Better than Buffon? Hladky shines in the new season, picking up his third win and Ipswich reigning supreme in England’s second league. Fans hail him as a hero

Patience brings roses. Václav Hladký has been a player for Ipswich since 2021, until now he has only played the role of the number two, he was supposed to play it this season as well. However, the man who was supposed to be the number one got injured shortly before the start of the second league and the Brno native got his chance, which he grabbed by the armpits.

The year was 2021, and Václav Hladký came to Ipswich from Salford and was promoted one league game. He swapped the fourth English league for the third. But he never became the number one at his traditional club, rather he just covered the backs of his competitors.

After all, he played 24 games in two years before the start of this season, which is not much. He was supposed to start as a number two this year, but Christian Walton got injured less than two weeks before the start of the second league.

It’s worth noting that Ipswich are new to the second league, having spent the last few years in the third highest competition. And the first round was marked by a trip to Sunderland. Fans had their doubts, can Hladky cope with this level?

But in the first round the Moravian goalkeeper showed that he is definitely up to the second English league. He helped the team to win 2: 1, made three successful saves, helped the team with the midfield and silenced the first wave of doubters.

And the next two games? Hladky did even better, keeping two clean sheets and Ipswich are at the top of the table and together with Leicester they are the only two second division clubs that are still 100 percent after three rounds.

Ipswich, with Hladky in goal, beat Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers. Against QPR, Hladky gave his best performance yet, he had to really pull himself up. Sofascore gave him a 7.9 rating.

Overall, Hladky has an average grade of 7.50 on the prestigious statistics server this season, which is an excellent number. Let’s hope that the 32-year-old goalkeeper will continue the trend.

Fans are starting to compare him to the legendary Gianluigi Buffon on social media, with some even saying he is better than the Italian phenom. Many are also publicly apologising for doubting him in the first place. In short, well done!

Source: Sofascore, YouTube, Twitter, Ipswich Town