John Mousinho waved white flag v West Brom as ‘brutal’ Portsmouth admission made
John Mousinho has laid bare the reasons for the wholesale Portsmouth changes ahead of Saturday’s thrashing at West Brom, but it remains a sore point for supporters.
Pompey approached The Hawthorns (25 January) off the back of successive home victories, in which a settled line-up is now beginning to emerge through the end of a season plagued by injuries.
However, after conceding early, matters rapidly unravelled against Tony Mowbray’s side who led 4-0 at the break, and the Blues headed south having shipped five – the same number of changes Mousinho made to his starting XI.
Accusations immediately flew out from fans that away games were being written off in favour of winning points at home, with Millwall visiting Fratton Park in a rearranged fixture this Tuesday (28 January).
“We just had to make changes – the schedule has been absolutely brutal for us,” Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent’s Andy Moon (25 January) after the hammering.
“There’s a fact there’s no other side in the Championship facing it, with two games called off in November and the schedule it’s impossible to sustain the same team week after week, after week.
“We played the Blackburn, Middlesbrough and Stoke games with fairly similar line-ups, and with Tuesday’s game in mind, it’s really hurt us. I hope the fans understand why we’ve done it, and I hope the players understand we still expect more from them.”
While Mousinho is of course articulate enough to sound convincing in his point, it remains a source of immense frustration that there appeared no hope from 2pm onwards at The Hawthorns – especially for those who put the miles in to get to the West Midlands.
Portsmouth writing off tough away games?
No one envies the position Mousinho finds himself in when it comes to the rigorous schedule of the Championship, which has been mentioned on a weekly basis anytime players look leggy and fatigued.
That is an obstacle the head coach is trying his level best to avoid, especially with the fears he must harbour over injuries reoccurring.
At West Brom, Wednesday’s man-of-the-match Jordan Williams; player-of-the-season Callum Lang, Josh Murphy, Freddie Potts and Rob Atkinson were all benched. If you’re Mowbray and the Albion team seeing that in the build-up to the game, you’re salivating.
And they channelled it in a ruthless way reminiscent of an experienced Championship side Pompey must work towards becoming. There now remains just eight days in which the club can secure further pedigree at Fratton Park, and it is hugely alarming the drop-off in levels when players are rotated.
The Blues have too much quantity in certain areas and not enough quality. A debut goal for young Thomas Waddingham with essentially the last kick of the game gave fans something to latch onto on their way home, but a lot more needs to be done in the coming days to convince the fans it definitely won’t be a dogfight.
In other Portsmouth news, the social media spat with Kwadwo Baah has ramped up in recent days after the Watford man’s injury.
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