Pompey were brushed aside at Fratton Park by the impressive Sunderland on Saturday, leaving John Mousinho with much to ponder during the international break.
Firstly, it has to be said that The Black Cats put on an excellent display. Regis LeBris side were fluid, tactically excellent and clinical. Very much deserving of the 3-1 victory that extends their 100% league record so far this season. Littered with exciting young talent, most namely the outstanding Chris Rigg, this team has the potential to have a successful season.
Pompey on the other hand were far from at their best, struggling throughout to gain any initiative, rarely troubling their opponents, whilst also looking frail in defence.
It is abundantly clear that the manager needs to get his frontline centre backs fit and available for selection. The pairing of Williams and Towler never looked comfortable at any stage during the afternoon.
When looking to play out from the back, we never able to unlock the midfield duo of Marlon Pack and Andre Dozzell, largely due to the outstanding Sunderland structure out of possession. It seemed that one of Pompey’s ploys was looking to play more direct to Christian Saydee, who would pin himself up against Luke O’Nien to bring The Blues up the pitch. You would have really fancied the big strikers chances in a physical battle with the Sunderland centre back before kick off, but in truth, O’Nien was too smart for Saydee on this occasion, winning the battle with consummate ease.
As a result, Pompey then were unable to get the attacking midfield trio into the game. There were brief glimpses of excitement from Silvera and Lang, but it was a difficult afternoon for local lad Matt Ritchie.
We had only seen a few brief cameo appearances from the bench up until this fixture, given his chance to shine from the start, things didn’t quite work out. Ritchie didn’t see as much of the ball as you would like, but when he did, to my eyes lacked a bit of bravery to have an impact of the game. There were some neat short passes and movement over 10 yards, but I’m sure he would have liked to of had more influence on the tie. We are still yet to see where the Gosport lad fits into this side, but there is still plenty of time for that to become apparent.
Watching the game unfold, it always seemed as though the Black Cats were in full control, both with the ball and certainly without it. Despite the bizarre nature of the opening goal, it seemed just rewards as their dominance grew. Of course, Pompey’s defending wasn’t to the best standard, allowing the runner in behind down our left hand side.
It could be said that Will Norris could do a little better with the strike on goal, as despite the shot being fired centrally towards the goalkeeper, he neither holds the ball or is able to parry it away from goal. Despite Norris’ heroics on Teeside a week previous, the presence of Nicolas Schmid will loom large during the 2 week break, could we see a goalkeeper change for next time we are at Fratton Park?
The beginning of the second half would see the game over in the opening 11 minutes. Mousinho’s side were architects of thier own downfall, but 'The Mackems' were utterly ruthless in burying The Blues.
We did get to see a Portsmouth debut for Abdoulaye Kamara, one of the real positives from the defeat. Some neat touches and positive play in the middle of the park has encourages plenty of supporters. The blue army were already excited by his arrival on the south coast, but now having had the chance to see him in action, that excitement has increased with his potential clearly evident.
The international break comes at the perfect time for Pompey. The manager now has time to get his injured players ready for selection, with debuts still to come for the likes of Murphy and Farrell. But also to further integrate his new boys into the squad, ready to hit the ground running against West Brom.
August was always going to be a very difficult month for Portsmouth once the fixtures were released. Mousinho’s side have performed admirably to gather those 3 points, but the real work starts now as the manager has his finalised squad to work with.
Jake Smith will be joined alongside Matt Drabble and Andy Mitchelmore on the next instalment of The Football Hour on Express FM this Monday (September 2nd) from 6pm to review all of Saturday’s Championship action.
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