‘Mousinho must end Christian Saydee experiment at Portsmouth’ after Derby draw
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho handed Christian Saydee a rare start in the draw against Derby County on Saturday.
The Rams travelled to the south coast on 12 April as the points were shared thanks to a late Rob Atkinson equaliser in added time.
The defender was at fault earlier in the half after scoring an own goal, but he more than made up for it with his brace at Fratton Park.
With that being said, Pompey shouldn’t be relying on the 26-year-old to score goals, which is why playing Saydee needs to end now.
Saydee experiment didn’t work v Derby County
The 22-year-old has been used extremely sparingly this season and bizarrely came in from the start against John Eustace’s side.
This was the forward’s first start since January and only his tenth of the entire season after being an unused substitute on 12 separate occasions.
| Stat (Championship 24/25) | Christian Saydee |
| Starts | 10 |
| Goals | 2 |
| Assists | 0 |
The Englishman had to make the most of his opportunity from the start alongside Colby Bishop, but it is fair to say he failed to do that.
Saydee featured across 79 minutes but took just 26 touches with just two of them coming in the opposition penalty area [FotMob], which isn’t good enough.
Things don’t get any better when you consider the fact that the former Bournemouth man missed a big chance while also failing to complete a single dribble as his lack of threat continued throughout the game.
It isn’t as if the forward made a difference defensively for Mousinho’s side either, as he lost five duels while also committing two fouls, which just heaped pressure on Pompey.
If this sort of performance level were to continue, it would make sense for the head coach to remove any risk of starting Saydee again.
Portsmouth can’t experiment right now
Until safety is confirmed, it makes little sense for risks to be taken at Fratton Park, which could have a damaging effect on results.
With Plymouth Argyle and Stoke City winning, things aren’t quite secure and need to be for experiments to be worthwhile.
It is fair to say that it didn’t work against Derby and could have cost Pompey if the Rams had secured three points on the road and moved to within a point of the PO4 club.