- 11/11/2023
Pompey boss John Mousinho gives his verdict on the 2-2 draw with Charlton Athletic.
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00:00 Here with Pompey boss John Massino. John, I just said to you there, it must be really hard to rationally analyse, you know, afternoons like today.
00:06 But I'm going to ask you anyway, I mean, how do you begin to assess that?
00:09 I think, yeah, the overall emotion is disappointment because we played so well and have come away with just the point,
00:15 created a huge amount of chances that we didn't put in the back of the net and we've been undone by, you know, I'm not...
00:23 It's one of those where the goal isn't spectacular, you know, if Charlton pull us apart, if they do something that we think,
00:30 'OK, there's not much we can do about that', then you can live with it.
00:33 And that second goal here, I thought it was just really disappointing, you know, that stage of the game.
00:38 And I think everything that we did before that had been so good, particularly in the second half where I thought we had all of the pressure and most of the ball.
00:46 Yeah, just to come away without the full three points is a tough one for the lads to take.
00:51 It was unlike one of your sides actually, that moment at the end where it was slow to engage the ball,
00:55 then the ball came in and didn't get dealt with and then it looked like a ball God can see from Will's point of view as well.
01:00 Yeah, I didn't necessarily mind the fact there wasn't a huge amount of pressure on the ball.
01:04 That late in the game sometimes there isn't, but if there isn't a huge amount of pressure on the ball,
01:07 you have to make sure that you're locked off behind and that you're defending in numbers.
01:10 And I think when the Grandals ran off one of our players in the middle of the park, we lost the header and then the ball squirmed under Will.
01:16 So a couple of things we're going to be disappointed with at that stage of the game,
01:19 you just have to defend your box a bit better.
01:21 Actually, I say that at the end, you have to defend your box really well throughout and we have been good at that.
01:26 And again, not a spectacular goal, it's not going to be a goal of the month, is it?
01:31 So we have to really think about how we defend that better.
01:34 Two goals where Will was beating up the near post, I'm guessing you'll have been disappointed with those.
01:38 I haven't seen the first goal at all, I don't know if it took a deflection.
01:41 It's pretty difficult to see anything sometimes from the wide angle that we get on the far side.
01:46 We haven't got the TV angle yet. Will is an excellent goalkeeper, he's been brilliant for us this season.
01:53 He's made saves at that end that have dug us out and have kept us in games and have won us many, many points.
01:58 So that happens. My biggest concern is what happens before that. I don't want Will to have to make those saves.
02:03 And Will also, as you say, has quite a lot of credit in the bank this season.
02:07 Huge amount of credit in the bank and of course goalkeepers want to make more saves than not.
02:11 But genuinely my concern is that for a side as well organised as we have been,
02:17 that we shouldn't be asking Will to have to make those saves, to be honest.
02:21 And I think there are instances in the build-up to that where we can do better.
02:24 And there were chances at the other end to put the game to bed?
02:28 Oh yeah, plenty of chances. I think throughout the game, to be honest, from the kick-off that we were excellent,
02:33 we came out, we started really, really well, really positively.
02:36 The goalkeeper made a couple of brilliant saves.
02:38 My overall feeling on that goalkeeper is that, yeah, he was obviously playing for Charlton so he couldn't have won it,
02:43 but he was definitely the man of the match. I thought he was outstanding.
02:45 It's the best I've seen him play, to be honest, maybe apart from the penalty.
02:48 So that is one of those things you have to shrug your shoulders and get on with.
02:52 But there's a few of those I think we can do a bit better.
02:55 And a couple of contrasting chances, you know, the two that hit the bar and one from Abs in the edge of the box.
03:01 I don't know who then hits the follow-up, hits the bar.
03:03 They're difficult chances and it doesn't quite go away, but there are other chances that we had,
03:08 a couple from point-blank range, that I think we should just do a bit better.
03:10 Yeah, Abhi Kamara did light up the game with a sumptuous strike for the opener as well.
03:14 Yeah, really pleased for him because we know he's got that quality and abundance
03:17 and we're really trying to encourage him to be positive, to have that confidence.
03:22 If he has confidence and positivity in everything he does, then we know he's a hell of a player.
03:26 Yeah, you keep telling him that in training, don't you?
03:28 You can see that he's got that in the locker and what a great example of that today.
03:31 Yeah, brilliant example. It's not just that, it's everything about what he does day in, day out.
03:37 Hopefully he sees that we put the trust in him to play, even if it is slightly out of position for him.
03:42 But yeah, we do have the trust in a young 20-year-old to go out in this big, big game.
03:47 This is a massive game for us today.
03:49 And there was a lot of pressure, I think, on us to perform.
03:52 A lot of pressure on a lot of those young lads out there to perform.
03:54 I thought they dealt with it brilliantly well.
03:56 Paddy Lane won the penalty for the second. What did you make of his performance this afternoon?
03:59 I thought he was outstanding, to be honest. I thought he created a lot down the right in the first half.
04:03 He gave the left-back some real problems.
04:07 That's a left-back who's played quite a bit in the Championship and obviously has had a decent enough, solid career.
04:15 Paddy gave him some real problems, including getting him booked as well.
04:17 And again, in the second half, he won the penalty.
04:22 It was a constant threat. He's just got to add a couple more goals to Paddy's game.
04:25 But overall, really pleased.
04:27 You can see the quality. But you had a tenacious edge about him at times today as well.
04:31 Yes, and I think we were at it in terms of our physical output today.
04:33 It was really pleasing to see that. There was a bit of edge in our play.
04:36 We stood up to the challenge without doing anything reckless or unnecessary.
04:40 Work rate, couldn't fault any of the lads.
04:44 Willingness to go and fight for the team, for the club.
04:47 Yet, couldn't fault any of them. That was really pleasing.
04:49 Yes, and Alex Robertson's another performance I wanted to pick out.
04:51 Yes, I thought that Alex and Joe really controlled the game in the middle of the park brilliantly well.
04:55 When Alex was named man of the match, it wasn't a surprise.
04:58 I thought he was thoroughly well-reserved.
05:00 Again, Alex, if he can add a bit more at the top end of the pitch in terms of goals,
05:03 he's got a brilliant strike, he's got quality.
05:05 We're going to keep encouraging him to get into those positions.
05:08 But I think from where he receives the ball, right up maybe until that final 18-yard box he's out,
05:15 he's very, very good.
05:16 And again, easy to forget he's such a young man. He's 21 years old.
05:20 It's his first proper loan. I know he had three games previously up in Scotland,
05:24 but it's his first proper loan coming into the pressurised environment from a very, very different environment
05:29 at under-21s level. I think he's really shown for us.
05:32 Quality is the word that comes to mind. When a player makes it look quite easy,
05:35 when it's not at all actually, that's normally a good sign, isn't it?
05:38 Yes, and he glides past players and he's positive. He's excellent.
05:42 He's defensive work as well. We never have any problems with him.
05:45 Thinking about output and how much he works off the ball.
05:48 And that, again, is a decent midfield three as well for Charlton today.
05:53 Dobson, Watson, Alfie Mowgan, Fraser coming on.
05:56 Very, very good players at this level and I think he's dealt with them excellently.
05:58 How does he now take his game to the next level?
06:00 You sort of touched on it a bit perhaps there without...
06:02 I think he keeps working on all of the things that have made him such a good player this season.
06:06 But particularly when he's...
06:08 One thing that I'd say is even when he's playing deeper, he's getting chances,
06:11 particularly around the edge of the box.
06:12 And the only thing I think he needs to just step on with is making sure that when he does have an opportunity
06:18 to shoot on his right foot or left foot, he puts the ball in the back of the net
06:20 or at least hits the target.
06:23 He was disappointed away at Cambridge, a chance right at the back end of the game
06:26 where a player... it wasn't an easy chance, but a player coming onto the ball late with that amount of quality.
06:31 He wanted to do better and he knows it himself.
06:33 And I think if he does put all of that together, then you've got a player that is playing well below his level.
06:39 So much positivity around the club this season, but I'm hearing some bad news this afternoon about Regan Paul.
06:44 Yeah, Regan has torn his ACL, unfortunately.
06:46 So that's going to be him for the season.
06:49 One of those things that happens in football, nothing you can do about it.
06:54 A little nudge in the back from, I think, Will Grigg.
06:57 And yeah, it's just one of those things. Really, really gutted for Regan.
07:01 And yeah, we just have to make sure that we deal with it.
07:04 If anybody's equipped to deal with a long spell out and making sure that he comes back fit and strong, it's Regan.
07:10 These days, ACL injuries, they're not ideal, but they're not the sort of career-threatening injuries they were in the '90s,
07:17 early 2000s. The surgery is excellent. They're quick, they're in and out.
07:20 Having had one myself as well and coming back in sparkling form, obviously.
07:24 It's a joke, by the way.
07:26 I've got it.
07:28 The prognosis for him is good.
07:31 I mean, obviously, we're trying to put a positive spin on that, but it is a setback to lose a player with Regan's quality.
07:37 Of course it is. Of course it is. We don't want to lose any players.
07:40 And the fewer injuries you have, the better.
07:42 Regan's been probably one of our players of the season this year.
07:44 He's been absolutely outstanding since he signed.
07:47 So, yes, of course we're disappointed.
07:49 But my message to the lads on Friday was, I'm not happy with the situation,
07:53 but I'm happy with the fact that we've got strength and depth underneath that and we have people competing for the shirt.
07:58 And lads that are coming in and doing as well as they've done.
08:02 It's hard to think of too many mistakes that Sean Raggett made today.
08:07 I can't remember him putting a foot wrong, to be honest.
08:09 No.
08:10 So that's really, really pleasing for us that we've got players to come in behind that and do as well as they've done.
08:14 And, I mean, obviously you can shuffle things around and Riley Taylor would be an option, I suppose.
08:17 Could Connor come across that on the goal?
08:19 Yes, so, at the moment, we've got those three centre-halves competing for two spots.
08:21 That's great.
08:22 I thought Riley really grew into the game the other night against Leighton Orient.
08:25 And, yes, we've got to acknowledge all of the positives about the way that we tried to build the squad in the summer,
08:30 which is to keep four centre-halves around that we think could compete at this level for a reason.
08:35 Now all four of them have started league games.
08:37 All four of them are ready to compete.
08:39 Three of them are ready to compete, sorry.
08:41 And they're hungry, willing and ready to go.
08:43 We've probably got other options there as well.
08:45 Zach Swanson played really well there the other night.
08:47 Connor Ogilvie can play there too.
08:49 So it's not the end of the world.
08:51 Would you consider a centre-back in January now off the back of that?
08:53 I think we'll have a look at that.
08:55 It's just that the news is a bit hot off the press at the moment.
08:57 So I think, you know, if we're going on about having four centre-halves in the building,
09:01 then maybe that is something we'll look at.
09:03 Yes. And just taking stock now, one-point guaranteed international break.
09:06 How do you reflect on everything so far this season?
09:09 Really positively, to be honest.
09:12 You know, you asked me before the season if you'd go into the third international break,
09:17 not with this league position.
09:19 The league position is what it is.
09:20 It's the performances that we put in, the positivity around the club, as you mentioned.
09:24 There's just been a lot that's been very, very pleasing from my perspective.
09:29 And I thought that today summed up, I think, large parts of the season.
09:33 I think making a very, very good side, struggle for large parts of the game.
09:40 And really coming away thinking we should have won the game.
09:43 So it's probably the only time in the recent weeks that I thought,
09:47 'That isn't a result that we deserve'.
09:50 We deserved a bit more from that.
09:51 So overall, very, very happy with the start to the season.
09:54 Cheers.
09:55 Thank you.
09:56 - I'll let you do this again, but I'll have you--
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