Resurgent Ipswich electrify ‘Sleepy Suffolk’ for costly defensive lapses | Ipswich Town

Alf Ramsey or Bobby Robson would have thought a religious festival had broken out at Portman Road. For a 12.30 kick-off, swarms were gathering closer to breakfast. In the milky August sun, many Ipswich fans were like awe-struck travellers to an unknown land.

It was all going well until the newly promoted team returned to Ipswich in the tale of upwardly mobile warriors, and Liverpool showed the soft-shoe defensive slicing skills you need to be regular Champions League players. Focus fades, spirits are tired, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah get to work. Before you know it, you’re getting a standing ovation for losing 2-0.

All predictable, and certainly forgivable. Only Nottingham Forest had been out of the Premier League longer before returning than Ipswich, who have spent most of the 21st century struggling to get back. In May 2002 they lost 5-0 at Liverpool to complete their relegation. Twenty years later, the Liverpool of Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold enter as Portman Road is in raptures with Premier League sensory overload.

Returning to the Cartel after such a long time away is seen as a revelation. Ipswich could easily match the noise levels of Anfield, but trying to cope with Champions League quality for an hour was all they could do.

“Sleepy Suffolk”, as they were known in Robson’s day, practically stuck their fingers in a socket for the big return. By the time Kieran McKenna and Arne Slot appeared for the first Premier League games of their careers, the stadium announcer was shouting at the top of his lungs to a crowd of 30,014: “It’s our time. We stand together as one club, one city, one county… The journey has been tough, but the journey continues.”

Two successive promotions have produced a lot of conviction, in the stands and on the pitch. Ipswich fans were well aware of the jibes of “who’s the Scouser in black” at the referee and McKenna’s team were unaware of the leap they had made.

League One two seasons ago, Championship last year – it’s all the same for Ipswich, who defended tightly, countered sharply and pressed with determination. Indeed, Liverpool were treated like any other visitor to a ground where Ipswich had started the day with 21 home league games and still have corrugated roofs on the West and Cobbold Stands.

Three yellow cards in the first half hour suggested a lack of respect and a dose of realism to accompany the stylistic fluidity. Their central midfielder, Sam Morsy, was the bookies’ pre-season favourite to collect the most yellow cards. McKenna praised the mix of “calm and physicality” in the performance.

Promoted teams are often portrayed as idealists or dreamers looking for a culture shock. But defending loosely – as Ipswich did in front of both goals – is not synonymous with not knowing how to defend. Not on day one. Not against Liverpool.

For example. Ipswich left-back Leif Davis was a standout, attacking down his wing and stopping Salah several times in the first 45 minutes. However, Davis was beaten by Alexander-Arnold’s through ball to Jota for Liverpool’s first and helped the ball into Salah’s path for their second. No matter. Davis remains one to watch. Sammie Szmodics, who scored 27 goals for Blackburn last season, also caught the eye when he came on. Kalvin Phillips remained on the bench but is in the right place to revive his career.

“We gave a really strong team a lot of trouble,” McKenna said. “We showed all the ingredients we need.”

McKenna is a rookie in Premier League management, but he knows how this cabaret works from his time with the Manchester United coaching staff, when Old Trafford was often a house of despair. If trouble descends on Portman Road, McKenna will know its name.

But there was nothing in this organised, dogged display that suggested impending humiliation. Struggle, yes, but no shame. Those two promotions brought a faith that can withstand much dismissive commentary. McKenna’s dissection of that match showed a keen sense of what he expects and needs to justify his decision to reject other Premier League clubs.

The BBC Sport website is happy to invite people who don’t have to publish their full names to “get involved”. In the great democracy of semi-anonymity, someone called Joe waited less than 70 minutes of a 38-game season to pass judgement on Ipswich’s ability to survive.

He wrote: “Like Luton, Ipswich will go down. Defensive errors will be their undoing.” In this myopic state, the eye sees only the detail that supports a preconceived argument. “Ipswich will go down.”

If they spend 22 years trying to get back on their feet, they can expect us to stay open-minded for more than 70 minutes.