Ipswich Town will feel cursed in the Premier League at this moment in time, with the Tractor Boys and Wolverhampton Wanderers the only two sides left in the division that haven’t picked up a win yet.
It’s not as if Kieran McKenna’s men have been regularly turned over with ease, as the relegation-threatened outfit were mere moments away from picking up a slender 1-0 win against Leicester City last time out, only for Jordan Ayew to sour the Portman Road atmosphere with an equaliser at the death.
Kalvin Phillips made his side’s task in that game versus the Foxes much harder, having been sent off deep into the second half after two yellow cards, with his time on loan at the Suffolk club already topsy-turvy.
Phillips’ loan spell so far
Phillips has been regularly picked by McKenna in holding midfield since his arrival from Manchester City on loan, with the Tractor Boys boss presumably keen to be the manager to resurrect the £45m flop’s playing days.
It hasn’t quite gone to plan for the 28-year-old at Portman Road so far, with that all coming to a head last game, when the ex-Leeds United star was given his marching orders against Steve Cooper’s men after a high leg on Ricardo Pereira was deemed worthy of a second yellow card.
Regardless of whether it was a dubious decision or not to send him off, it was a lacklustre showing from the midfielder in Ipswich blue, with possession squandered 14 times before this incident with the Leicester defender.
There could be some regret now on Ipswich’s end that they took a gamble on Phillips coming good, with the transfer market reopening in January perhaps giving the Tractor Boys time to right some wrongs and pick up an upgrade on their number eight.
Ipswich could go back in for “monster” midfielder
Way back in May – before the true reality of Premier League football set in – Ipswich were linked with a move for Coventry City gem Ben Sheaf, as McKenna went about improving the options at his disposal centrally.
| Sheaf vs Phillips (24/25) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Stat (* = per game) | Sheaf | Phillips |
| Games played | 7 | 7 |
| Goals scored | 0 | 0 |
| Assists | 1 | 0 |
| Touches* | 64.4 | 53.3 |
| Accurate passes* | 42.7 (84%) | 29.6 (81%) |
| Ball recoveries* | 6.1 | 5.0 |
| Total duels won* | 4.6 | 5.1 |
| Stats by Sofascore | ||
From the same amount of league games this season, the one-time Ipswich target has bettered Phillips in many different areas of their respective games, with an assist next to his name from seven Championship clashes, alongside a very impressive average of 6.1 ball recoveries managed per league match.
A ball recovery is defined by the number of loose balls recovered by a player.
This energy to win the ball back constantly has seen football writer Raj Chohan even refer to Sheaf as a ball-winning “monster”, with a mightily impressive 7.1 ball recoveries averaged last season when the 26-year-old was fit enough to line up 31 times for his team in the second tier.
Also capable of powering home strikes from distance like the one against Sheffield Wednesday above, Phillips’ minutes would become numbered if Sheaf arrived through the door in January, even with the ex-Arsenal youth product missing the start of the season owing to injury setbacks.
McKenna might opt to stick by Phillips when the window slams back open, but if Ipswich could get Sheaf in finally, it’s a move they shouldn’t pass up.
Leave a Reply