04 Sep 2026 21:58:12
A decent performance & a first win of the season. Isak showed why we brought him - snapped up the 2 (3) chances he had. Just need to get the ball to him in the box.
Once Barcola is up to fitness I’d not be averse to putting Gakpo in the 10. He’s stronger than Wirtz, seems to have an understanding with Isak & can get up & down the pitch.
04 Sep 2026 22:11:44
Up to fitness? Barcola isn't a player that likes to press for most of a game or track back. This is well known. It will be interesting watching him going forward.
04 Sep 2026 22:14:07
The team is making progress, the performance was better overall.
It’s Ipswich, but it’s also an away win with a clean sheet.
The signs are there. The manager and his coaches will keep them progressing. It’s early days, a lot of room for improvement, but I believe it will come.
{Ed666's Note - Agreed mate
04 Sep 2026 22:25:52
Good performance. Happy with that. The new players are settling in very well. Araujo, Munoz and Jacquet all played well tonight.
04 Sep 2026 22:30:26
The Duality of Ron.
04 Sep 2026 22:30:49
Isak's first half is what I badly needed. Chased the ball down. He'll never be a pressing monster but if he chases to that level in the first half, he'll be alright in this system.
Man, he tired a bit second half, but that was an excellent first half. More fitness, and who knows. I've given him a lot of crap. Please stay fit now and keep it going and for longer.
04 Sep 2026 22:35:15
Liked Araujo. Not sure about Jacquet yet. Played some really good passing against Newcastle, but has been caught a few times in last 2 games. Not sure what we were doing last 20 mins. Looked like a back 5 to hold on to win.
04 Sep 2026 22:38:09
Much better performance and I liked Araujo giving us a bit more solidity in defence, and I felt Szoboslai sat a bit deeper and played very well too. Isak and Gakpo were on fire tonight.
If we can keep the team balanced, we have the quality to compete.
04 Sep 2026 22:46:35
Araujo was brilliant, I thought. Alright. Gave us a bit more sturdiness and an old school defender who loves defending, blocking crosses, winning headers. That'll do for me, lad. Tougher tests to come, of course, but hard to argue with a clean sheet and away win.
Delighted for Isak. Confidence is huge for strikers and that'll do him the world of good. Let's hope we can keep him fit and he'll score plenty!
04 Sep 2026 23:01:41
Nice confidence booster for a few of the lads, particularly Isak; just what he needs right now. Couldn't have come at a better time. Linking up well with Coady too. Good football in the first half, unlucky not to put 4 away.
Still, the second half left much to be desired at times, although that's to be expected at the moment, against a better team we would have conceded. Plenty of positives to take away and something to build on.
{Ed666's Note - Isaks play looked clean and sharp. His passes were crisp, bodes well for the future.
04 Sep 2026 23:52:07
Gakpo played well, he'll have to compete with Barcola and Isak. Don't see the value of him playing 10 other than he popped into a deeper position to play those passes, which he can do coming from a wide starting spot.
Let's not pigeon hole players because of a couple moments in a match.
05 Sep 2026 00:01:08
Made up with Ron tonight, solid performance that probably went a bit under the radar as Isak & Gakpo probably stole the headlines. I think he should stay at RB.
Good to see Victor using his pace again as well as Bradley. Those two are going to give defenders some sleepless nights.
I've been guilty of losing my s*** a bit over transfers and imbalance of the squad, but feel happier after that. Lots of other positives to take away. A great start to the weekend!
{Ed666's Note - I think ‘solid’ is appropriate mate. Certainly a performance to build upon
05 Sep 2026 00:39:16
We started off brilliantly; they just couldn’t cope with our press and Isak’s movement and the defence pushed right up and pinned them in for long periods.
Then we reverted back to Slot ball in the second half with Virgil sitting in his own half, so leaving too much space for them to play through us. When we do that we can only win the ball back in our defensive third, which makes it much harder to work up the pitch quickly and get the ball to Isak and Wirtz in space.
I’ve noticed too that when Virgil sits deep we pass it across the back and maybe into midfield or out wide, but it stops there. They look up and rather than try the forward, more risky pass, they see Virgil on his own and just pass it backwards and start all over again.
I’ve been banging this drum for most of last season; Virgil needs to get higher up the pitch so we can squeeze them in. We did it ok in the first half an hour but then he slowly retreated backwards and it made it so much harder to get control of the game and create chances.
This system needs front footed, aggressive defending. Otherwise we just can’t get a proper press on because we’re not close enough. The open spaces in midfield are not down to the midfielders not being good enough, they are down to the defence sitting too deep and leaving the midfielders with too much space to cover.
All in all though we have to be happy with that. Isak’s first brace with 2 good finishes even if the keeper should’ve done better with both. A clean sheet and our first 3 points of the season.
The first 30 minutes were a good blueprint of how we need to be for 90 minutes. I’ve been saying this team will get better and better as the season goes on and a title push is not out of the question. This game just solidified my belief.
05 Sep 2026 01:53:12
Nice one @Chewy - brought a smile to my face... When was the last time anybody called Gakpo by his first name? ??
04 Sep 2026 23:37:41
Not only that Ed, but he looks happy, which is dangerous for the league
{Ed666's Note - he owes us mate..let’s hope this is the start of something special
05 Sep 2026 07:56:12
A lot to like in that game. Few things not to, but nothing of note.
Loved Isak pulling left; their centre halves didn’t know what to do, creating spaces is what this team is all about and you can see we are getting closer to better fitness and used to putting more effort in again.
Munoz mazy run. I just wish the lad scored from that as that was a goal of the season contender if he did. There's enough games for Gakpo and Barcola to play to keep it healthy competition this season.
05 Sep 2026 08:40:39
It was a decent performance against a team that will probably get relegated. There will certainly be harder games, that’s a given.
The positives: our main forward scored 2 goals, we didn’t concede, no injuries and the much needed win that was required. Something to build on for sure. ?