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Ipswich Town: Luke Garbutt happy to switch between roles in the team
Luke Garbutt, on loan at Ipswich from Everton this season, has said he is happy to switch between roles in the Tractor Boys’ team.
Speaking to independent Ipswich website twtd.co.uk, the 26-year-old said he is content to play in any left-sided position, depending on whether manager Paul Lambert chooses to go with three or four at the back.
Garbutt told twtd.co.uk: “Wing-back is a position I’ve played a little bit, not loads. I’ve either played full-back or on the wing but the way in which the manager wants us to play, which is kind of on the front foot and attacking teams, it will suit my game. Hopefully, I can demonstrate that in the coming games.
“If you’re winning football games you kind of just take it on board, do you know what I mean? If it was another scenario and things weren’t quite going as well then it might be a little bit of a tricky situation.
“But where the team is at the minute, with our mentality and the way we are winning games, the lads seem to be just kind of….it’s flowing, no matter what formation we put out really, so long may it continue.”
While Garbutt has played as a conventional full-back for most of his career, he has been thriving in a more advanced left-sided position at Ipswich this season.
He has scored three goals in just five appearances this season, netting in the first two league games against Burton Albion and Sunderland from a left midfield position as Lambert played a traditional 4-4-2. [via TransferMarkt]
He then missed five games before coming back into the side against MK Dons, when the manager adopted the 3-4-1-2 setup that he has used ever since, with Garbutt’s role changing to that of roving wing-back, in which he found the net against Tranmere recently.
The left midfield role seemed to get the best out of him, with three key passes against both Burton and Sunderland, compared to just two in his three games as a wing-back. He also put in five crosses over the two games against Burton and Sunderland, as many as in his subsequent three appearances. [via WhoScored]
Lambert’s decision to play the 26-year-old further up the pitch may have been influenced by events at Oxford last season.
Having begun the campaign in his established left-back position, Karl Robinson used him in a left midfield role from February onward and he ended the season with three goals and two assists from his final five games. [via TransferMarkt]
Considering the form he has shown at Oxford and Ipswich over the last six months, Garbutt seems well suited to a more advanced role in Lambert’s side.
With the Tractor Boys unbeaten in the league this season and winning all but one game in which the 26-year-old has played, it’s a situation that appears to be working quite well for both team and player.
Ipswich fans, what do you think is Garbutt’s best position in the team? Comment below with your views!
