Ipswich midfielder Massimo Luongo believes the Sky Bet Championship new boys can take the division by storm thanks to a manager “setting the bar” for modern coaches.
The Tractor Boys are back in the second tier for the first time in five seasons after they scored 101 goals to secure promotion from League One and travel to Sunderland this weekend.
Former Manchester United coach Kieran McKenna is the man behind Ipswich’s revival and Luongo, currently nursing a minor groin strain, admitted the draw of working with the 37-year-old was the decisive factor in a return to Portman Road after a loan spell in 2012.
Under the stewardship of McKenna, in his first senior managerial role, Ipswich entertained League One last season with a brand of attacking and possession-based football not usually associated with success in England’s lower-leagues.
While Luongo is under no illusions about the Championship being a big step up, he is fully swept up in the excitement that has been present at the Suffolk outfit since McKenna’s arrival in the winter of 2021.
He told the PA news agency: “We have a good blend of boys ready to make the jump up and boys prepared to do the normal business. It is definitely one with a lot of anticipation and we’re all excited. I am definitely excited.
“It is definitely a step up, physically it is a step up. The difficult thing is how you compare because we dominated so many games in League One so physically they are not as demanding as games in the Championship.
“Everyone has the typical Champ game references when you watch Championship football and it comes around a lot.
“But I think with Ipswich, after Burnley last year, we will try to be the exception where you are not saying that.
“We want to play out from the back, play good football, be entertaining, so it will be a challenge but the players we have got are all looking forward to it.”
Australia international Luongo is delighted to be established at a club for the start of this season after enduring a difficult time last summer.
Luongo had to wait until September to find a new club before he failed to make an appearance during his short stint at Middlesbrough and had largely “written off the season” when Ipswich registered their interest before January.
The lure of being managed by ex-Tottenham Under-18s boss McKenna, after crossing paths at Spurs, helped the 30-year-old get over a largely disappointing 2022 to become a key figure for Ipswich and he netted in the 6-0 victory over Exeter that clinched promotion in April.
“With Ipswich there was some history there, I enjoyed it last time and probably the manager was the biggest pull. I came across him a little bit at Tottenham and over my career he kept track of me. I had also heard a lot of good things,” Luongo said.
“What is striking for me is his detail in how he wants to play. On the pitch, the detail is at a really, really high level, like the information we receive and the feedback we receive from the coaches.
“And the way he conducts himself. He is in early, watches every second of training and loves football, I feel like he watches every single game because he pulls out games like that.
“His knowledge of modern football is really good and he is obsessed with football to be honest. That bleeds into the team and we can all see it.
“You can tell he loves football, is obsessed with it and wants to improve as a coach and manager so you can imagine what he wants for us and demands from us.
“I enjoy coming in every day, for sure. The coaching staff and him have definitely created an atmosphere where we are firstly humble.
“We don’t leave any stone unturned, it doesn’t matter who we play against. Then when we win, stay humble and when we lose, don’t get too low. They have done a really good job of that.
“The manager has mixed with good people at Man United, his background with where else he has learnt and stayed, so I think the football we are playing is probably setting the bar for modern day managers of what is required.
“It is interesting because I have had a little spell of (Michael) Carrick and I can see the same with Kieran as well, so it is a good place to be.”
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