Now that the dust is starting to settle on Saturday’s opening-day defeat to Ipswich down at Portman Road, let’s take a look at what went wrong and why there’s no need to panic.
We’ve not lost many games under Régis Le Bris, so the feeling after a defeat isn’t something we’re used to. This is the first time that we have lost our opening league game under Le Bris, and it’s never nice to have the sinking feeling that comes with any defeat, but upon reflection on Saturday’s game, there’s currently nothing
to suggest the need to panic.
We started the opening twenty minutes positively, looking to set our stall out early and take control of the game. We also had a great chance after the first five minutes through some quick interplay and an opening for Brian Brobbey, who really ought to have done better with this chance.
We had the better share of possession as we looked to settle into a rhythm. Unfortunately, we were unable to do so all afternoon and, on twenty-five minutes, a mistake from Luke O’Nien led to Julio Enciso nipping in and robbing us on the halfway line.
Some calamitous defending followed, and we were 1-0 down before we knew it. Brobbey also had a golden chance in the second half which he should’ve buried.
One takeaway from the game is our “high-risk, high-reward” strategy of playing out from the back.
Under Le Bris, we’ve always looked to bait the opposition press and either go direct and play off Brobbey or look to play a couple of defence-splitters through the lines. This high-risk style of play worked very effectively for us at the end of last season, and we looked good in pre-season when implementing this idea.
O’Nien has regularly shown elite-level ball-playing ability with his diagonal passes throughout pre-season; unfortunately, he got it wrong on this occasion, and we were punished, as you so regularly are at this level when you make a mistake.
The Lads also looked a yard off it, and many looked like they were catching up on fitness. Dan Ballard, in particular, looked like he was struggling, and this was evident with how easily he was beaten for both the Ipswich goals.
It’s been a long summer for the lads who were away at the World Cup, and although Le Bris has done well to balance their minutes throughout pre-season, you could tell they were still fatigued from the World Cup. Granit Xhaka, in particular, looked to be feeling the pace of the game for the last half an hour after only having one full ninety-minute run-out during pre-season.
Whilst there are some points of concern that I am sure Le Bris and his coaching staff will look to address over the course of next week, there are also some positives to take out of Saturday.
Despite not doing much to set the world alight, Nilson Angulo did produce a piece of magic from a set piece to score our first direct free-kick in what felt like an eternity, so we do now have some options when it comes to set-piece delivery.
Thomas Meunier also showed his class and why he’s played at the highest level for the vast majority of his career.
He was willing to run, always looking to make something happen every time he picked the ball up, and nearly scored a screamer with a right-footed volley shortly after half-time. His interview after the game also showed he wasn’t happy with that level of performance, and he and Xhaka will look to raise the standards in training going into Sunday.
Something that came out after the defeat on Saturday is the need to take three points from Fulham next weekend.
The general consensus on social media seemed to be that a win is a must, with games against Brentford, Manchester City and Arsenal to come before the international break, and without a victory against Fulham, we could be looking at zero points after the first five games of the season if we fail to take anything from the others.
However, it’s worth pointing out that at the start of last season, it took Aston Villa until 21 September to score their first goal of the season against ten-man Sunderland, and they didn’t win a game until 28 September.
Villa went on to win the Europa League and at one point looked like they might be serious title contenders, yet they’ve just lost 4-0 to Brighton and have a massive revamp of the squad needed with a week left of the window.
It is often said that the worst opening-day fixture you can get is away to a newly promoted team. In the build-up to the Ipswich game, I was nervous, and Saturday was a perfect example of why.
We were on the opposite end of this only a year ago when we turned West Ham over 3-0. The opening weekend showed that the promoted teams at home shouldn’t be taken lightly – Manchester United were comfortably beaten by Hull City too, so this shows how much of a test this can be for even the most established operators at this level.
It’s a long old season.
We still have business to do in the transfer window, players are still catching up on fitness, and this is nothing but a minor bump in the road.
We’ll look to put things right on Sunday against Fulham, and I’m sure all the doom and gloom will be forgotten if we pick up points in our next two games before the early-season tests against Arsenal and Manchester City.
