| Player of the season rankings 2024/25 19:13 - Apr 29 with 1206 views | TractorFrog |
Maybe it would be better to have this at the end of the season, but with relegation confirmed, and the player of the season vote open, who did you vote for? And how would you rank the rest of the team this year?
Here are my rankings for the 2024/25 season. Although they are mainly ranked based on performance this season, I have factored in expectations and whether they were worth the money as well. A player who was signed to be a backup and does nothing has had a much better season than a record signing who does nothing.
1. Dara O’Shea. The most consistent performer all season and the only player who I could never justify saying should be dropped from the starting eleven despite Woolfenden always performing flawlessly when in his place. Many crucial goal line clearances, never seemed to lose his man, and was also clearly the best right-back when Tuanzebe was injured, despite being out of position.
2. Liam Delap. Very clearly our most talented player with a bright future, and the defining player of the season. His performance in the home game against Chelsea was the best I have ever seen from an Ipswich player, with the Aston Villa home game not far behind, and his second goal there being the best of the season. But was sometimes too selfish and didn’t bring other attackers into play as well as Hirst did.
3. Axel Tuanzebe. In a role that caused most players to be frequently caught out, Tuanzebe was a class above any other right-backs in the squad, never being caught out of position or losing his man and always able to get back in time to shut out some top left-wingers. His limitations going forward were irrelevant to a team battling relegation.
4. Cameron Burgess. Typically solid, unbeatable in the air, distributed to Davis well and rarely made mistakes. He should have been the preferred left centre-back over Greaves all season. The transformation from the player signed from Accrington four years ago is remarkable.
5. Jens Cajuste. The best midfielder in the team with some beautiful runs, ghosting past players, such as setting up the first goal against Chelsea, and the nice turn to score against Forest. But those runs rarely led to goals, and he didn’t offer as much defensive cover for Davis as Luongo had last season.
6. Omari Hutchinson. Of all the lightweight attacking midfielders who had a tough time beating their man through skill now they are up against the best defenders in the world, Hutchinson had the most success, and clearly still has bags of potential. I think McKenna rates him too highly to sell him this summer.
7. Sam Morsy. Some say he looked too slow for the Premier League, and at times that was evident such as against Newcastle, but Ipswich’s results were so dismal when Morsy didn’t play that I suspect his passion and role as captain has a significant effect on the performance of the team and keeping that team spirit that was so crucial to the double promotion.
8. Wes Burns. Looked lacking in confidence at the start of the season but really grew into it, and it is clear that Burns is far more important to this team than it would sometimes appear, and his injury was a huge blow to the team. The Burns role in this lineup is quite unique and nobody else can play it nearly as effectively, which is remarkable considering he cost 50k and played at League One level for most of his career.
9. Alex Palmer. I do wonder if the fact that Ipswich’s form was generally worse with Palmer has something to do with his unwillingness to play out from the back compared to Muric and Walton, but I have ranked him quite highly because he made some extraordinary saves, with the away games at Aston Villa and Chelsea among the best goalkeeping performances I can remember at Ipswich.
10. Luke Woolfenden. He was unlucky that the new signing in his position turned out to be such a huge success as to keep him out of the team most of the season, but Woolfenden never let Ipswich down when he did play, and was as calm and collected as ever.
11. George Hirst. Like Woolfenden, very unlucky not to get more games due to the imperious goal-scoring form of Delap, but while less talented, Hirst is a more complete striker and far better at linking with the other attackers, most notably shown by the first goal away to Chelsea.
12. Nathan Broadhead. Probably deserved more game time than he got, as while he was somewhat inconsistent, Broadhead would be dropped after one bad game where Clarke got many chances. He appeared to the eye to be the best left number ten, and Ipswich’s record was much stronger in games when he started.
13. Leif Davis. The best player in last season’s promotion along with Morsy, but Davis struggled to make the step up to the Premier League defensively and Ipswich often conceded when he was too high up the pitch or not marking his man. He was also less effective going forward, but got a brilliant goal against Leicester and a fantastic assist at Brentford. In the championship, the team seemed almost built around him, and was better for it.
14. Sammie Szmodics. Four goals, the most in the squad other than Delap, and none better than the overhead kick against Tottenham. But despite his excellent work-rate, I thought Szmodics sometimes seemed a bit invisible in games and was less effective on the left than Broadhead.
15. Conor Chaplin. He may not really have had enough games to make a significant impression, but when Chaplin was unavailable, Ipswich lost two key advantages they had in the championship. The link up play between the front players, with his ability to spot a pass second to none, and the sheer passion and emotion that was evident from the tears in his eyes when he scored against Bournemouth.
16. Julio Enciso. Possibly the most skilful player in the squad and definitely among the most talented, meaning he was crucial to some good results like the Bournemouth win. But Enciso’s reluctance to pass the ball was frustrating and so I don’t think he improved the team.
17. Conor Townsend. A very dependable understudy to Davis, more solid defensively and strong going forward, a highlight being the assist at Bournemouth, but with less capability to do something special.
18. Ben Johnson. Could have been much lower having come in with vast Premier League experience and looking lost at right-back, but when Burns and Ogbene were unavailable, he was the only one who could really play the right-wing position, and while he was inconsistent and less effective going forward than them, that made him crucial to the team.
19. Jacob Greaves. Never quite lived up to that spectacular debut against Liverpool, and was probably lucky to get so many games as he really didn’t look like an upgrade on Burgess and made far more mistakes.
20. Christian Walton. Unlucky not to start more often in the first half of the season and was brilliant in the win against Chelsea, but his form dipped in his final three games and never got back into the team once Palmer had joined.
21. Chiedozie Ogbene. His season-ending injury came too early to make much of an impact, but we saw enough to know that Ipswich have found a second Wes Burns, and would have scored a lot more points had he been fit.
22. Jack Taylor. More substitute appearances than any other player, but I don’t think that was quite justified by his performances, often seeming invisible when in the number ten role. I think McKenna was always hoping he might recreate the Swansea and Wolves goals from last season, but it never happened.
23. Massimo Luongo. It was great that he got to start the opening two games against the very best of opposition, but once Phillips and Cajuste came in, Luongo never really featured again in the league. I would have played him a bit more.
24. Harry Clarke. Struggled to make the step up to the Premier League and his weakness of being caught out of position was exposed a few times, albeit not as obviously as Godfrey and we probably would have been better off keeping him as an option in the second half of the season.
25. Jack Clarke. A lot of potential for the future as he is clearly a top championship player and demonstrated it against Coventry, but could never seem to get any joy against Premier League defenders, too often losing the ball and never looked worth the 15 million paid for him. Ipswich always seemed to lose games when he started.
26. Ali Al-Hamadi. Didn’t prove to be an effective Premier League striker, and the fact Szmodics was preferred in the absence of Delap and Hirst was damning but, in fairness, probably a mistake.
27. Aro Muric. The scapegoat of the season, Muric was better than he was given credit for but did make far too many errors, was lambasted by fans, and eventually his confidence was shot. McKenna probably kept him in the team for too long which meant the eventual dropping was bigger than it should have been, and meant there was no way back.
28. Jaden Philogene. So far, our record transfer fee signing has looked like a dreadful mistake with Philogene struggling to link up with other attackers and never seeming able to beat his man, with zero points scored in the five games he started. But like Clarke, he has far more pedigree as a top championship player so could very well come good next year.
29. Kalvin Phillips. This season was a disaster, with the huge wages he was on making this a costly signing for Ipswich, but being a loan, he can’t have any future benefit to Ipswich like Clarke and Philogene probably will. Phillips never got a run of games in the side, but in the matches where he did start, Ipswich never won.
30. Ben Godfrey. Just two games in which he was totally torn apart by Jeremy Doku and then Heung-Min Son, then didn’t get back into the team until the recent injuries have got him back on the bench. |  |
| They'd all laugh at me if they knew what I was trying to do. To create a new strain of super-wine in half-an-hour with a fraction of nature's resources and a FOOL for an assistant. 'Bernard Black, he's mad,' they'd say, 'he's insane, he's dangerous.' Well I'll show them! I'll show them all! | | Poll: | Who should start in CM with Cajuste? |
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| Player of the season rankings 2024/25 on 22:36 - Apr 29 with 1055 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
Delap is number 1.
And it really shouldn't be up for debate. |  |
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| Player of the season rankings 2024/25 on 12:21 - Apr 30 with 819 views | portmanroadblue |
Delap all the way. unfortunately I couldn't vote for a defender in a team that conceded so many goals. |  | | |
| Player of the season rankings 2024/25 on 12:34 - Apr 30 with 780 views | itfcjoe |
Good post, thanks for taking the time to write it out
Obviously a few bits in there I disagree with but generally minor stuff rather than major but nice to see it all laid out so clearly and thoughtfully |  |
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| Player of the season rankings 2024/25 on 12:55 - Apr 30 with 742 views | NedPlimpton |
Having our leading assist provider so low is pretty wild |  | | |
| Player of the season rankings 2024/25 on 13:09 - Apr 30 with 721 views | DBaldy |
I know opinions are subjective, but I can't agree with anyone who doesn't have Delap at the top of any player of the season list by some distance. |  | | |
| Player of the season rankings 2024/25 on 13:13 - Apr 30 with 713 views | Shobby |
| Player of the season rankings 2024/25 on 12:55 - Apr 30 by NedPlimpton |
Having our leading assist provider so low is pretty wild |
Good post, Liam Delap for me. | | | |
| Player of the season rankings 2024/25 on 13:46 - Apr 30 with 631 views | weepingx2018 |
I voted O Shea but I know Delap will win it....so there! | | | |
| Player of the season rankings 2024/25 on 14:19 - Apr 30 with 557 views | NthQldITFC |
I'd agree with almost everything/everyone down to about number seven inclusive, but then it gets a bit harder to order them. I'd have Woolf, Greaves, Davis and Jack Clarke all a bit higher. |  |
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