View: John Mousinho to be delighted as Portsmouth confirm Jacob Farrell transfer
John Mousinho will be delighted after Portsmouth confirmed the arrival of Jacob Farrell.
Pompey are a matter of weeks away from making their long-awaited return to the EFL Championship.
Mousinho’s side kick things off with a visit to Elland Road to take on Daniel Farke’s Leeds United on Saturday 10 August.
And if the Blues are to have any hope of beginning their season with three points they will need some more quality players through the door between now and their trip to West Yorkshire.
This was echoed by Mousinho himself, who told The News (28 July), “I think so (there’d be more players in before Leeds), that would be the aim.
“We wanted to do our business early and it has been a bit slower in this window, but we’d like to do as much as we can over the next couple of weeks.”
Portsmouth were beaten 4-0 by Wycombe during a pre-season friendly on Saturday (27 July), further evidence that more players will be needed before their Championship curtain raiser.
However, one new signing has been confirmed recently via the club’s official website, with 21-year-old Farrell joining Pompey from Central Coast Mariners for an undisclosed fee (26 July).
And the underlying numbers suggest he could be a very useful addition for Mousinho.
Farrell helped his former side lift last season’s AFC Cup – Asia’s equivalent of the Europa League.
And the Australia Under-23 international will be keen to make an instant impact at Fratton Park, something which he certainly appears capable of doing.
Portsmouth sign Jacob Farrell from Central Coast Mariners
As per FotMob, Farrell was one of the most impressive left-backs in the A-League last season.
He scored two goals and provided two assists, with his 824 successful passes in the competition placing him in the top 15 per cent of his positional peers.
In addition, he made 39 touches in the opposition box, which once again saw him rank in the top 15 per cent of A-League left-backs, while he also managed to play 36 accurate long balls forward.
While his attacking numbers are impressive, it is defensively where Farrell really shines, something which will be of use to Mousinho considering the step up in quality in the Championship.
Farrell’s 41 tackles won left him in the top four per cent of his positional peers, while his 172 duels won and 57 interceptions left him in the highest percentile regarding these particular statistics.
Finally, he was in the top 11 per cent of A-League left-backs for both the number of recoveries he made (116) and amount of times he won possession in the final third (nine).
Portsmouth dominated matches during their EFL League One title-winning campaign last season.
However, they are likely to be much more up against it this season in the Championship. Therefore, having a player of Farrell’s defensive quality could prove to be incredibly useful.
In other Portsmouth news, the club have been tipped for promotion to the Premier League.
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