Portsmouth boss John Mousinhp gives his verdict on the gut-wrenching Championship defeat to Plymouth Argyle.
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00:00So, John, how on earth did Pompey lose that to you today?
00:04I mean, pretty simple, I suppose. We didn't put the ball in the back of the net when we
00:08had the chances and we didn't create better opportunities when we broke and we nicked
00:13the ball back high up, but I still think we created plenty enough to win the game. And
00:17then you had probably three moments in the second half, the only time that Plymouth had
00:20any chances. One where we lose a tackle in the right-back area, the other where Tom Mack
00:25dwells on the ball and ends up being offside, so it's not a chance. And then the other one
00:29which is the goal, we don't deal with the long ball and ends up in the back of the net.
00:33So, yeah, really disappointing because I don't think we deserved it.
00:36Is that the most frustrating thing because you played so well, dominated over 90 minutes?
00:42Yeah, it's probably... it's a weird one because the performances that we had mid-week away
00:48from home have just been so far away from what we need to produce. And that's been a
00:52real head-scratcher. But you look at the results and think, OK, those results are fair enough.
00:57This one is the reverse almost because we played so well tonight off the back of a really
01:00good performance against Hull and not put the ball in the back of the net and not kept
01:04the ball out of the net and then punished. So, I think, yeah, probably a bit more frustrating.
01:08Is that the most frustrating one for you this season so far?
01:10It feels like it at the moment. They all do in the moment, but I think that is because
01:14of the level of performance, I think.
01:16You're only complaining about that performance, the fact that you didn't score the whole...
01:21Yeah, to be honest. And yeah, it didn't defend the goal well enough. I do think where the
01:31goal comes from is an issue that I've taken up with the referee. He gives the foul in
01:36the box here against Regan Paul. I think it's really, really soft. I think he's a foul and
01:42go up the other end and we don't get the rub of the green on that one. And I think that
01:47Regan does get shoved in the back. It takes him away from where the ball is. He's never
01:50going to just go to ground in that moment. The ball ends up in the back of the net. So,
01:55I think we've got to deal with the first ball a bit better. But yeah, that's just one thing
02:00that's sort of added to the pain of the night.
02:03So the actual goal, you felt that Regan was fouled in that goal?
02:06I thought so. I just think if the threshold for a foul is what's given in the box here,
02:10then it has to be given the other way as well. And yeah, it's one of those we can debate
02:16all night. But yeah, unfortunately, we've come out on the wrong side of it.
02:20What did you say to the referee about it?
02:21I just asked him for his opinion and I gave him my take on a few other bits in the game.
02:26And yeah, that was it. We had a good, honest conversation and we got on with it.
02:32What did Regan say about it?
02:33I haven't spoken to Regan yet. I'll speak to him tomorrow.
02:37And that was a sucker point for you in the whole performance, wasn't it?
02:40Yeah, we didn't deserve it based on the performance. I thought we pressed really well. We pressed
02:47high up the pitch. We got some really good opportunities to hurt them on the counter
02:51and to hurt them on the turnover. We played some really good football, especially in the
02:54first half when we needed to, broke through lines. So it was a really, really good performance.
02:57I thought we went direct when we needed to go direct. We went a bit shorter when we needed
03:01to go short. And yeah, really, really happy with that. So I'm really happy with that overall.
03:06Just disappointed we haven't taken at least a point and what we deserved was all three.
03:10With that goal as well, was there a foul on McIntyre as well, by any chance?
03:13Yeah, maybe. Again, with the foul that was given against us and some of the other fouls
03:18given against us. I thought I was appealing for that, but we've just got to do a bit better.
03:25You brought Matt Ritchie off, another cracking game. What was the thinking behind that?
03:28It was just the fact that Matt's not played a huge amount of football over the past probably
03:34two years really. So just protecting him, making sure that he doesn't get injured.
03:38And I suppose the amount of energy he puts in, you've got to be careful with it.
03:40Yeah, and we've got another game at the weekend and it was an injury risk starting him in
03:45the first place and we decided to take that risk because of his level of performance at
03:48the weekend. And yeah, I thought it was superb.
03:52Was he fatiguing? Did he want to come off?
03:55No, he didn't want to come off. He didn't want to come off, but it was just a case of
03:58tipping into... We have all the information that we've got at our fingertips and it was
04:03tipping into an area where if Matt had gone and torn a calf or a hamstring, we're thinking
04:07what on earth are we doing leaving him on for that period of time?
04:10It would have just been absolutely idiotic.
04:13Considering the fact that we've had the travel, Matt's 35, he's fit as a flea.
04:18But he is 35, you take that into consideration.
04:20You take the effort into consideration.
04:22I think that there was something we saw at the weekend about overall performances or
04:28overall physical performances over the entire season so far and Matt being 10th in terms
04:34of high-speed distance from the weekend.
04:37So, we knew what he was putting into the game.
04:39We saw that again tonight and we didn't want to take the risk.
04:41How's Jordan Williams?
04:42He's OK. He felt his hamstring, wasn't sure what it was.
04:45So, we just decided not to take the risk on that.
04:50You came into the game, as you said, you pressed really well from the start, didn't you?
04:54Did you expect any complaints about the effort that was ruled out?
04:59It looked like it was... We got a really interesting angle from where we were on the bench.
05:04I just trust the referee on that one and the linesman.
05:07They got that right. I haven't actually looked back at that.
05:09But after that, the start like that, did you think, I'm finding it hard to find words for it,
05:14but you didn't score in the game and that must have been really frustrating.
05:17Yeah, that was it really. I think everyone's in agreement with that.
05:20It's one of those, obviously frustrating when we don't score,
05:23considering the chances we created and something we need to be a bit better at.
05:27It's one of the things we haven't struggled with so far this season.
05:31It's been much more of a struggle to keep clean sheets at the back.
05:33We have scored goals, but yeah, in a crucial game like this, in a crucial moment, we didn't manage to do it.
05:38Now, you're calling it crucial, but it's very early in the season.
05:41I mean, did you think it was a big game coming into it?
05:44Every game we consider to be a big game and with the fact that Plymouth have been down there in the league as well
05:50and the opportunity to close the gap, every opportunity we have, there's three points available.
05:57And yeah, we didn't take it tonight.
05:59Boot on the other foot substitutes change games, don't they?
06:02Did that disrupt you in any shape or form?
06:06Were you prepared for the change in striker when Obafemi came on?
06:09Yeah, I mean, we thought that Obafemi would start, to be honest.
06:12So, the centre-halves were fully prepared for that.
06:14I don't think there was any...
06:16If you look at the game, I didn't think the game changed.
06:18Obviously, the centre-forward ends up going and scoring, but it's just from a long goal kick.
06:23So, I didn't think the game significantly changed.
06:25I thought it was just one moment that we didn't deal with well enough,
06:28because even with the substitutions that Plymouth brought on,
06:30I thought, yeah, we're still in the ascendancy,
06:32still dealing with everything they threw at us, but just not quite well enough.
06:36And you had a fantastic support here, plenty of positives to take in the game?
06:42Loads of positives.
06:42We've stood here a couple of times midweek away games,
06:46knowing the performance hasn't been good enough.
06:48And we've come away with a hiding a couple of times.
06:50This was much, much better.
06:51We're looking much more like the team I think everyone wants to see.
06:54And the fans will obviously be massively disappointed.
06:57But I think the reaction we got coming off the pitch probably tells everything we need to know,
07:04but we need to kick on again.
07:05Brilliant. Thank you for your time.