Ipswich Town manager Gary O’Neil has admitted they have looked at playing a three in midfield this season.

This was one of the areas of concern going into pre-season; it has become one of the strengths of the squad, meaning the manager has to make tough decisions week on week.

World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios, experienced midfielder Sasa Lukic and summer signing Florentino Luis are all competing for a starting spot, with last season’s Player of the Year Azor Matusiwa, Marcelino Nunez and Jack Taylor fighting to be in the team; O’Neil has got a lot of depth in the midfield department.

O’Neil Talks About Possibility of Three in Midfield

With so much quality in the squad, fans have questioned whether the team can play a three in midfield. However, O’Neil admitted they have looked at it.

“We have a lot of good midfielders, and just talking about them three to start with in T (Florentino) and Sasa and Pala, they’re all excellent at what they do. The difficulty would be how you fit them into a team, I think. Because none of them are perfectly equipped to play higher, to be honest.”

“So, getting the three of them in would require some clever thinking or some moving around, but I don’t think it’s impossible.”

However, it seems that the manager and his staff believe there is potential in playing a three but will have to make changes elsewhere.

Working Well at the Moment

Although he has looked at alternatives, O’Neil admits that things are going well with their existing setup.

“We have had the discussion and we have looked at certain ways that we might be able to get three midfielders in the team, but the team’s looked in a really good place structure-wise. So it’s not something that I felt the need to overly explore so far, but they’re all good players and trying to get good players in the team is important – similar to Azor as well.”

The manager wants the best players on the field, but first and foremost he wants to have the right system.

Strong Competition for Starting Spot

A key point O’Neil made was how highly he thinks of the midfielders in the squad. In particular, Marcelino Nunez, who is still fighting for game time.

“And it’s really harsh on Nacho (Nunez). He was knocking on my door in the week, desperate to play for the for the U21’s against Anderlecht because he’s an incredible kid and he wants to he wants to stay fit and he wants to stay ready. I’d love to be playing Nacho every week, but it’s just a really competitive group. So Azor, Nacho, Jack Taylor, they’re all fighting. They’re all fighting their socks off to try and be part of the team.”

“And then it’s on me to try and make the right decision for everybody.”

It shows how competitive the squad is, and O’Neil will be hoping it helps push them all.

Much More Depth Than Pre-Season

The squad has much more depth than pre-season. They were struggling with injuries and missing players, meaning O’Neil had to play players out of position.

He reflected on this, saying:

“We had a tricky spell there in pre-season where we had to play some people out of position, and I think Sindre played pivot a few times in a couple of pre-season games. But I’m keen to get Sasa back. Sasa’s big for it. So he’ll be a big one for us to get him back.”

Once Lukic comes back, it will give them more options to play with, and the manager will have tough decisions to make.

My Thoughts

I agree with O’Neil. They should play three in midfield. They have so many good players in the centre.

Having Palacios, Lukic and Florentino Luis in midfield will help Town keep the ball and protect them. We can dominate teams in tough away games by dominating the centre of the park and get the most out of some of our best players.

Although the system is working well for them, football is a long season, and we need to be flexible. I would like to see O’Neil play three in midfield as they have so many options to play. This could be a powerful weapon later on in the campaign.