Liam Delap: The City Academy Product Shining for Ipswich in the Premier League

Ipswich Town signed Liam Delap from Manchester City for an initial £15million ($19.2m), with an additional £5m due in potential add-ons. As a Manchester City fan, Delap has always been a favourite of mine- a mainstay of one of City’s best ever Academy teams comprising the likes of Cole Palmer, James McAtee and Romeo Lavia, Delap’s standout traits included his physical build and more importantly- his ability to score goals at an incredible rate. At Hull City, there was a display of the traits he’d shown during his academy days, whilst also giving everybody an idea of his all-round game.

Below, I break down what I like about Delap, and why I think he has the potential to become England’s future CF.

Running in Behind

Liam Delap has his physical gifts. That build, combined with his running power means that he likes using those qualities to run off the shoulder of the last man. Here’s this clip from his debut City goal. I’ll forever remember it. Set aside the fact that his willingness to run in-behind and battle defenders is on display, I love how simply the finish is- run, receive, shoot with a touch. Many strikers tend to take too many touches in an attempt to get a shot (Darwin Nunez), but Delap hesitates little to generate a high-quality shot.

Even better about Delap- his ball-striking makes his runs even more lethal.

• Hips providing a lot of the shot power.
• Full knee extension to maximize shot power.
• Non-flimsiness of the ankle while shooting.

Generating Separation

Delap passes this test with flying colours. It’s quite simple for him off the ball, as evidenced by the above clips: straight-line running to beat a man and strength to push off an opposition player.

On the ball, Delap is quite good at maintaining separation for the shot- reminscient of Armando Broja in his Southampton days, a comparison made by many.

• Directional touches to deceive.
• Body feints.
• Decent control while dribbling- loves moving out wide to receive at times.

While it’s by no means his best asset, Delap is still sound in possession. Registering 2 successful take-ons, 3.67 progressive carries and 1.76 carries into the final third, Delap’s numbers see him rank highly amongst forwards in that aspect.

Photo: FBRef.com

These tools make him a threat in transition — perfect step count and the use of a stepover to deceive and generate separation. Excellent weak foot and the willingness to use it is a strong green flag.

Even better? Delap has shown he can do it on the right as well. Here’s a clip from his Hull City days- excellent use of deceleration and acceleration to create space, use of the weak foot, feints. 

Delap’s also quite effective in settled possession. Against his current club Ipswich Town in April, Delap scored a goal that’s the mark of a great striker. He drops/shifts back to draw defenders before darting into space against their momentum- always proactive, always reading play- reminiscent of a trick that Haaland uses to create separation.

Where to Improve?

Room for improvement can be seen in Delap’s possession game mostly- he is a high-risk dribbler, involving multiple dispossessions and miscontrols given his stature and build. 

More importantly, it would be great if Delap’s passing mostly focused on short passes, as opposed to longer passes. That way, he could focus on running in behind and generating shots whilst also facilitating play with his physicality and the occasional channel running.

Photo: FBRef.com

All in all, Liam Delap displays many traits and qualities that I admire in a centre-forward. Blessed with the ability to occupy defenders, a strong sense of goal, and the ability to use both feet, Delap is a player to keep an eye on- with more refinement and development, he may be headed towards being England’s future striker.

By: Pranav Parameshwaran / @__TheNearPost__

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Shaun Brooks – CameraSport