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Breaking: Public Blast From Don Goodman To Sheffield United lives Team In Chaos
Commentator Don Goodman feels Ipswich Town should first focus on improving their defense before moving on to more advanced areas.
The Tractor Boys have a lot of work to do in a variety of areas during the approaching summer transfer window, including goalkeeping, defence, midfield, and attack, all of which require quality and depth.
They apparently used an extension clause in Christian Walton’s contract to retain him at Portman Road for another year, allowing him to contend for a starting berth with Vaclav Hladky.
Ipswich also have the option to extend Axel Tuanzebe’s contract for another year, and it’s tough to see the Tractor Boys passing it up, given he’s a top-quality player when fit.
Brandon Williams was just on loan, so they will need to replace him, but the rest of their past loanees are midfielders or attackers.
Lewis Travis, Omari Hutchinson, Jeremy Sarmiento, and Kieffer Moore are all likely to have returned to their parent clubs, and their loan clubs will need to make decisions about their futures. With past loanees departing and players potentially leaving at the end of their contracts, notably Sone Aluko, who is certain to quit his playing role, there is a lot of work to be done, and Ipswich cannot afford a slow start to the summer.
Goodman has seen Ipswich play several times in recent years and has seen that the Tractor Boys conceded more goals during the 2023/24 season than they did the season before, when they were promoted from League One.
Conceding 22 more league goals in 2023/24 was to be expected given their promotion from the third division, but Goodman has noted this as one reason why Kieran McKenna’s side must strengthen at the defense this summer.
He told OLBG: “It surprises me that, and I’m not talking about Ipswich Town, but promoted teams in general tend to spend a lot of money on strikers, number 10s, and wide players. “The first area that promoted teams should strive to strengthen is their defense.
It’s critical that nobody interprets this as a criticism against Ipswich. “Sheffield United has conceded 100 goals!” Burnley conceded 74, while Luton gave up 78. No club comes close to those numbers, yet several players on those teams were successful defenders last season.
Despite having the greatest defensive record this season, Leicester still needs to strengthen their defence. It’s the most difficult transition for a promoted side, whether it’s from League Two to League One or the Championship to the Premier League. “Ipswich, Plymouth, and Sheffield Wednesday all surrendered significantly more goals after being promoted. If I were in charge of recruitment at any team, the first thing I’d try to improve is the defense when moving up a division.
“Anyone with half a brain understands why this is the case. The teams promoted to the Premier League will face some of the best attackers in the world.”
