Having blown teams away for most of the season, Ipswich Town found November to be a little bit harder, winning two, drawing two and losing two of their six games in all competitions. Alex Jones picks his award winners.
Player of the Month
This was a tricky one, as there were no real individual standouts. Nobody performed at the highest level across all six games. Town bagged the points return that they did by digging in with proper team performances, which brings me back to one player in particular.
It’s Sam Morsy, who played in all five league games and did exactly what we’re all so used to him doing. Okay, perhaps the defeat at West Brom was a bit of an exception, but it was far from a disaster. His battling performances are so easy to overlook, but they really shouldn’t be ignored. His consistency in midfield is pretty astonishing.
He almost always does his bit, but he can’t do it on his own. The nature of his style means that, when Ipswich struggle going forward or face a lot of pressure at the back, it looks like he’s getting caught up in it. I don’t really think that’s the case in reality.
When things do go their way, he’s the man dictating the tempo. We’ve seen more of an attacking presence from him this month as well, with a few shots and crosses flying around from the edge of the box.
We can’t forget his stunning strike away at Rotherham United either, curling Leif Davis’ low free-kick into the top corner from outside the box.
He’s a vital player in this side, and possibly the only one who feels truly irreplaceable. With eight yellow cards to his name, however, he does need to be careful of being handed a two-match ban, which will happen if he reaches 10 bookings before matchday 37.
Surprise package
This felt like the month that Jack Taylor properly arrived at Ipswich.
It wasn’t an explosive month from the former Peterborough United man. He didn’t set the world on fire by any means. However, he showed that he’s more than capable of stepping in for Massimo Luongo, which could be crucial during the Asian Cup, which takes place at the start of next year.
Taylor has been knocking on the door for a few more starts, having been limited to cameo appearances for most of the campaign. The Carabao Cup has provided a good opportunity for him to show his worth, and fans have already taken to his attacking threat and link-up play.
He’s different to Luongo in a sense that there’s a clear desire to push forward. He played as a No.10 at Posh and has had to learn a deeper role in a very disciplined side. There’s still a clear willingness to get in and around the box, as we saw with his late goal at Rotherham, where he was one of the furthest forward as Harry Clarke flicked the ball into the box.
Oh yeah, let’s not forget what he did four days after that. Speaking of which…
Goal of the Month
If you’re beating Morsy’s strike against Rotherham to the Goal of the Month award, it has to be really special. Jack Taylor’s thunderbolt against Swansea City just about managed it.
We’ve seen him do it before. His screamer against Wolves probably edges the Goal of the Season vote as we reach December, although there’s already so many candidates to choose from that I wouldn’t really know where to start picking that.
This hit wasn’t a million miles off, coming just 10 minutes after the visitors’ early opener. It’s Taylor himself who wins the ball off a poor clearance from Carl Rushworth, setting up a little give-and-go move that ends with Conor Chaplin laying the ball off towards the left flank.
From there, Taylor picks it up, takes about three steps forward and smashes it in. The Swansea goalkeeper didn’t stand a chance. It was a truly magnificent goal that gave Town the spark to go on and pick up all three points.
Best individual performance
As I said at the start, this wasn’t a month for individuals, although a certain versatile winger might argue that his late cameo in the West Midlands says otherwise. It’s hard to argue with that, but I’ve got to go with Massimo Luongo’s performance against Millwall.
At half-time in the game, I was edging towards Wes Burns being my Man of the Match pick, but Luongo had done incredibly well, firing home the second goal from the edge of the area after a neat move that just carved the Lions open.
What stood out for me was his role after the break, where he was a dominant presence in midfield. Ipswich didn’t turn the game into a rout, but instead worked to frustrate Millwall. The game was done and Kieran McKenna knew that his side could toy with them, occasionally pushing forward in search of a fourth goal.
Luongo, in fairness, came inches away from bagging a second goal late on, but his incredible work in a deeper role was what made this such a complete performance. Nobody on the pitch won more duels (12) or drew more fouls (5). He also completed nine passes into the final third and boasted an 87% pass accuracy.
He offered a little bit of everything, giving the Blues a level of control that they really lacked without him at West Brom.
Standout moment
This has to be Marcus Harness’ late goal away at Birmingham City, which was a truly remarkable moment.
Ipswich were 2-0 down heading into the final 15 minutes of the game, and deservedly so. Wayne Rooney’s men had been the better side up until that point, then McKenna rolled the dice with a quadruple substitution that saw Harness introduced in the 72nd minute.
He found the back of the net seven minutes later, firing home from point-blank range to reduce the deficit. Game on.
Few people expected that he’d be the man to bag the equaliser as well, but that’s exactly what he did as Dane Scarlett flicked the ball over to Omari Hutchinson on the right flank, who in turn picked out Jack Taylor in the box.
The ball bounced off him and landed right in front of Harness, allowing him to strike a powerful first-time shot into the bottom corner to earn his side a point. You don’t need me to describe what those scenes in the away end were like.
Best opposition player
If I could pick the whole of West Brom’s back line for this one, I probably would, but I can’t, so I’m going with Swansea’s Jamal Lowe, who just about edges Fulham’s Tom Cairney for me.
I didn’t think Michael Duff’s side were wonderful at Portman Road, but Lowe was their spark in attack. It was his cross to Jay Fulton that set up the opening goal after Town had cleared the initial free-kick, and the forward wasn’t done there.
His goal might’ve come too late for the Swans to complete their comeback, but he did incredibly well, beating Luke Woolfenden with ease before cutting inside and firing past Hladky. Ipswich’s defence looked helpless.
It’s no surprise to see that he’s one of Swansea’s top scorers so far this season.
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