View: Mousinho let down by Lang after 25% Portsmouth display v Watford
Callum Lang went from hero to zero as Portsmouth were beaten by Watford on Boxing Day.
After their huge 4-1 victory over Coventry City at Fratton Park in the Championship on Saturday [21 December], which saw Lang score four times, confidence would have been high heading into the clash at Vicarage Road on Thursday [26 December].
However, despite taking the lead through Zak Swanson in the 10th minute, John Mousinho’s side once again showed signs of inconsistency as Rocco Vata scored a stoppage-time winner to secure a 2-1 victory for Watford and consign Portsmouth to their ninth league defeat of the season, which sees them slip to 21st in the Championship.
Therefore, Mousinho will no doubt feel frustrated after his players failed to hold on for a win which would have lifted Pompey to 19th with games in hand on the teams around them.
And the Portsmouth boss would have been particularly frustrated by Lang’s display in Hertfordshire, which optimised the club’s inconsistency in performance levels.
Lang appeared to have put his poor recent form behind him after scoring his sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth league goals of the season against Frank Lampard’s side ahead of Christmas.
As a result, the 26-year-old would have been keen to build on this and prove that he could be the man to spearhead Portsmouth’s survival charge. However, instead, he went missing against Watford and reminded fans why he can’t be entirely relied upon to keep Pompey in the second tier of English football.
Callum Lang lets Portsmouth down in defeat against Watford
According to Sofascore, Lang missed one big chance with his only shot of the game against the Hornets, as the forward missed the target entirely.
In addition, the Englishman struggled on the ball, succeeding with just 25 per cent of his attempted dribbles and only managing a pass accuracy of 67 per cent, attempting just three passes overall.
Lang was hardly in the game, managing just 19 touches of the ball, and while that largely wasn’t his fault with Mousinho’s side struggling to maintain any possession against Watford, the striker also showcased a lot of sloppy play defensively.
Of the 12 ground duels he contested, Lang won just three, while he also lost his only aerial duel, made five fouls, and was dribbled past once.
Overall, it was a display which did not reflect a player who had scored four goals in his previous Championship outing, and Mousinho would have no doubt been tearing his hair out on the sidelines.
And if the Portsmouth boss wants to keep his side up this season, he needs to find a way to get Lang performing consistently.
In other Portsmouth news, Under-15s players recently featured in a youth squad for the club.
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