Pompey boss John Mousinho Cambridge United verdict

The News, Portsmouth

Pompey boss John Mousinho speaks after the Cambridge United win which keeps the Blues six points clear of Derby County in EFL League One.

Transcript

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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