Ipswich Town (a): Three Things The Imps Need To Do To Win

Ahead of tomorrow’s match away at Ipswich Town in League One, I asked the Vital Lincoln City members what three things they think The Imps need to do to pick up all three points.

You can discuss what has been said in this article HERE, as well as get involved with our pre-match threads: You can post your score predictions, discuss the starting XI, and predict the attendance!

Here’s what sedgleyimp said:

1. Bolster the middle of the pitch. I expect that we will play with 5 at the back again. As previously mentioned since the win at Bristol Rovers there has been an obvious effort to make us more solid at the back. Such tactics and formations can be practiced in training environments, but until you put them into effect in a match you won’t really hone them. It would seem rather strange to have used that formation against Charlton if the intention was not to keep it as we head into what will be three very tough games coming up. Now I don’t mind such a formation, personnel allowing, but what you can’t afford is to have a 2 man midfield being overrun using it. Ipswich will dominate that part of the pitch if we don’t have at least one extra player in there. That very well could mean switching to a lone striker with someone like Diamond in the hole and keeping the game narrow. Play with just the two in the middle and I fear the game will pass us by.

2. Play the percentage game. We faced defenders last week who towered above Ben House. I don’t recall him winning anything in the air despite a frequent ‘hail Mary’ launched in his general direction. Ipswich seem to play three at the back usually and have in Luke Woolfenden and George Edmundson two defenders who are 6’4 and 6’3 respectively. So if we hump it forward in the vain hope that House or Hopper, if fit, wins the ball in the air facing those defenders we all know that possession will be lost and we will be back on the back foot again. So play the percentages with passes and how we use the football. It could be a very long day if we are chasing lost possessions for 90 minutes.

3. Relax and play your own game. I haven’t checked the thread for what do we think the score will be tomorrow but if I was to hazard a guess most will be expecting a loss, perhaps a heavy loss. Those same predictors will them obviously rip into the team, but that’s a separate matter. Ipswich are a good team at our level. If you consider the where will they finish thread I think the majority expected them to be in the top two come May. They have a good head coach in McKenna and seem to have twigged onto how having a team in this league rather than a group of individual players is the way to succeed. So the reality is that the visit to Portman Road is a game where we have nothing to fear. As such our players can play with that extra bit of freedom. Of course, I’m not suggesting going hell for leather as that will end in disaster, but play in such a way that knowing that Imps supporters will be looking more for the performance than the result. If a good performance happens, that can lead to a win against the odds. The old adage favoured in Management games of ‘the pressure’s all on them’ can actually be used tomorrow. Enjoy it, boys. It might just lead to three points.

Thank you to Graham Burrell and Lincoln City Football Club for the photograph!

Ipswich Town (a): Three Things The Imps Need To Do To Win:https://t.co/mLiZAAisNo#ITFC #ImpsAsOne #WeAreImps

— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) October 14, 2022