It would be fascinating to know which algorithms or eagle-eyed staff in Ipswich’s recruitment department spotted the potential in Emersonn to score the goals to keep them in the Premier League.
Thirteen games, no goals and a serious knee injury at the Brazilian side Athletico Paranaense; two league goals in 17 games at Turkish side Goztepe; then six in 28 at French side Toulouse. A modest return and not one that screams he would be ready to break down doors in the English top flight.
Ipswich have spent more than £150m this summer, determined not to make the same mistakes as the last time they came up. Emersonn became a club record signing – for £24m plus add-ons – beaten a month later by the arrival of the attacking midfielder Julio Enciso for £26m.
In a season of flux and uncertainty, the sparks of a compelling partnership between the pair here offered faint hope Ipswich can stay up against the odds, just as their opponents did last season. They are certainly mirroring Sunderland’s recruitment plan.
“It’s important to assess the gap between the Championship and the Premier League – it’s massive,” the Sunderland manager, Régis Le Bris, said. “They made a good start, which is important, but the consistency throughout the season is a big challenge.”
Enciso and Emersonn combined for the opening goal and regularly tried to find one another. Luke O’Nien, for reasons unbeknown to anyone but himself, had the ball under no pressure on the halfway line but passed straight to Enciso. Anyone watching the previous 23 minutes could see he was the last player you wanted to give the ball to with yards of open grass behind you. Enciso duly skipped past O’Nien, drove into Sunderland’s half, shimmied past Dan Ballard before squaring for Emersonn to scruffily tuck the ball away.
Angulo swept in a marvellous free kick via the crossbar, six minutes before the break, and almost an entire second half of Ipswich pressure looked to be petering out in a draw. But Jack Clarke came on in the 71st minute – replacing man of the match Enciso, who left to a standing ovation – and in the 90th minute he delicately finished into the bottom-right corner.
“We’ve thrown Emersonn in,” the Ipswich manager, Gary O’Neil, said. “There are still some bits he has to tidy up on. He gave Ballard a tough time, fought him physically.”
There is indubitable flair and talent in the 22-year-old – the first Brazilian to play for Ipswich. Later, with the ball on the left, he evaded Thomas Meunier and Enzo Le Fée by slipping the ball between them, then found Enciso with a low cross, but the attacking midfielder caught the ball wrong.
Enciso has returned to Ipswich as though intent on making up for lost time. He has had nibbles at the Premier League before – first at Brighton, where he could not quite move beyond useful player-to-bring-on, then on loan here the last time Ipswich were in the Premier League, where he impressed as they went down.
He spent a year at Strasbourg under O’Neil, before following the coach back for another crack. “He’s a No 10 who can produce unbelievable quality, but not many 10s in the world are willing to work the way he works,” O’Neil said.
“I worked hard with him in Strasbourg around his defensive game. He was excellent stopping [Granit] Xhaka dictating. When he beats two players and there’s a shot on goal there’s no thought for himself, he passes to Emersonn. You won’t find many that can do all the sides like him.”
There will be times in retirement when O’Nien will wake up, drenched in sweat, from feverish dreams replaying over and over what Enciso did to him on this afternoon. After a bruising spell, when Enciso darted in to steal the ball from O’Nien’s feet, the defender took a yellow card to avoid being humiliated again.
If it wasn’t O’Nien, it was others. Enciso chopped past Xhaka – the midfielder shaking his head in frustration – then cut inside Nilson Angulo and crossed to the back post, where Emersonn was unable to direct his header on target.
Enciso has the vibe of a diminutive forward capable of producing a world-class performance once every four or five games. If he could find some consistency he could become one of the best players in the league.
Ipswich are back and there is something different about them this time.
