at the death. If the game went another 5 minutes I think we would have won it. But let's be honest we were lucky to get a point!

^ So here are my overall thoughts. After a wonderful first 15 minutes, we lost control of the game. Something similar happened against Forest too. Does Cooper understand what is going on, and if so can he tweak the team to stop it from happening? For me we have to be brave on the ball and play out more often. Kristiansen playing at LCB gives you a natural left footer, but he's poor at playing out under pressure and often gives the ball away. We really should have signed a left footed centre back in the summer, but failing that, I would try Okoli there, who in previous analysis videos has not been too bad playing out under pressure, Man United cup game aside. Vestergaard whould keep his place for me, his control and ability to dictate the tempo is really good and improves the team.

I think the big question still remains not just around the manager but the system. I believe Enzo Maresca with this group of players would have sorted it out and got us playing with the same fluency but more control. Control is the key word that we are lacking, and have been lacking all season long. It is very hard to maintain it in the Premier League, as even the top teams struggle with it. But for me it appears that once we lose control, we can never get it back again. I accept there will be passages of play where we are on the back foot, but I want to see us try and more proactive when under the kosh to give us some breathing room. I think we have shown we are good enough to do it, if we keep our concentration.

Unfortunately, I don't think Cooper possesses the deep understanding of the game and tactical sophistication that would enable him to make intelligent tweaks to the system during the game. He's capable of throwing on more attacking players when we're chasing the game, but it always feels a little bit desperate and reactive. Contrast this with Nuno's proactive changes for Forest at half-time against us that resulted in them winning comfortably. I think in Cooper we have a manager who the players like well enough to put in a shift for, but one ultimately lacking the tactical intelligence to cope with the kind of challenges that come in the PL. I hope he proves me wrong.

Edited 4 November 2024 by ClaphamFox

StriderHiryu · 4 November 2024

59 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

Unfortunately, I don't think Cooper possesses the deep understanding of the game and tactical sophistication that would enable him to make intelligent tweaks to the system during the game. He's capable of throwing on more attacking players when we're chasing the game, but it always feels a little bit desperate and reactive. Contrast this with Nuno's proactive changes for Forest at half-time against us that resulted in them winning comfortably. I think in Cooper we have a manager who the players like well enough to put in a shift for, but one ultimately lacking the tactical intelligence to cope with the kind of challenges that come in the PL. I hope he proves me wrong.

I largely agree, but in this case rather than making tactical tweaks, can he tell Mads to stop kicking it long? To tell the team to just keep possession for 2 minutes without letting the other team touch the ball? Those were the things Enzo would do, because he had a better understanding of the game state. When the other team goes a man down, Cooper has been pretty quick to bring on the attackers and go for it, so it's not like he's totally clueless.

Edited 4 November 2024 by StriderHiryu

ClaphamFox · 4 November 2024

14 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

I largely agree, but in this case rather than making tactical tweaks, can he tell Mads to stop kicking it long? To tel the team to just keep possession for 2 minutes without letting the other team touch the ball? Those were the things Enzo would do, because he had a better understanding of the game state. When the other team goes a man down, Cooper has been pretty quick to bring on the attackers and go for it, so it's not like he's totally clueless.

I would know to bring on another attacker if the opposition goes a man down. So would virtually every poster on this board. That doesn't mean any of us would be any good at managing a PL club.

Cooper has his strengths. He seems to be able to generate a team spirit/character that is strong enough for us to remain in games where we could easily get left behind, and mount impressive comebacks from losing positions. This should not be underestimated - team spirit and character are very important, and plenty of managers lose the dressing room because they're disliked by their players. I just think that you need more than that over the long term.

Weller Wing · 4 November 2024

21 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

I largely agree, but in this case rather than making tactical tweaks, can he tell Mads to stop kicking it long? To tel the team to just keep possession for 2 minutes without letting the other team touch the ball? Those were the things Enzo would do, because he had a better understanding of the game state. When the other team goes a man down, Cooper has been pretty quick to bring on the attackers and go for it, so it's not like he's totally clueless.

Any thoughts on Phillips 1st yellow as I thought it could / should have been a red?🤔

Izzy · 4 November 2024

3 minutes ago, Weller Wing said:

Any thoughts on Phillips 1st yellow as I thought it could / should have been a red?🤔

Yeah come on @StriderHiryu you missed that bit. Go back and do it all again

StriderHiryu · 4 November 2024

21 hours ago, Weller Wing said:

Any thoughts on Phillips 1st yellow as I thought it could / should have been a red?🤔

21 hours ago, Izzy said:

Yeah come on @StriderHiryu you missed that bit. Go back and do it all again

It's actually in the video, so this is how I know you guys don't watch it!

^ Here is the timestamp of me talking about it. How's that for service!

Edited 5 November 2024 by StriderHiryu

HighPeakFox · 4 November 2024

5 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

It's actually in the video, so this is how I know you guys don't watch it!

^ Here is the timestamp of me talking about it. How's that for service!

Really?

Wymsey · 4 November 2024

3 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

Really?

?

HighPeakFox · 4 November 2024

4 hours ago, Wymsey said:

?

Unless I did something remedial, the timestamp appeared not to be there as promised. I blame @StriderHiryu.

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