Ipswich Town finish their second foreign training camp of pre-season with two tough games against Bundesliga opposition as the under-21's face Borussia Mönchengladbach (1.30pm BST this afternoon) before the first team take on Hoffenheim (12.30pm BST tomorrow).
Alex Jones takes a look ahead at the matches.
Training camp ends
Ipswich spent a week in Austria last month, working hard at a training camp before playing a friendly match against Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk, winning 1-0.
It’s an environment that Kieran McKenna clearly believes his sides thrive in, having often taken Manchester United’s under-18’s side there during his time at Old Trafford. Last summer, Town went to face Spartak Trnava and Flyeralarm Admira before heading to Innsbruck to take on RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen a few weeks later.
It's not entirely clear where the Blues will be based, but they’re staying on the border in Germany – roughly an hour away from the two games that they’ll play in the next couple of days.
“We all really enjoyed the first one,” McKenna said ahead of this week’s trip. “The training, the off-pitch, the game as well. It’s good to have another one again.
“It’s important for the group, and we’d maybe like to have a bigger group or more players in that we can integrate.
“Other than that, it’ll be great to go away with these boys, with the boys that we’ve brought in continuing to get stronger on and off the pitch. We’re looking forward to it.”
Gladbach in Munich
The first game sees Ipswich's under-21's travel over to the east side of Munich, where they’ll face Borussia Mönchengladbach at the ATS Sportpark in Heimstetten this afternoon.
Gerard Seoane’s side had ambitions of challenging for Europe last season after narrowly missing out in 2022/23, but they never found any real momentum. They occupied 10th place at the halfway point in the campaign but ended it in 14th, just one point and two places above the relegation play-off spot.
They’ve won just three league games since the turn of the year – a dramatic decline for a side that qualified from a Champions League group that contained Real Madrid and Inter Milan as recently as 2020/21.
They’ve still got a strong squad. Vice-captain Julian Weigl was once one of Borussia Dortmund’s brightest young talents, while midfield partner Manu Kone has been linked with a big-money move to AC Milan. Top scorer Robin Hack, who bagged 10 goals in the Bundeliga last season, is reportedly a target for Champions League outfit Stuttgart.
They’ve added two good signings, however. Midfielder Kevin Stoger stood out for Bochum, moving to Borussia-Park on a free transfer after registering seven goals and nine assists last season. He’s joined by Tim Kleindienst, who ended last season as Heidenheim’s top scorer with 12 goals, opting to sign for the Foals despite significant interest from elsewhere in Europe.
Gladbach will travel to 3. Liga side Erzgebirge Aue in the DFB Pokal on August 17th before hosting defending Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen in their first league game of the season the following Friday.
Hoffenheim in Kufstein
Town will travel down to Austria to face Hoffenheim at the Kufstein Arena tomorrow afternoon, wrapping up their second trip abroad.
Pellegrino Matarazzo’s men are a step or two ahead of Borussia Monchengladbach, having ended last season in seventh place. That means that they’ll enter the Europa League at the league stage next season, where they could be drawn against the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Star striker Andrej Kramaric, formerly of Leicester City, is their big threat, bagging 15 league goals last season in his eighth campaign at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena. He’ll have to step up if 21-year-old German international Maximilian Beier moves on after his 16-goal term in 2023/24, having reportedly received offers from Chelsea and Aston Villa this week.
Hoffenheim have been quiet in the transfer market but busy behind the scenes, sacking sporting director Alexander Rosen earlier this week as part of a management shake-up.
They drew 2-2 with Town’s arch-rivals Norwich City on Tuesday afternoon and will play Fulham next weekend. After that, they’ll take on Wurzburger Kickers in the DFB Pokal before kicking off their Bundesliga campaign at home to newly-promoted Holstein Kiel on August 24th.
Splitting the squad
It was announced late last night that the under-21's would be playing today's game against Borussia Mönchengladbach, which looks like a sensible decision as McKenna looks to maximise minutes for key players.
It’s clear that there are a few gaps in Ipswich’s squad. The Blues are looking particularly light in midfield and out wide, with McKenna stressing the need to strengthen quickly.
Left-back Conor Townsend duly became Town's sixth summer signing yesterday morning, while the transfer rumours keep coming, with Sammie Szmodics, Jack Clarke and Wilson Odobert among the latest names to have been linked.
This will be a huge test for John McGreal's side, who are expected to face a full-strength Bundesliga outfit. Cieran Slicker and Elkan Baggott are set to be involved, but otherwise it'll be a very youthful outfit.
It leaves the rest of the group to fully prepare for tomorrow's game against Hoffenheim.
What to expect
It’s important to remember that this is pre-season, where results are totally irrelevant. In terms of publicised results, Ipswich have won one and lost one so far, with last week’s defeat against Fortuna Düsseldorf showing some key areas where they need to improve.
This training camp will be intense. It should improve the players’ fitness and give them a better idea of what McKenna expects from them in the Premier League – particularly the new signings, who may need some more time to get up to speed.
With that in mind, the Blues should look a little more cohesive this weekend, and they’ll have to be given the level of their opponents. Hoffenheim obviously play in a higher division than Fortuna Dusseldorf, although their league campaign starts the week after Ipswich face Liverpool on the opening day of the Premier League season.
That could balance out a little bit and make it a pretty even battle, so the clash might look similar to the Innsbruck Cup games from last summer. Hoffenheim have quality players and play open, expansive football, which could give the players a taste of what to expect in the league next season.
Perhaps McKenna will try some new things. We saw Jack Taylor start on the left wing last Saturday, and with a thin squad, he may look to play some other players out of their natural positions. Hopefully the likes of Axel Tuanzebe and Omari Hutchinson will be able to play a part as they return to full fitness.
Hopefully we could see new man Townsend - who flew out to Germany yesterday afternoon - in one of the matches too.
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