McKenna must drop Burns and unleash Ipswich’s sensational “diamond” vs Southampton – opinion

They are yet to pick up a win, but Ipswich Town have made a positive start to life in the Premier League this season.

Kieran McKenna’s side had to play Liverpool and Manchester City in their opening games of the campaign and put up a valiant fight in both before picking up impressive points at home to Fulham and then away to Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Tractor Boys now have the perfect opportunity to pick up their first win of the year this afternoon as they take on Southampton in what should be an early relegation six-pointer.

That said, to give his team the best chance of claiming all three points, McKenna should make at least one change to the lineup that drew last weekend and drop Wes Burns.

Why McKenna should drop Burns

Burns joined Ipswich from Fleetwood Town in June 2021 when the club were still in League One and has played a significant role in every season since.

For example, in 38 appearances last season, the 29-year-old winger racked up six goals and four assists, equating to a goal involvement on average every 3.8 games, and played an important role in their promotion to the top flight.

However, while he could still be a useful player, he didn’t look great upon his return to the team against the Seagulls last week, which is an opinion shared by Alex Jones of the East Anglian Daily Times, who gave him a 6/10 on the day, writing that he ‘struggled to find space’ and ‘looked tired in the latter stages.’

It’s easy to see where Jones is coming from when we look at Burns’ statistics from the game. In his 59 minutes on the pitch, he could only register an expected assists figure of 0.01, took just 21 touches, misplaced 50% of his passes, didn’t play a single key pass, was inaccurate with his one long ball, didn’t take any shots, failed in three of four dribbles, lost eight of 12 duels, lost possession nine times and made one error that led to a Brighton shot.

Overall, while it was a tough ask of the 29-year-old, he didn’t look particularly dangerous on the right, and in what feels like a must-win game this afternoon, he should be dropped for a far more exciting attacker.

Why Jack Clarke should start

Yes, the exciting attacker in question is former Sunderland star Jack Clarke, who joined the Tractor Boys last month for a fee of around £15m plus £5m in add-ons.

Now, the 23-year-old has made five appearances for the club so far, all on the left, in which he’s scored and assisted a goal, but he is more than capable of playing on the right, as across his career to date, he has started 44 matches there.

Moreover, it wouldn’t be a particularly unusual tactical decision from McKenna, as he’s already shown a willingness to play his most talented stars in unfamiliar positions this season, with Sammie Szmodics starting on the left in two games so far.

Furthermore, like the Irishman, the English “diamond”, as former manager Tony Mowbray described him, is such a talent that having him start in a slightly unfamiliar position is far more useful than starting on the bench.

For example, in just 42 appearances for the Black Cats last season, the York-born dynamo scored 15 goals and provided four assists, meaning that across an entire season, he maintained an average of a goal involvement every 2.21 games.

Ultimately, while Burns wasn’t dreadful against Brighton last week, he didn’t offer anywhere near enough attacking threat, and so, even though it’s off the right, McKenna should look to start Clarke in his place this afternoon, as he showed last season just how destructive he can be at times.