View: Portsmouth wasting ace out of position after 25% shocker vs Sheffield Wednesday
Portsmouth are misusing the versatility of Christian Saydee as the forward had a night to forget against Sheffield Wednesday.
Saydee was withdrawn just an hour into Pompey’s eventual defeat at Fratton Park against the Owls [25 October], who took advantage of John Mousinho’s depleted side to grab all three points.
With Paddy Lane injured at Cardiff City [22 October], Saydee operated as a number 10 against Danny Rohl’s visitors while Callum Lang started on the right-hand side.
Kusini Yengi was brought on in Saydee’s place with 30 minutes to go, as shuffling the side turned out not to come to fruition.
Christian Saydee has better attributes as striker for Portsmouth
Mousinho’s thinking behind his team selection in Lane’s absence on Friday appeared to be borne out of shoehorning certain players in – while Lang and Saydee are both versatile enough, they each excel in a certain position.
Lang has been a shining light in a difficult season mainly as a number 10, while Saydee’s best performance so far came as a central striker with his brace in the 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough on 24 August.
Saydee, just 22, has not only the physical capacity to be an effective Championship striker, but also operates well as the first line of defence, ranking above 89% of players in similar positions in similar standard leagues in defensive contributions [Fotmob].
FBRef data from the past year shows his positional play as a striker is excellent out of possession, making 0.91 tackles per game; 0.52 interceptions and 1.04 blocks – surprisingly high statistics for an attacking player.
Where Saydee struggles is in creating chances, something paramount for an attacking midfielder – he is yet to register an assist this season, and slots into the bottom 18% of number 10s and wingers for opportunities created.
The deep-lying trio of Barry Bannan, Shea Charles and ex-Pompey man Di’Shon Bernard completely cancelled out Saydee on Friday, who only attempted eight passes all night and found a teammate with five. He only managed 15 touches in his hour on the field, won just 25% of his duels on the ground and did not win a single one of his three aerial battles.
As a domino effect, Lang was largely ineffective on the flank compared to in other matches this season when he has been utilised more centrally.
It is very feasible as a result that Mousinho could revert to type against Hull City [2 November], which could see Saydee either spearhead the attack or drop to the bench in favour of Yengi or Mark O’Mahony.
In other Portsmouth news, Mousinho admits his side have not adapted to the step up.
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