View: Portsmouth able to cope without 33% Kusini Yengi as striker ruled out
Portsmouth have been stung by the news Kusini Yengi is out for up to 10 weeks with a knee injury.
BBC Radio Solent’s Andy Moon [4 December] posted the update on X [4 December], after speaking with John Mousinho, as the Australian endures yet another spell on the sidelines.
Yengi has so far failed to score since Portsmouth’s promotion back to the Championship.
Colby Bishop’s return to fitness, earlier than first feared when he underwent major heart surgery in pre-season, massively helps Mousinho’s forward options and the penalty he scored last month to mark his return does put him in front of Yengi for goals in 2024-25.
But despite a poor campaign for Yengi so far, it can easily be forgotten what he did contribute towards the latter stages of last season.
Colby Bishop essentially replaces Kusini Yengi for Portsmouth
There was a short spell just prior to Bishop’s return when Yengi had usurped young loanee Mark O’Mahony as Mousinho’s first-choice striker, but he put in several underwhelming displays.
His later tone-deaf comments about Championship defenders provoked Pompey fans, and Bishop’s return provided a fairytale moment at Fratton Park.
However this may shape Yengi’s future, he did enjoy a prolific spell just like Bishop last year. His goals per 90 minute ratio over the past year ranks better than 96 per cent of strikers playing at a similar level [Fotmob], showing his capabilities – albeit predominantly at League One level.
Since the start of last season, Bishop has 22 goals to Yengi’s nine, but in 33 more starts. FBRef data illustrates that in the league-winning season of 2023-24, Yengi boasted 0.94 goal contributions per game, while Bishop by comparison averaged 0.61.
There were high hopes for the Socceroos international that he would regain his momentum, but injuries and a loss of form have diminished that, with fans scolding him for his apparent lack of effort.
This season, as shown by Sofascore, Yengi has averaged a duel success rate of just 33 per cent despite his physical ‘Championship-style’ frame, losing possession 5.4 times per game.
Though the pair had not experienced the Championship before this season – an issue throughout the bulk of the Pompey squad itself – the consensus was that Bishop would still have the higher ceiling, having been a regular goalscorer since his arrival in 2022.
What are Colby Bishop’s biggest strengths?
Bishop was beaten for goals only by Alfie May last campaign in League One, and Fotmob shows how he built an incredible array of shooting and passing statistics, with 109 shots, 660 successful passes and 37 chances created.
Where Bishop also excels on most EFL attackers is his work in a high press, often utilised by the Blues via their stamina-filled, agile forward players such as Callum Lang and Josh Murphy. The former Accrington striker won possession from defenders in their final third a total of 33 times last season, a huge contributory factor to his excellent chance creation numbers.
With pressure building on both the team and the club itself, Portsmouth have to get the next few months spot on and now Bishop is unintentionally taking the baton from Yengi. It will be intriguing to see if the club bring in a further striker to either provide competition or alter Mousinho’s system.
In other Portsmouth news, an analytical breakdown of Nicolas Schmid after his display against Swansea City.
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