With a commanding 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town this past weekend, Ipswich Town became the first team in over a decade, and just the fifth-ever to seal back-to-back promotions to the English Premier League. Their rise from a mid-table finish in League One just a couple of seasons ago has been quite incredible, and the main man behind it all has been head coach Kieran McKenna.
By Neel Shelat
Founded all the way back in 1878, Ipswich Town are one of the more historic football clubs in England. Of late, though, they had been enduring tough times out of the spotlight having last played top-flight football back in the 2001/02 season and suffering a further relegation to League One in 2019.
They did not look in great shape down in the third tier either, settling in as an upper-mid-table club who did not really get close enough to the play-off spots. Looking for a change, they hired Manchester United first team coach Kieran McKenna to take charge in December 2021. Since his arrival, the only way for the club has been up.
Winning promotion to the Championship with a 98-point season in 2022/23 was impressive enough, but to immediately win automatic promotion to the Premier League in their first season back in the second tier is an achievement that cannot be commended highly enough given just how competitive the league is.
Dominating the Championship despite a limited budget
Despite being the second tier of English football, the Championship has to be considered one of the top 15 European leagues. With relegated Premier League clubs seeking to bounce back with significant financial capacities as well as some sleeping giants looking to return to the promised land with the backing of wealthy owners, the division has been hugely competitive over the last few years. Even Championship regulars have found it tough to keep up with the promotion contenders, so few could have expected Ipswich Town to compete right at the top immediately after coming up in to the league.
Indeed, their own accounts did not seem to suggest that they were pushing too hard for promotion. The Tractor Boys have not spent over €5 million in a single transfer window since 2009, and their player payroll ranked 14th in the Championship according to data from Capology – that’s about a fifth of Leicester City’s.
With that in mind, it should be easy to see why their incredible 96-point season with by far the fewest defeats in the division has to be regarded as an incredible overachievement.
Their success has not been built on having superior player quality than their competitors but rather thanks to McKenna’s well-oiled tactical set-up that has consistently served them well from their time in League One to the brink of the top 20.
The Northern Irishman sets his side out in a 4-2-3-1 formation, on paper, which becomes a 3-2-4-1 shape in possession as the right back stays deep while the left back pushes forward. His side likes to control possession and territory, but their primary focus is always on breaking down opposition defences with intricate forward-minded passing as well as individual quality in attack.
While teams like Leicester City and Southampton followed a similar approach in the other direction (first establishing control before breaking down defences), Ipswich’s more attack-minded play yielded rich rewards as they were the Championship’s top scorers with 92 goals despite only ranking seventh in terms of possession.
The potential downside of such an approach is that it can become too gung-ho at times and lead to end-to-end matches where both defences are breached regularly, but the Tractor Boys have not fallen into that trap. McKenna has ensured his side’s best defensive set-ups have always been solid (helped by having defenders such as Axel Tuanzebe in the back line) while also getting his side to press with good intensity without committing too many bodies forward.
All in all, Ipswich Town were fantastic out of possession as they posted the third-lowest xG conceded tally in the Championship this season.
Of course, many of their players also exceeded expectations in their first season back in the Championship – particularly in attack as Ipswich exceeded their xG tally by a significant margin – about 17 goals! Rather than a couple of star forwards, though, everyone from the team pitched in.
Left-back Leif Davies turned out to be their creator-in-chief in his free attacking role when in possession, though a good chunk of his assists also came from his dangerous set-piece deliveries. He ended the season as the outright leader in terms of assists in the league, and by a good margin.
Many of his teammates benefitted from his services, including the club’s joint top-scorers in the Championship season Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead. Three of their other teammates also crossed double digits in terms of goal involvements, namely Chelsea loanee Omari Hutchinson, George Hirst and Wes Burns.
Can Ipswich Stay up in the Premier League?
The ever-increasing financial might of Premier League teams is making it increasingly difficult for new teams to stay up in the league, as is evidenced by the current standings, with the relegation zone made up of the three teams that won promotion from the Championship last season.
For Ipswich Town, the task is made all the more difficult by the fact that they have already overachieved in the Championship. Indeed, their current squad value is less than a tenth of the Premier League average, and even Luton Town’s squad value is well over two times greater than theirs.
From a tactical perspective, their style of play clearly is well-suited to competing at the top of a table as is evidenced by their back-to-back promotions, but it is perhaps not best-suited to a relegation battle. Especially in the Premier League, they will find it impossible to go toe-to-toe with the big-hitters like Manchester City and Arsenal, so a greater emphasis on a solid defence and counterattacking threat appears the best strategy to stay up. A great example of this is Brentford, who also rose up the tiers to reach the Premier League, albeit far more gradually than Ipswich.
Indeed, the big time may be a step too far too soon for Ipswich Town, but they will certainly give a good account of themselves and are heading in the right direction of late. Even if they do get relegated in their first season back up, the financial boost and experience a campaign will provide will surely help them to take stock and build towards a more sustainable promotion.
If there is one thing this Championship season has taught us, though, it is to not write off Ipswich Town.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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