Pompey 4-0 Swansea: John Mousinho's post-match reaction

The News, Portsmouth

Pompey boss John Mousinho talks to The News after the Blues' New Year's Day win against Swansea.

Transcript

00:00Yes, it's a really strange one because I'm obviously really, really pleased with the

00:06performance and the result today. I would like to come and speak to you guys after games

00:12when it's not a bounce back from a really poor performance, but all we could do today

00:16was bounce back and all we could do today was make sure that we were at it from the

00:20first whistle, which we were. So, yes, really, really pleased with that. I think if you consider

00:24what it's been like for the last three days and the lad's head's in the bin, for want

00:32of a better phrase, after the Bristol City game, mine as well. Yes, really, really positive

00:37to come back and be as good as we were today.

00:39What is it about playing here that makes your team such a different beast from what we see

00:43away from playing at times?

00:45I don't know. It was great. It's brilliant that our home form has been so good over the

00:50last couple of months and we have to try and find a way to take that away from home.

00:55There's obviously a load of different factors and it's one of the mysteries of football

00:58why home advantage is such a big thing. But certainly here at Fratton Park, there's some

01:04telltale signs in terms of the atmosphere, in terms of the way that we get the game going.

01:08Travel can take it out of your legs as well and I think that probably did it for us in

01:11terms of going back-to-back away games with Watford and then Bristol City. So, I don't

01:17know, but it's an amazing place to play football. I've always felt that as a player. It's an

01:22amazing place to coach and when we get Fratton Park going and we get it bouncing, it's a

01:27very, very difficult place to come as an opposition player.

01:29You were well on top in the first half, despite Swansea doubling their possession. Is that

01:32something that you tweaked out of possession or was it very much a case of aggression and

01:36intent when it saw you through?

01:37Yes, it's a really difficult one playing against Swansea because you want to be aggressive

01:42on the press. But if you don't get it right, then you can get picked off really easily,

01:47whether that's the two centre-halves, Kabanga and Darling, stepping in and then all of a

01:50sudden creating that overload or whether they bounce out and they make it difficult for

01:54you, a goalkeeper, to pick out both full-backs. So, you have to get it right and what we wanted

01:58to do was be aggressive but not get picked off as well. So, we did that really well,

02:03I thought, in the first half. There were times in the second half where we probably dropped

02:05a bit too deep, but naturally in the game when you go two goals up, that sometimes happens.

02:10But to be honest, if you look at the fourth goal that we scored, that was by being front-fitted

02:14and by being aggressive and if we can get it right in the right moments, I think we look like

02:17a good side.

02:18The centre-back pairing of Marlon Pack and Riley Towler received some criticism following

02:22that game at Bristol City. Was it a difficult decision to keep them in or did you have that

02:25belief that they were going to carry through and turn in performances as they did?

02:29Yes, I think that's one thing I'd probably say about Marlon and Riley since they've come

02:35into the side is that Riley's first game was Coventry here, probably started slightly

02:41shakily against Passet, who was a real threat, but then settled into the game and did really

02:45well. I thought Riley then did really well against Watford. Yes, both disappointing up

02:49at Bristol City, but along with the rest of the team, to be honest, and we recognised

02:54that, that it wasn't just individuals, it was the entire team that really didn't pull

02:57their weight. So, yes, it was one of those that we always look at team selection after

03:02any game, win, lose or draw, and just try and pick the best side for the win and,

03:06thankfully, we got it right today.

03:08And a busy month for Gennry. Do you enjoy Gennry on and off the pitch or is it something

03:12you'd rather do without and just put on the floor?

03:14No, it's enjoyable if you get the players that you want, I think.

03:19And that's been at the end of the month.

03:20Yes, it just adds an extra factor because all of a sudden you've got live recruitment

03:26going on. We've been at it in terms of recruitment since... It never stops, to be honest, it

03:32never stops. And so we've been at it since the end of the last transfer window and making

03:35sure that we have all the right things in place to try and affect the squad now. And

03:40yes, just the amount of games, really, is going to be the most important thing. We're

03:43one down, we've got seven to go and we need to keep at it and keep progressing.

03:47Thank you so much.

03:48Cheers, thank you.

03:49It sounded like a performance that optimised a lot of the best qualities that we've seen

03:52on this side of the field.

03:54Yes, I think so. We've seen those qualities at home a lot more than we have away from

03:59home, but certainly the Watford game, I thought we were really impressive. And actually, the

04:04previous away game that we got a point from, the Swansea game in the first half, certainly

04:08we played well, played well enough to deserve the lead and unfortunately couldn't hold on

04:12in the second half. So, yes, there's a huge amount to take from the game, I thought. Really,

04:17really positive in terms of the bounce back from Sunday. Is it Sunday?

04:22I'd love to do this at that time of year, Tom.

04:24Yes, it is that time of year. I think it's a Wednesday today. So, yes, really impressive

04:27that we bounced back like we did from Sunday. And yes, we've just got to find a way to keep

04:31that momentum going and carry that into away games as well.

04:34I thought it was superb that the coaching staff mentioned it towards the back end of

04:44the game and I'd had similar feelings. I thought he picked up pretty much every second ball

04:48and when he did, he showed quality, he showed composure, he showed the athleticism that

04:52we know he's got. And yes, we need that consistently from Fred. Thankfully, again, having him being

05:01out the side at Bristol City, I thought he was fresh today on a really difficult circumstance

05:05actually, because the amount of work rate that the lads had to put in against Swansea

05:09was monumental. Add on top of that, it's a really, really heavy pitch and the rain was

05:12chucking down as well off the back of the travel, etc. So, yes, really pleased with

05:17actually everybody's output and Freddy's in particular.

05:19Yes, Dezel, alongside him there as well. You all seem to grab games for the stuff that

05:24you're asking and demanding now. I think that was a really strong defensive in there.

05:27Yes, and it's a really difficult one in the middle of the park against sides like this

05:31because of the rotation that they have and the two eights that they play. Pin you high

05:35and wide, Grimes drops in. So, there's a bit of a decision that players have to make whether

05:39they press or they don't press and I thought for the most part the two of them got it spot

05:43on and played really well.

05:44Everyone was talking about the team selection at Bristol City, then one would naturally

05:47say Hindsight's one for a good list decision now and it's justifying it. Is that the case

05:52the way you see it or not?

05:55The side we picked at Bristol City we thought was going to be competitive going into the

05:58game and unfortunately it wasn't. I said it at the time, I said it in the press conference

06:03yesterday, I don't necessarily think it was the changes that cost us. I thought it was

06:07the overall performance and some players that had been playing week in, week out that weren't

06:11quite at it and the whole 11 I thought were obviously below the standard. So, we picked

06:19the side the other day with the schedule in mind and the fact that we did need to rest

06:24players, you could see even the lads that were quite fresh today. So, Lange was absolutely

06:29out on his feet even at the back end of the first half. Murph, the same, Kolbe is managing

06:36to get through these 90 minutes in a superb fashion. So, we have that, even the lads that

06:41were fresh I thought, the amount of output we've got in today, it's going to be tiring.

06:45Paddy Lange was one person who stayed in, he got his goal and it looked like there was

06:50a lot of pent-up frustration released in that celebration.

06:52Yes, I think his first goal in the Championship, he was brilliant last year in terms of his

06:56goal-scoring output. We've asked for more from Paddy in recent weeks and I thought he

07:04did alright against Bristol City, received the ball on his back foot really well without

07:08being a massive goal threat. We were asking for that sort of performance more often than

07:12not from Paddy. We know what he's capable of and he needs to keep going to make that

07:16step up to the level.

07:17Everyone around you is saying you wouldn't likely dominate possession with 99% of sides,

07:22they're up at 73% possession, but you've kind of limited their effective possession.

07:27Yes, and it's something that is difficult when you play against sides like that. I think

07:34they're brilliant in possession, they cause you a huge amount of problems. They've got

07:37some players that can dominate the ball, can handle the ball really well. One of the impressive

07:41things I think is that when they don't play short, as we saw in the first half where we

07:45got away with a couple, they can go longer and they've got runners in behind as well.

07:49So, really, really difficult side to play against. As much as we watch them and try

07:52to come up with solutions, sometimes there's nothing you can do about the way they play.

07:56So, yes, we're happy concealing possession as long as we make sure that we punish them

08:00when we do win the ball back.

08:01Out of the bottom three for the time, being at least the biggest championship win in 15

08:05years, a big impact this afternoon. Are you positive things at the start of the new year?

08:08Yes, and we've got to carry that momentum on. We've got to carry that momentum on,

08:11we've got to find a way to bottle up what we do here and do that away from home as

08:14well. That's a big challenge for us. But make sure for the rest of the season as well,

08:17we're at it. And whenever we come to Fratton Park, we make this a really, really difficult

08:22place to play because home form, I think, is going to be really important.

08:25The window's open, so every time Willow speaks to you, there's going to be questions about

08:28that. Naturally, you know that. How do things stand as of today?

08:34Yes, the last couple of days have been completely focused on Swansea, so things might have changed

08:37behind the scenes. I'll go and catch up with Richard now in terms of where we are with

08:40that. But I suspect that probably nothing before Sunderland, but then we've got a bit of a break

08:45in terms of the league games. We've got, I think, 10 days after that. So, yes, expect some activity

08:50then. I think you said, didn't you say in the presser, that you're hoping for Blackburn?

08:54Yes, that's the game that we'll target maybe to have a couple of players in. So, yes, we'll see

08:59by that point. But more likely than not, we'll be going to Sunderland with the same squad and then

09:04off the back of that, we'll see. You weren't players yesterday,

09:06but you can wear the window work, so it'll probably be good going late.

09:10It always happens. Some of the players that we're looking at at the moment,

09:15from all different walks and all different leagues, the Cubs aren't willing to let them go,

09:19or they're not available yet, or there's a bit of work to do in terms of the negotiations. So,

09:25there's nothing that's set in stone. Things change really, really quickly as well in the

09:28transfer window. And you see that with injuries today, with suspensions, etc, etc. And, you know,

09:33plenty of conversations we're having with clubs. Nothing yet. Hold your horses,

09:38we'll see where we are at the back of January.

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