Man City 4-1 Ipswich Town: Karl Fuller's verdict

That is the induction back to the Premier League done. Two humungous games out of the way and what did we learn?

Primarily, we might just be ok eventually. But let us get some hard truths out of the way.

As both Liverpool and Manchester City showed, when they had us on the ropes, they were lethal. These were two contests where the experienced heavyweights were always going to be too much for the novice welterweight. Two of the league’s dominant forces over recent years proved too much on the day. However, in both bouts, there was more than a glimmer of hope for Town.

Sammie Szmodics gave Ipswich Town an early lead at the Etihad. (Image: PA)

It was dreamland for a few minutes when Sam Szmodics scored. Few gamblers would have had money on Town scoring first. As much as I was happy to see that, I soon had feelings that we might just have stung the beast into action. Not to the point where within a matter of minutes we would be 3-1 down mind you.

I will get onto the penalty and VAR in a bit more depth in a moment. The main despair though in a crazy four-minute spell though came courtesy of Aro Muric. Firstly, I thought it was very harsh on Christian Walton to be dropped for this game after his performance against Liverpool. But we are not going to be spending the sort of transfer fees that we are only for these signings to be stuck on the bench.

There is no doubt that Muric was at fault for the second and third goal but let us not pile in on him. The brand of football that has been so successful for us over the last two years is here to stay. Players will be encouraged to be brave and will take time to integrate into our system. There have been examples in the past of debuts that were uninspiring, but players turned out alright. The most obvious I always refer to is Mauricio Taricco’s against Bolton in a League Cup tie.

Aro Muric (left) reacts after his error gifted Kevin De Bruyne the goal that put Man City ahead. (Image: PA)

We must be patient and give things a chance to settle. Admittedly, when you play Manchester City, it would be helpful not to aid their goalscoring opportunities.

Ah, dreaded VAR. I did wonder how often I would be talking about it throughout the season. There were no problems with it for the penalty that Leif Davis conceded. But the non-use of it when Davis was felled down the other end was just incredulous. Whether it was a penalty or not, that is another debate. The mere fact that referee Sam Allison was not advised to look was staggering. The only difference I can conjure up for the two incidents was the fact that between fouls, the time the ball remained in play had a sufficient impact. Was it too long after the foul on Davis to bring play back?

I cannot believe the thoughts that VAR exists to favour the big clubs. But maybe there is an element of truth in it. A section of media does not help. For so many on a Saturday evening, Match of the Day is the go to place for capturing pertinent action of each game. The contentious decisions should be there to spark debate and discussion. Yet this incident was not even shown. Any idea why?

Ben Johnson battles Jeremy Doku for the ball. (Image: PA)

Furthermore, take our goal. Lineker and co chose not to enthuse about Omari Hutchinson’s carry and the lay off, Ben Johnson's exquisite through ball and Szmodics' run and finish. Instead, that passage of play was used to analyse how City could defend better in the future. Give me the ancient version of Match of the Day where there was a single presenter (Jimmy Hill as it was) and none of the so-called expert analysis.

Between the third and fourth City goal, Town showed the fight and spirit that will hopefully hold us in good stead. Just as they had for much of that Liverpool game.

The signings of Jack Clarke and Dara O’Shea bolster the squad further. The period of integrating all these new players might take a while, but will no doubt improve us. I look forward to seeing how many of the new recruits will take part at Wimbledon on Wednesday night before the small matter of Fulham on Saturday.