A convincing, fluent, performance of attacking football as the opposition were simply swept away. Another familiar description of an Ipswich match at Portman Road. Only this time, the opposition in question were Ipswich.
Where to go from here?
Losing at home to Preston was a shock, but there were perhaps mitigating circumstances- the lack of a specialist left-back, the young centreback making his debut alongside him, a lack of support for the front two, an opposition content to sit on a lead.
But then there was Burnley and many of those particular wrongs were put right. Only to result in an even more conclusive defeat to Wolves.
Defensively, its difficult to argue with the selections made. Thatcher is clearly the only contender to play at left back, probably until January at the least, and is competent enough to do so. Naylor and McAuley seemed to have built a steady partnership at Burnley and, largely, dealt well with a very combative frontline of Iwelumo and Ebanks-Blake. Bruce dealt reasonably with the threat of Kightly, but a 30 second spell of over-exuberance, firstly with a mistimed high boot and then with a two-footed tackle, led to a sending off that could not reasonably be questioned. Inevitably, David Wrights return would have seen Bruce drop back to the bench anyway, so its mid-term impact will be negligible.
Nobody individually particularly underperformed. Richard Wright will feel he should have done better for the second goal, failing to hold a stinging and admittedly difficult drive, yet his overall performance was as composed as is to be expected, with a couple of stand-out saves probably redressing the balance of the mistake.
The midfield and attack is another story. The central midfield partnership of Shumilokoski and Miller didnt dominate the game, despite again not particularly playing badly. It was in the wide positions that the team failed most potently. Danny Haynes failed to produce any meaningful input resulting and Jon Walters found himself up against his nemesis, George Elokodi, who so effectively dealt with him at Portman Road last season, albeit in a Colchester United jersey. Switching the two players repeatedly back and forth failed to inject any life into the performances of either, merely serving to disrupt the side further as their teammates struggled to adjust. Walters appearing up front seemed to fire things briefly, at the detriment of the lamentable Alan Lee being pushed out to left midfield- presumably so everyone could forget that he was even playing.
Pablos introduction in the second half improved things somewhat, but the delay forced by Elokodis injury disrupted matters, and the game was gone.
Jims public admonishing of Danny Haynes and subsequent apology for dropping Liam Trotter seems to suggest that switch will be rectified for the game at Watford. Equally, Alan Lee cannot possibly expect to start and it remains very possible that it will emerge to be his last appearance at Portman Road, if Jim is able to bring in the reinforcements he requires. Pablo did enough to justify a return, though it is not beyond possibility that the game with Watford will result in a 5 man midfield, possibly involving Ivan Campo or David Norris assuming they come through the midweek cup game with Colchester.
But it doesnt feel like individual player changes are entirely the solution. Currently, the team have lost all semblance of the quick, attacking, passing football that characterised the home performances last season. Perhaps changes to personnel and tactics will rectify this, but what the team needs more than anything is an injection of confidence and a solid home performance can do that.
A cup game against lower league opposition ordinarily wouldnt provide much of a barometer of improvement, or much to test the players and motivate them to perform. However, a derby in front of a decent, encouraged crowd, against an opposition in Colchester United who will be desperate to put one over on their neighbours, could be just what the team needs to recover its home form.
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