Liam Delap: What should Chelsea fans expect from Ipswich Town's battering ram?

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In the 55^th minute, a Brighton cross into the box is headed away by Axel Tuanzebe. It lands a few yards outside the box at the feet of Liam Delap. In Ipswich’s 4^th league game of the season, the 22-year-old Englishman would go on to face this bleak scenario countless times throughout a harsh first introduction to the PL – facing his own goal, 60 yards from the other box, with most of his team camped too deep to help. Cleverly positioned just out of Yasin Ayari’s range, Delap takes one touch with the outside of the boot into space – far enough for the locomotive to hit full-steam when he reaches it. Once he hits top speed, Ayari just gives up. Delap’s powerful surge quickly makes up the 10-yards of safety Jean Paul van Hecke has over him. By now, the Dutch centerback is struggling – chin raised in a desperate attempt for aerodynamic supremacy. Delap gets level, leans into van Hecke and lets rip a shot from the right; it arrows towards the top corner but cannons off the post.

Progressive Carries

Delap’s raw strength and rampaging carries were a feature of his game even when he played different sports at his time in Ecclesbourne School, where he sprinted across the 100m and 200m categories, played Rugby and even threw the javelin like his dad, hallowed Barclaysman Rory Delap, whose long throws regularly knocked satellites out of orbit. “He was so quick and strong, the other kids couldn’t handle him,” Mark Sellers, Delap’s PE coach at the school told The Times. “It would basically be 15 lads just chasing Liam with a rugby ball in his hand.”

Physicality/Hold Up Play

That strength has translated superbly to the top-flight and has proved critical to Delap’s quick adapting to the PL. Delap is a throwback to his Dad’s era - an old-fashioned battering ram built to clatter into CBs until they start to crack. Except his feet are eye-brow raising good, even under pressure. Against the Blues last season, he left an early marker on Tosin with a shove that sent him to the floor, he then left a similar mark on Colwill. He would beat both in 1v1s in that game, earning and dispatching an emphatic penalty to help Ipswich register a shock 2-0 win. There are aspects he can polish of course -what is a very handy left foot when shooting can be called a weaker foot when he dribbles; the size to speed disparity also sometimes leaves him chasing a touch when separating or accelerating.

Shooting/Finishing

Then there’s the shooting. 66 shots in 37 games were far harder to come by than for most PL forwards, but many left resounding impressions, both on fans and on the fingers of a few goalkeepers. There was the goal against Bournemouth, a shot hit with such velocity that the camera offering the close up failed to pan fast enough. Another shot in the dying moments of the Brentford game from the left cracked the post; the goal against Fulham was hit from outside the box, swerved and Berndt Leno’s fingers. The one against Villa, with his left, was struck with minimal backlift, but still generated enough power to slip past Emi Martinez’s world-cup salvaging hand.

Aerials

Going from 24 goals in 20 PL2 appearances and having Cole Palmer & Morgan Rogers as support acts to leading the line all by himself in a side that was fighting relegation from day one. Ipswich offer was a rough education. His supply line was often clogged, offering hopeless longballs and hacked clearances which he was expected to fight for, tooth & nail. 129 aerial duels, 4.58 a game, a respectable 42.7% win rate painted a nice picture of just how thankless the task was. Most of them were scraps he fought for outside the box, and questions on his heading inside the opponent’s box, how much power he generates and how well he varies them all remain unanswered.

Movement/Off-the-Ball

Delap’s off-ball capabilities are surprisingly well-rounded too. There is intelligence and purpose in his decisions - he relies on his #10 to drag out a CB so he can even the odds and exploit the other. He shows intent in turning or spinning a CB himself, but compared to Nicolas Jackson’s lightning quick burst, his acceleration is slower over the first few seconds. That sees him lose the crucial half-a-second that delivers the element of surprise. His box movement is a useful mixed bag - the near post runs are clever and well-timed; also has a nice resume of finely-crafted first-time finishes.

Defensive

Having to spend a large chunk time without the ball, Delap has also been able to hone his out-of-possession work, with his work-rate catching the eye. His 976 pressures placed him 5th in the league last season, while Dominic Solanke and Alexander Isak were the only CFs to manage more than his 411 pressures in the attacking third, according to Opta Analyst. The quality of his pressures and defensive positioning though are a notch below Jackson’s, with Delap sometimes failing to keep track of wily pivots that move horizontally to find pockets. His pressures are also only occasionally full-blooded, which makes them mostly convenient to endure. It is a side of his game he will have to work on, unless of course he crosses the 15 goal mark and no one would care.

The Rationale

So why Delap? Well, the 30m fee helps for one, as does the fact that being an ex-City player makes your resume look very good these days. Joe Shields and Enzo Maresca know him very well, as do Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer. That does make a difference, on and off the field. Delap also seems in the mould of a new-kind of hybrid forward, an evolved target man with added bonuses. Mateo Retegui, despite his lack of elite speed, is an expert marksman who finished as Serie A’s capocannoniere with 24 goals, six clear of Moise Kean in second.

Viktor Gyokeres, another rapid target man, finished with 46 G/A and the European Golden Boot after an exhilarating season. The former was recruited from Tigre in Argentina, while the latter came from Coventry in the Championship; they’re both a at least 4 years elder. There must be hope that Delap’s exploits in a challenging environment, coupled with his familiarity with the PL’s quality could help him discover a similar trajectory.

There are many things to improve, his ill-discipline being one. Finishing with the 2nd most fouls and the joint-most yellows in the PL (12) will prove problematic in a side that finished as the only one with a 100+ yellows. Champions League football and its new phase will bring offer the exciting opportunity of developing against even better CBs and units. If all goes well, this will be a bargain not quickly forgotten and a #9 curse that will be no longer remembered.

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