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Pompey boss John Mousinho Cambridge United verdict
The News, Portsmouth
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14/02/2024
Pompey boss John Mousinho speaks after the Cambridge United win which keeps the Blues six points clear of Derby County in EFL League One.
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00:00
John, another victory, 3-1 against Cambridge United tonight. What are your thoughts on
00:04
tonight's match, please?
00:06
Really happy with the result and I think we totally deserved that over the 90 minutes.
00:10
The real positives in the game were some positives, particularly in the second half and also a
00:15
lot of areas that we need to improve upon because I thought after a bright start, five
00:19
or ten minutes in the game where we looked like we were on the front foot and we started
00:22
properly, I thought we then really just were off it for large parts of the first half.
00:26
We were really disappointed in terms of the way that we played and I think by the time
00:30
Cambridge went a goal up, that's what we deserved and certainly we deserved nothing other than
00:35
to be a goal down.
00:36
All of a sudden we sparked into life after that.
00:39
Got the penalty, got the equaliser, after that going into half-time I thought we looked
00:44
like we were the more likely side to score straight after that and to be fair I thought
00:47
the second half the lads were excellently and thoroughly deserved to get the two goals
00:50
and obviously win the game.
00:52
So this has probably been slightly greedy but I think we just need to be better across
00:56
the 90 minutes and I just thought the two halves were so contrasting.
01:01
I can live with it when we're not quite at it and not 100% of the races but we need to
01:06
be close to our best rather than as pausy as we were in the first half.
01:10
It was a classic shot on the arm really because it gave you a kick up the back side and then
01:14
you were a completely different side after they took the lead.
01:16
Yeah which is great in some ways but also it's something that we know we're not going
01:20
to be able to get away with and when we've done that, I think particularly over the Christmas
01:24
period and waited to go a goal down, we've not been able to kick into gear and then obviously
01:28
go and win the game.
01:30
We had done that previously, to be honest over the past few games it's not something
01:33
that's happened so that's been great but I think it happened again today so fine because
01:40
we won the game but really we just want to make sure that from a mentality point of view
01:45
we start games like that or we play for 45 minutes like we did in the second half, we
01:51
do that in the first half and because sides will punish you, I thought Cambridge were
01:54
a good side today, they looked lively, they've got some really good players in, they've got
01:57
players like Capeham and Furton and we need to just make sure we're better at that over
02:00
the last few games of the season.
02:02
The flip side of that, yet again you've come from behind to win a game.
02:07
Yeah and that's pleasing, really pleasing.
02:11
Obviously you come up against sides like this and they're more than capable of coming here
02:18
and causing problems which they did and so to go behind and then kick into gear I was
02:23
really happy with after that.
02:26
So yeah, real positive to be honest because of what we did in the second half.
02:29
I think if we can be a bit more like ourselves for large parts of the game then we'll be
02:33
a bit more comfortable.
02:34
And the second half, completely in control really, weren't you?
02:38
Yeah we just stepped on ourselves in terms of mentality, I thought our shape was a lot
02:41
better, a couple of the goals that we scored, just sum that up, we spoke about that in the
02:46
change room there, the second goal, Myles picks it up in the right position, he finds
02:51
Cassini and rather than admiring Cassini and Paddy he gets himself in the box and puts
02:55
himself in a good position.
02:56
So everything that we want from a player like Myles, get himself in the right spot, technically
03:01
then execute what we need him to execute because we know he's such a good player and then get
03:04
in the box.
03:05
We obviously did that with the third goal as well, with players that we know are a threat,
03:09
getting the players and putting the ball in the back of the net.
03:11
The more we do that the better we are, the less we, the more we lose our shape and the
03:15
more we do things that are off script then obviously you see what you see in the first
03:19
half.
03:20
When Pommi fall behind, do you even worry now because they've come back so many times
03:25
this season, do you still get off and get on with it?
03:30
You know I am frustrated I suppose when those things happen but calm because I know the
03:34
lads have that capability to keep them together and do it.
03:38
We're not always going to be able to control games and go a goal ahead as much as we'd
03:42
like it because we're demanding and we're groovy but yeah I just much prefer that we
03:48
do that after, I've spoken about this quite a few times, I much prefer we do that after
03:52
a game like we had against Wiccan where I thought we played pretty well, Wiccan got
03:57
a goal from a set piece, we didn't deserve to go a goal behind but then we came back
04:00
into it.
04:01
Today I just thought yeah actually we did deserve to go a goal behind so that was a
04:04
disappointment.
04:05
Obviously concerning the sight of Tom Larry coming off with an apparent hamstring injury.
04:08
Yeah I sort of think he's felt his hamstring was a bit more than tight and he's really
04:11
really disappointed with that from obviously every perspective.
04:15
We thought Tom would be ready to play tonight and obviously that's my decision, that was
04:20
something I take responsibility for so I'm really disappointed and gutted for Tom to
04:25
be honest because he's worked so hard to get himself back fit, he's worked so hard to get
04:29
into the side and we have been managing him over the past six to eight weeks particularly
04:35
bringing him out of the side after we played against Port Vale, bringing him out of the
04:38
side against Oxford and managing his minutes and yeah obviously thought that he would be
04:43
okay playing tonight.
04:44
And sometimes you can look really deeply into these things, that's one that I thought we
04:49
made the right decision to start and based on everything we knew and I'm obviously really
04:52
gutted for the lad.
04:53
You say you held yourself responsible, did you think that was a mistake?
04:57
In hindsight, in hindsight obviously it feels like it but I obviously didn't at the time,
05:01
I thought that Tom would be ready.
05:03
We had long, long conversations over the weekend about what that looked like and we had conversations
05:09
with Tom as well.
05:10
I think it's only fair that when I look at all of the injuries that we've had, I speak
05:17
about not being able to do anything about the majority of them.
05:21
This one, yeah, the reason I take responsibility is because obviously we could have made a
05:25
different decision.
05:26
I always make decisions based on what I think is best for the side and best for us to go
05:30
and win games and maybe being slightly harsh, I'm just really gutted for Tom that's all.
05:35
He's played very well since he's come back.
05:37
And that's a big part of the reason he's on the side today because I think it was still
05:40
quite early for Owen to come into the side.
05:43
In terms of the way that we try and play with those two sixes, there's a lot that we demand
05:46
of them and there's a lot out of possession and in possession that we demand of those
05:49
two that I think will come with time with Owen.
05:53
Coming from Carlisle I thought there's a lot that we'd still like to get into him without
05:56
having a full training week behind him.
05:58
So that was the reason we played Tom because he's done so well, he gets that position,
06:01
he's played really well for every single game that he's come in for us.
06:06
And that's why we brought him, we played him tonight because we thought he gave us the
06:10
best chance of winning the game.
06:12
What's the state of his hamstring injury?
06:14
Don't know, I think it's a bit more than tightness and I think it's a bit less than obviously
06:18
or hopefully a lot less than what we've seen with the likes of Alex and Tino.
06:21
He has torn it but it's not too severe.
06:24
So hopefully we'll see him back relatively soon.
06:27
I don't know what it's like yet but we'll have a scan tomorrow and then we'll get the
06:30
results from next week till Friday.
06:31
That's the worry every time we see a hamstring injury these days, you think that's it, it's
06:34
the worst one you can get.
06:35
Yeah and you never know but I don't think it's that severe.
06:38
We had a look at the footage and he does pull up but he's obviously gutted in there but
06:43
I don't think it's too severe.
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